EarthBound's 30th Birthday Bash!

Image of a starman with a sweatervest lounging in a rocking chair enjoying a pleasant afternoon

The time draws near! We've been counting down the days to one of gaming's most anticipated events, and we're less than a week away. We know the hype has been unavoidable, the memes have proliferated, and the gamersphere at large has been shaking with anticipation for the earth-shattering reveal of what is soon to come.

I am of course talking about...

EarthBound's 30th birthday!!!

...Were you expecting something else?

I almost can't believe it myself, but the flagship game of the MOTHER series is turning 30 years old this thursday on June 5th, 2025! That's older than like.. more than half of our current active userbase, which is why we're convening the tried and true broadcast crew of RadioPSI for a birthday bash stream over on our Twitch Channel starting at 9:00 p.m. Eastern! Somebody has to remind those youths of where it all started!

DJ AmzTrak will be our main host, and will be experiencing a brand new PK Hack made this year that puts a new spin on this classic game. We hope you'll join us in amazement of all the incredible things that are now possible to do in-engine after 30 years of EarthBound hacking progress. That's not all though, as you can also join us on our Discord to play along with the return of DJ Mon's famous Treasure Hunt, and potentially earn those coveted RadioPSI participation points!

I hear tell online that there may also be some other small indie game releasing this Thursday? I can't say I know much about that, but we hope you'll take a moment to stop by the stream and say hello anyway! Here's to 30 more years!?

EVENTS | READ COMMENTS (2) 2025.06.01 @ 20:28 CDT by Boots

New game in development from site co-founder Tomato!?

You (maybe?) heard it here first folks!

Imagine my surprise when I opened Youtube today and saw a new upload from Clyde Mandelin's channel. Now stop imagining because it's real and you can go check it out for yourselves!

HALITO TOMATO is a new project in development from site co-founder Clyde Mandelin, focused on analyzing the Choctaw language while walking around in a 3D digital space (modeled by starmen.net alumnus Jack Murphy)! I played a few minutes of the game, and found myself enjoying a stroll around a pleasant, outdoor museum-like space replete with interpretive panels and insight from Clyde's comparison of Choctaw with other contemporary languages. Although the game is currently marked as "In development" and isn't much more involved than walking around, collecting tomatoes, and reading signs, I would highly encourage anyone interested in linguistics, or just learning languages at all, to go check it out at the itch.io link embedded above. The primary goal of this project seems to be to Explore, Collect and Learn!

Screenshot of Intro screen of HALITO TOMATO

More info after the jump!

LINKS | READ COMMENTS (6) 2025.05.28 @ 18:15 CDT by Boots

WE'RE BACK

AAAaAAAAAaaaaAAAAAAA

Is it true??? Have we returned????? We haven't had an outage like this in quite some time... I sincerely apologize if any of you were forced to postpone events, go outside, visit not-20-year-old-websites, or otherwise not hang around here for 3-4 days.

MOST IMPORTANTLY THOUGH

SOUND OFF IF YOU'RE STILL ALIVE!

SITE INFO | READ COMMENTS (54) 2025.04.14 @ 14:40 CDT by Boots

Hobonichi MOTHER Project: The Script of Earthbound

Hi everyone. It's Boots again, and I have some extremely cool news to share about a recent interview from series creator Shigesato Itoi and Marcus Lindblom, EarthBound's English localizer!

Hobonichi MOTHER project: The Script of Earthbound

From Monday to Friday this week, the Hobonichi MOTHER Project, an initiative from Itoi's stationary company that has recently been releasing lots of official MOTHER merch, has just finished publishing a series of 5 conversation excerpts between Itoi and Lindblom! If you, like me, were fascinated by site co-creator Clyde Mandelin's Legends of Localization book, you owe it to yourself to go check this out! The discussion is largely focused on the storied history of EarthBound's incredible localization, but also includes such gems as Itoi's favourite Beatle, how Marcus kept the script feeling "timeless", and most shocking of all, how to actually pronounce Giygas!!

Seriously, I thought I was pretty well versed in EB's creation at this point, and even I found there was tonnes of cool and insightful new information contained in this chat between two series legends. Learn anything surprising? Let us know in the comments!

EARTHBOUND / MOTHER 2 | READ COMMENTS (3) 2025.04.04 @ 20:36 CDT by Boots

Post April Fool's News Roundup 2025

Hi everyone, I hope you all were not too overwhelmed by yesterday's announcement, because that's not the only coding initiative that we'd like to catch you up on! There have been a few major events shaking things up in the world of PK Hack, and we have a couple of projects to feature that were announced yesterday for April Fool's. Read on below the jump for all the sweet details!

PK HACK | READ COMMENTS (0) 2025.04.02 @ 16:22 CDT by Boots

Starmen.net Emergency Makeover!

The year is 202X. A cold wind blows through the starmen.net discussion forums. Paint is peeling and chipping away from the walls, and there’s a dusty blue spreading as far as the eye can see. After a long day of being hard at work posting in the mines, you emerge from the navy blue corridors to fetch your jacket and sigh a deep breath of great relief, relishing in the knowledge that just outside the door is a world of fresh air and spring flowers.

But what’s this? There’s a knock at the door…? You wait, hoping whoever it is will just go away. Who could be so rude as to knock on an establishment’s door 5 minutes after closing. Likely just a spambot, you think to yourself, but the thought leaves quickly. The knocking comes back—louder, LOUDER. Whoever, or whatever, it is is determined. You press your ear to the door and strain to hear any hint of movement or shuffling, but what you get is a mechanical sound of whirrs and clicks. Whatever is outside is not human. You should not underestimate them. You shudder, then tentatively reach down to the doorhandle that separates reality from the virtual. The knocking… stops. You stand still, heart pumping in your chest as you consider your options. “If only the backdoor exit wasn’t blocked with 20 years of old fanart boxes,” you think, already hopeless. Apprehensively, you step backwards, your gaze and focus fixated on this one and only point of egress. And then…

DO IT YOURSELF | READ COMMENTS (81) 2025.04.01 @ 8:42 CDT by Boots

Level up: New Admins And Moderator Structure!

Hey folks! It's me, Rhyselinn, your local head admin, here with some cool forum news!

First, the housekeeping: all of our mods have some new beefed up privileges that let them transfer topics into their specialized boards and deal with any spambots they might see. But their areas of focus haven't changed! If you ever wonder who to ask about a board-specific question, check the sidebar on the right to see who your friendly neighborhood mods are.

Second, it's my honor to announce that three of our super mods have been promoted to admins.

Boots has been a member of the site since 2011. A talented musician and creative visionary, he has worked in visible roles spearheading site events (Weezerfest, a certain ARG, and many a funfest) as well as on site policy and governance behind the scenes. He brings vivacity and joy to the community as well as sound counsel and judgment, and our community is livelier for his involvement.

broomweed has been a member of the site since 2012. A talented programmer and game developer, broomweed brought Porcotrade to life for last year's EBFGPS funfest, and she consistently offers sound judgment on moderating matters behind the scenes. In both moderating and event planning, broomweed has a talent for identifying problems before they become problems so they can be addressed, and our community runs much smoother because of her involvement.

LadyTe has been a member of the site since 2014. A talented writer, LadyTe has helped organize and run all kinds of site activities, from monthly riddles to funfests to Mafia games. Many of our site communications have benefited from her keen eye for clear communication and stray commas. She's a powerful voice for ensuring our community upholds our principles, and our community is kinder and more welcoming because of her influence.

I can't overstate the contributions these three folks have brought to the community, and I can't overstate my gratitude for their effort and passion. The magic of Starmen.net comes from the people in it, and I'm proud to work alongside our admins, our mods, and the community at large to keep the spirit of this wonderful community burning bright!

SITE INFO | READ COMMENTS (14) 2025.03.14 @ 21:38 CDT by Rhyselinn

1/128 CHALLENGE COMPLETED

Hear ye, hear ye! I come bearing news from the hinterlands!

Art by Sijbren Schenkels

I am extremely pleased to announce that starmen’s own HCchicken has successfully completed the time-honored 1/128 challenge! Reports of this exploit made a buzz in the community, and we were able to reach several community members for comment:

I haven't seen someone pull off a 1/128 challenge in quite some time! Very impressive! - Boots

Whoooooooooooooaaaa! - vid

You beat up the town bullies (and everything else!), punched them out big time, kicked their butts, bit their heads off, spit in their eyes, and made them wet their pants. Then you forced them to promise not to make any more trouble. Thank you! - The Mayor

wow - Head admin Rhyselinn

For the uninitiated, the 1/128 challenge consists of getting every single RARE ITEM in an unmodified copy of EarthBound. The challenge gets its namesake from the infamous fact that the drop rate for these items is… 0.7% per encounter; not for the faint of heart! There are 25 enemies that drop 1/128 items, which means that in order to join the ranks of the esteemed players who conquered this challenge, you must successfully hit the 0.7% odds 25 times over the course of your playthrough.

As evidenced in the discussion thread, HCchicken worked tirelessly through the night to successfully complete the challenge on March 4th, 2025 in just 22 days! I’m not sure we ever kept records for doing the challenge quickly, but this is quite the impressive feat of endurance! Please head on over to the thread to congratulate HCchicken on their accomplishment, and if you enjoyed this, don’t forget that some of these gameplay challenges were featured in the EBFGPS 2024 livestreams, so check them out if you want to see just what it takes to be a super player!

EVENTS | READ COMMENTS (3) 2025.03.05 @ 21:45 CST by Boots

WHAMAGEDDON 2024

You cannot grasp the true form of George Michael's attack!

It's December. We've given up on trying to keep him locked away, he is inevitable. It's up to us now, and I pray that we're ready. It's the fifth annual Starmen.Net WHAMAGEDDON!

If this is your first time, please take a moment to review the rules. If this is your second, third, or fourth time, please review the rules anyway, you don't want to be the person who eliminates themselves on a weird technicality.

EVENTS | READ COMMENTS (119) 2024.11.30 @ 16:48 CST by vid

Official Starmen.net Bluesky Account

We believe in skies forever blue... why shouldn't we believe the same in you?

Are you wanting to stay up to date with Starmen.net on social media that hasn't devolved into what Master Belch looks like after he quaffs buckets of fly honey? Then come check us out on Blue Sky!