/vr/ - Retro Games

>>9567006
It was mostly obscure in the 1990s and then would build up a massive cult following during the 2000s, largely starting with people trying to find out who the fuck Ness was when they unlocked him in Smash, which was probably the best marketing the game ever had, but also via the wide proliferation of emulation, where many people found it online just because they were looking for games and it stood out (like in my case).
By the 2010s, it was fairly well known in 'serious' gaming circles, if you played a lot of JRPGs (or were just into older games), you would almost certainly have some sort of passing mental image of the game just by word of mouth, you most likely had seen screenshots, and plenty sought it out based on its reputation alone. Many argue that its reputation is greatly exaggerated, and that may be true, but fact is that it's an odd game with a quirky charm which stood out, and there was preciously little else like it.

Toby Fox wasn't some sort of turbo hipster seeking out the most elusive games imaginable for inspiration, he was one of a huge number of people who heard about it through word of mouth and gravitated towards it because it sounded appealing to him.
I'll state with confidence that Earthbound has not been obscure for the better part of two decades.
Obscure would be something like Meat Puppet, where it does bear a visual visual style which stands out, but beyond that wasn't really interesting or greatly compelling in any sense, nor was it really that fun to play, and so it went unnoticed by the world, forgotten about, the few who remember certainly not recommending it to other people.

>>6597828
>speccy was an incredible gaming machine

>>5497547
>big N
Big Nigger?

>>4767515