I’m never, ever resorting to piracy again.
Don’t get me wrong; Mother 3 is turning out to be worth every bit of Jolly Roger-related hassle I’ve encountered so far, and then some. But I can’t help but think Nintendo is watching me, doing their best to dampen the experience because I didn’t pay them for the game. Granted, that sort of is their fault, but this is a company that didn’t get to where it is today by thinking inside the box or, you know, giving its consumers what they wanted.
I tried moving the game onto a flash cart for play and did my best to follow the halfway-translated instructions, but to no avail. Turns out (according to the Starmen.net forums) that the particular batch my flashcart came from had a high failure rate. I could return it, but that would leave my game out of commission for however long it took the return shipping took, plus another 2 weeks for a replacement to arrive.
[[image: ar_112108_piracy_01.jpg:Arrrgghh:center:0]]
…that is, if I was even able to replace it. The website I’d ordered from worked fine — except, curiously, the “returns” and “contact us” links. Fantastic. I had to fight the alarms going off in my brain telling me I’d been scammed and try again later; in the mean time, a friend sent me an extra cart he had on hand so I could dig in. Of course, I offered to pay for shipping, thinking it wouldn’t be too much to overnight it; turns out, I ended up paying more for shipping than I did for the cart I wanted to replace — which of course I didn’t learn until it was already sent out.
The coup de grâce, though, was the interface on that cart: you have to select the game file from a Star Wars-themed menu, whose bells-and-whistles cause a few seconds of load time. Granted, that means Mother 3 is now probably the best thing to be associated with the Star Wars franchise since the original trilogy, but I didn’t want to link the two so intimately in my mind. I’m sure there’s a joke there somewhere, but for now it just feels…wrong.
Also, I’ve severely dented one of my Rock Band drum pads, and my garbage disposal altogether stopped working. I’m not sure how this is related to pirating Mother 3, exactly; but again, Nintendo’s anti-piracy special forces work in mysterious ways. In any case, I’ve learned that the piracy just isn’t for me. Paying for games might take a good chunk of my paycheck, but at least I (typically) know what I’m getting in exchange for good, honest work. Apparently, once you start the piracy game, all bets are off.
I hear you. Mother 3 up and working = broken Breville grill (think Foreman plus), new speakers broken out of the box, twice, and a headache with my dental insurance. Oddly, the only thing that seemed to work perfectly was the damned flashcart. The Cyclo Evolution interface is streamlined, and basically gives you what your DS would look like if Nintendo allowed you to download all games as roms through an online store. I’ve actually purchased games and then uploaded a rom just because it’s so much more convenient than carrying around a sack of cartridges.
Outside of the damn broken cart, I’ve had no problems with my flash cart experience. In fact, after all the headaches of mine Reluctant Hero’s one took me less than five minutes to set up (even w/o English instructions). I’m still waiting on my replacement cart, but I guess I’m a little more patient with the whole process since I’ve already played Mother 3, though.
pity reply
I own the Japanese cart, so I have zero compunctions about using any means possible to play the US version, but screw NOA for even making this an issue.
From what game is the above screenshot?
Zack & Wiki for Wii.
Yeah, what the heck is with that Star Wars menu? What does Star Wars have to do with anything.
Sounds like the eLink and EZ-Flash IV.
Apparently, there is a fix for the defective batch of eLinks, which can also be found on the Starmen.net forums. Something to do with changing the .exe file’s name to eLink.exe or something. It supposedly works, though.
As for the EZ-Flash, you can always reskin the think with a MOTHER 3 background.
All this lies in the depths of the Flash Cart discussion topic on Starmen.net
Tip for your garbage disposal: It might just be jammed! This happened to me recently. Try pressing the “reset” switch at the bottom. Or, if that doesn’t wory, try manually moving the blades with an allen wrentch. Check it out: http://www.ehow.com/video_112319_fix-jammed-garbage.html
“Lucas… I am your… Mother?”