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Here's a whacky and wonderful one for you: a copy of EarthBound has recently been sent up to the edge of space, presumably being the only copy of the game that isn't actually bound to Earth.

14-year-old student, Ronnie Doyle, was recently given the chance to send an item of his choosing into space through a donation made by his grandfather. Thanks to this donation, crowd-funded science group Earth To Sky Calculus gave him the opportunity to have his item be whisked away and for the journey to be recorded on camera for good measure.

Speaking to Kotaku, Doyle reveals that he could pick anything “smaller than a lunchbox," opting to go with one of his prized possessions - his very own copy of EarthBound on SNES. “The process of sending the game is very frightening,” Doyle explained, going on to say that "this is a $200 game that has a big risk of not coming back in one piece. The cartridge was drilled into both sides to ensure it had a safe flight, but I decided to take that risk.”


The cartridge was hoisted up by a helium balloon with a GPS attached to it, allowing the Earth To Sky Calculus team of students - and their teacher - to find it once it had landed. The game reached an altitude of 100,000 feet before coming back down to Earth with a gentle crash. Luckily, the game still works, and Doyle is now even accepting offers for those who want to buy this one of a kind cartridge.

On the one hand, it's pretty epic to watch a SNES game fly up into space, but on the other, we couldn't help but feel incredibly nervous about the potentially catastrophic end it could have seen. Maybe you shouldn't try this at home...

[via kotaku.com]
 Someone send up a sealed copy! The collectors will want it for double the normal price! "I'll send my most treasured possession into space..."

"Now it's back, who wants to buy it?"

Keep it, save it, enjoy knowing the story every time you look at it. Your grandad paid for you to have the experience of something going into space. That feeling, only you will have. Whoever buys it is going to get a game with two screwholes in the case. "...and this is my copy of Earthbound. It was actually launched into space and re-entered the Earths atmosphere...so you could say...it was really Earthbound!"

"David...I'm leaving you and I'm taking the kids with me." Does this Ronnie Doyle have any relation to Roddy Doyle? I wonder what the flat earth nuts will have to say about this. Or are these school kids "in on it" too? @OorWullie See, the Earth is round mate, not spherical. Can you see the other side of the planet? No. Exactly. @OorWullie I do always wonder why these balloons always seem to use a curved 'fish-eye' lens camera 👀 @OorWullie Well, there's a cut in the video right at the moment we should see the earth is not flat and I'm sure the skeptics around the web (aka idiots) will point that as a proof this video is fake. If I had the opportunity to go into space myself, I'd take it in a heartbeat. Depending on the situation, I might even consider a one way trip - such as being a colonist on a potential Mars mission.

But randomly send one of my prized possessions into the upper atmosphere like this for s***s and giggles? No thanks. Seems like little more than a wasteful publicity stunt. I think its worth it. I mean come on, a copy of earthbound that's not earth bound? I'd have done it if I had a copy. Even if it was one of my most cherished possessions, heck yeah I'd do it. That’s really cool! I’d probably send up one of my amiibo if I could do this. 😃 Love that shot of the Flat earth This must be a huge CGI fake video... LOL Stop feeding the flat earth people! Who cares what they think! This was meant to be a cool video of a kid sending a video game into space. Don’t be a Buzzkill.

Anyone stop to think this craft may have more than one camera on it? Cool video . The Earth is so spectacular and beautiful. Not spherical just round. 😋 @Dethmunk it is obviously distortion due to the fish-eye lens /s Yeah, you’d have to be an idiot to not be able to see it’s fisheyed. Even so “space” doesn’t exist till you reach 264,000 feet. There are weather balloons that go higher than 135,000 feet, and their footage always shows it as flat (when not using a GoPro or fisheye lens, of course). This is proof that Earth is not only FLAT, but 2D PIXELART A literal meaning to Earthbound. I love it!

I'd personally keep it. Selling the game to a stranger with no attachment to it like this kid likely has would be a mistake IMO. It's probably riddled with radiation now lol, but someone will buy it. @MeloMan The Van Allen Radiation Belt doesn’t begin till after the low earth orbit (roughly 400 miles above the surface of the earth). That’s where the radiation reaches dangerous levels. A helium balloon going up to the edge of the atmosphere isn't enough to esape Earths gravity. Therefore it is technically still 'Earth bound'. I'm just surprised that as high school student was able to send a camera into outer space and retrieve the footage. Seeing that the earth is 71% water-covered. I would have sent up a copy a Bubsy 3D I'd hate to see what he would do with a copy of Mother! @jswhitfield8 This is Ronnie. As I said int the Kotaku article, "(I will not sell it) unless someone wants to trade stadium events for it!" The author of this article misinterpreted the joke. @Heavyarms55 it'll be pretty far off. Mars has almost no magnetic field to shield it from solar wind. So it's constantly bombarded with radiation that would quickly kill you, unless you lived pretty deep underground, like a mole person. ;P

This is also why it has a thin atmosphere; solar wind keeps stripping it away. This is why we should take time to thank the almighty molten core of our planet. As a pretty big fan of EarthBound, watching this video gave me severe anxiety I'd send my Power Rangers In Space Deluxe Astro Megaship/zord toy while in ship mode.

"Set controls to outer space now
Flying higher than eeever beforeeee
Rangerssss...IN SPACE!
Go Power Rangers!
Go, Go, Go, Fly, Go!"

Ten years now since the In Space series aired, ending the Zordon era for good. @DaNintendoyle excellent choice. No video game would be better for this than EarthBound.

I am a huge fan of EarthBound. And the story would only be improved with your knowledge of where the game has been.

And if through some freak accident this game were to end up in orbit, or even if it were to escape the Earth's gravity, I wouldn't even be mad. 😃 No game is more capable of defying realistic expectations, and no game is more deserving of space travel. "and Doyle is now even accepting offers for those who want to buy this one of a kind cartridge."
things like this are disgusting. @ogo79 This is a misquote. It the email I wrote to Kotaku, I said that (and this is word for word) "I will definitely keep this copy of Earthbound for a while (unless someone wants to trade Stadium Events for it!)!" I would never accept offers for something like this. Sorry for the misunderstanding. 





2nd Jun 1995 (USA)

27th Aug 1994 (JPN)


20th Mar 2013, ¥900 (JPN)

18th Jul 2013, $9.99 (USA)


3rd Mar 2016, £8.99 (UK/EU)

24th Mar 2016, $9.99 (USA)




