Shigesato Itoi - BitNick's Career Exemplar (and subject of recent FanArt)(but not the creepy kind)

Last week, I was inspired.

A friend had called me to talk games, which I was more than happy to do. He and I talked about some of the recent games we had been playing (Prototype, Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword, and Assassin's Creed II to name a few), then discussed some upcoming films we were excited to see (Liam Neeson plays Alaskan Liam Neeson, in I Will Punch a Wolf with Broken Medicine Bottles Between my Knuckles, which came out last week).

*In Movie-Trailer-Guy voice*
When wolves kidnapped his daughter, one man would do anything to get her back...
Even kill the wolves who raised him as their own!

All of these things were exciting, and the conversation was sparkling, when my friend asked a fateful question: "Have you ever played EarthBound?"

"Have I..." I sputtered. "Have... I played EARTHBOUND?!"