A few years ago, when Starmen.Net was launching a different (and decidedly less ornate) new site design, one of the events that kicked it off was the original essay contest.

Well, we're a little late for that, but to commemorate the reborn articles section we're giving it another go. For those of you who don't know, the Essay Contest is all about writing the best article on a specific topic. The best essays will win any number of Possibly Awesome Prizes.

• The Grand Prize winner, the one whose article most enraptured our Top Secret Judges, will win a rare--on this side of the world, at least--copy of the original Mother (EarthBound Zero) for the Nintendo Famicom.
• The Starmen.Netter who writes the second best essay will receive a t-shirt or hoodie (or an item of equal or lesser value) from the Starmen.Net store, courtesy of the Vast Articles Moneychest (aka me.)
• Depending on the turnout, a number of honorable mentions will receive badges, ranks, and/or namevatars.

To enter, simply submit an article with the word "Essay" or something similar in the title, and I'll take care of the rest. That form is here.

If you have any questions, comments, or angry letters, PM me here and I'll respond as fast as I can.

• EarthBound was a commercial failure in the US back in 1995; for EarthBound 2/Mother 3, what would you do (in terms of marketing or gameplay) to make it a success?
• Starmen.Net is extremely successful, as far as videogame fansites go; what, if anything, would you do to make it even better?
• When many of us first played EarthBound, our immediate reaction was to show it to all of our friends; how did yours react? How did you respond?