Nintendo hints at Mother/Earthbound rerelease

[Lady Lilith]

http://metro.co.uk/2012/12/21/nintendo-hints-at-earthbound-rerelease-3326291/

Super Smash Bros. Brawl – will Lucas and Ness ever be Europe bound?

Series creator Shigesato Itoi has confirmed that plans are afoot to rerelease one, or perhaps all, of the Mother series, although whether anywhere outside of Japan will get a sniff of them isn’t clear.

According to fansite EarthBound Central a recent tweet translates as the following: ‘Since it’s now okay to blurt this out, here goes: the “Mother republication” thing I mentioned briefly before is making progress.’

He then added in another tweet: ‘It’s not ‘(Mother) 4’, though! This has to do with making ‘Mother’ playable. I can’t give out any details just yet, but I do at least need to say that it isn’t 4.’

Mother is the first game in the series, originally released for the NES but never made available outside of Japan. EarthBound Central though suggests that when Itoi talks about ‘Mother’ he actually means the whole series, which includes Mother 2 on the SNES and Mother 3 on the Game Boy Advance.

The only one of these that has ever been made available in the West is Mother 2, which was known as EarthBound in North America but was never released in Europe. And yet any Nintendo fan is likely to be well aware of main character Ness as he’s been a playable character in Super Smash Bros. since the very first game. Super Smash Bros. Brawl even added Lucas from Mother 3.

Although in gameplay terms a traditional Japanese style role-player, Mother is unusual for being set in the modern day and for its often surreal sense of humour. (EarthBound also has what remains to this day one of the best final boss fights ever.)

If Itoi is talking about re-releasing the whole series that wouldn’t be much of a stretch for Japan as Game Boy Advance compilation Mother 1 + 2 already came out in 2003. Adding Mother 3 to it and releasing it on the 3DS, perhaps via the eShop, seems very doable indeed.

Whether Nintendo would go to the considerable effort of localising the first and third games for the West though is a much bigger question. They could possibly look to use existing fan translations, but that really doesn’t seem like Nintendo’s MO.

Ugh...somehow I don't think Nintendo will localize this..they didn't even give us 1 + 2 (which 2 was released here) on GBA.

[Death]

It would be great if they re-released a hard copy instead IMO. This will give me another reason to purchase the 3DS if they decide to release it for the system. I haven't played Earthbound and I'm not ready to shell out $1,000 for it just yet.... and that's just for the cartridge! Earthbound is one of those games where I'd rather get it boxed with everything.

[CasaDeBen]

It would be great if they re-released a hard copy instead IMO. This will give me another reason to purchase the 3DS if they decide to release it for the system. I haven't played Earthbound and I'm not ready to shell out $1,000 for it just yet.... and that's just for the cartridge! Earthbound is one of those games where I'd rather get it boxed with everything.

you dont have $1000 sittin around for snes games? What are you a normal person? I know what you mean, its brutal. Worst part is knowing some of those games prices now and having them previously in your house...

I never really got into earthbound, maybe I just didnt get it at the time of trying. I know its held in such high regard I just couldnt get into it.

[Death]

I never really got into earthbound, maybe I just didnt get it at the time of trying. I know its held in such high regard I just couldnt get into it.

I feel the same way about Zelda. I have most of the titles, but I couldn't get into it like everyone else.

[CasaDeBen]

I feel the same way about Zelda. I have most of the titles, but I couldn't get into it like everyone else.

Any zelda in 3d was not for me. I loved it on snes

[Crisis001]

I loved playing Earthbound back in the days on the old SNES (Mother 2)! Never played the first or 3rd one though. Would be great to see all 3 released on the 3DS... If it would be released in North America that is! The Gameboy Advance version of 1 and 2 never came here as far as I know!

I'll cross my fingers!