Mother, why?

[Toaster]

I'm looking for answers (I'm looking at you Loki).

Why doesn't Japan release these games to the US?? I know it's been brought up before but seriously, even after having cameos of the characters in Brawl it's like they are just teasing everyone outside of Japan.

I can think of many more games that are ported to the US that don't really deserve to be, so what's the deal?

[John Mora]

Re: Mother, why?

Earthbound was sort of a financial flop? And it's not a comfortably traditional RPG?

[Toaster]

Re: Mother, why?

I can think of pleanty of bad games that have seen these western shores, some that have even spanned several sequels and need to just stop being made.

[Loki]

Re: Mother, why?

Earthbound was a huge flop for Nintendo and there's a rumor that Reggie hates the series.

Also, Mother 3 has transvestites and terrorists which doesn't really fit the NOA mold.

According to Brawl stuff Earthbound will be on the Japanese Virtual Console so maybe they'll put it on the US one and maybe if enough people buy it maybe they'll realize there's a market for Mother 3 and maybe they'll localize it and release it here. But that's one big ain't-no-way-in-hell maybe.

In any case Mother 3 is cheep to import, there's a decent translation guide on gamefaqs, and a fan translation is in the works. So you can play it one way or another.

I printed out the translation guide, put it in a big red binder, and had a great time playing through the game. YOU CAN TOO.

[Chad]

Re: Mother, why?

But the question is did they sell? You may think some games are terrible, craptastic even, but sometimes they sell well. Have you ever played Cars, one of the top 10 sellers of 2006? What about Ratatouille, the game that whipped up quite a feverish bit of sales around July? And I thought that huge seller Transformers: The Game for the PS2 was abysmal at best?

The Mother series is pretty niche. In a genre that's not as big a seller to begin with, this game doesn't really scream cutting edge. Quirky and silly certainly don't always garner large mainstream success.

[IRC]

Re: Mother, why?

But the question is did they sell? You may think some games are terrible, craptastic even, but sometimes they sell well. Have you ever played Cars, one of the top 10 sellers of 2006? What about Ratatouille, the game that whipped up quite a feverish bit of sales around July? And I thought that huge seller Transformers: The Game for the PS2 was abysmal at best?

The Mother series is pretty niche. In a genre that's not as big a seller to begin with, this game doesn't really scream cutting edge. Quirky and silly certainly don't always garner large mainstream success.

[Translucid]

Re: Mother, why?

I don't see how it could be very hard or costly for them to just put Earthbound on VC. if it was there, I'd download it in a second.

[facts]

Re: Mother, why?

Nintendo is pretty stupid... MOTHER 3 was actually one of the biggest games of 2006 in Japan. I've even heard stories of people skipping work/school to buy and play the game.

I bought the game last year, because I got tired of waiting. (I've owned Earthbound since release, and I've been waiting for a new game for a long time. along with the rest of Starmen.net.)

It actually really good. I used the translation guide for it. People might say that the game is bad because Earthbound wasn't very fun. (Which I don't think is true.) But it's actually quite different than that game. Battle system is changed to be more exciting, story is better.

[Kire]

Re: Mother, why?

I think people would buy it now because of Smash fever.

[Valkysas]

Re: Mother, why?

Nintendo said Earthbound would show up on the US Virtual Console by winter of 2007. It never happened.

It's fairly obvious that Nintendo of America just doesnt like the game.

[Kefka Jr.]

Re: Mother, why?

Man, I never even thought of the fact that much worse games are translated and released, like, every month.

It's nothing short of horse ****.

That said, I own it, and I've seen this translation guide. But it's still horse ****. The chief reason to play this game is because of the script - the script that I can't read.

The thing about the guide is that it may not necessarliy proceed in the order that you do, and it doesn't translate all of the environmental descriptions. I'm lucky enough to be able to match Japanese words that I recognize to the translation, but it's hardly as effective as just playing a God damn translated version.

Also, I haven't been able to get very far, because I only played the game when I have the translation guide open on my computer, and my computer is in the same room as video games that are translated for me, and I end up playing them, instead.

I didn't even consider printing the whole thing out. I think I'm gonna do that.

[marcus]

Re: Mother, why?

Nintendo said Earthbound would show up on the US Virtual Console by winter of 2007. It never happened.

It's fairly obvious that Nintendo of America just doesnt like the game.

THIS.

Last year (around October I believe) the head honchos from Starmen.net met up with the leading localization team from Nintendo for a little dinner date and night out at the town. After talking about the future of Nintendo Wii and stuff, the guys from starmen.net gave the Nintendo dudes a handbound hardcover book containing hundreds of various fanart, fanfiction, and fan created material relating to Mother. If sold on ebay, I can guarantee they would net well over 1,000USD.

Afterwards, the guys said Nintendo wanted to translate the project but didn't have the time or funds or *insert corporation bullcrap here* but said that it would be on the VC by Christmas and if it sold enough, they'd consider localizing Mother 3. Starmen boards went INSANE and everyone was like "If you do not have the funds to purchase Earthbound I WILL GIFT YOU A COPY."

I mean, Valkysas said (in a topic regarding the above subject I made last year) that he hated Earthbound but I was willing to buy him a copy just to say to Nintendo "Look at how much of a fan I am!"

Nothing came of it.

Nothing.

I'm hoping that the combined forces of Lucas and Ness generate some buzz as the inclusion of Marth and Roy generated awareness and the eventual release of Fire Emblem (and hopefully Pit does the same with the Kid Icarus series) but this is wishful thinking. I honestly believe that at this point, Nintendo just doesn't ****ing care. They're too busy milking their cash cows to actually please their fans, regardless of how "small" they perceive the fan base.

The GBA is practically dead at this point and any new releases will likely be ignored, but a Nintendo DS release of the combined games could be huge on a system that has, what, maybe 4 RPG's that don't blow hard? Everything Nintendo touches usually turns to instant gold. They hardly marketed Earthbound (I saw no advertisements in 1995, even as an avid subscriber to NP) but after Earthbound Nintendo Power did this huge coverage on Earthbound 64. Earthbound itself was also released in limited quantities so they can't possibly say that it didn't sell well because LOL NO ONE CARED.

But man, Nintendo. It's not like Earthbound and Mother 1 aren't already translated. It's not like there's absolutely zero people in the world who wouldn't kill to play the hottest new Nintendo game on the DS. Given the fact that people are growing tired of the generic pulp fantasy genre of every JRPG, I think a contemporary postmodern game set in a satirical United States would be very welcome to a new audience.

[Valkysas]

Re: Mother, why?

They hardly marketed Earthbound

Excuse me? That game had the biggest marketing campaign I ever saw on the SNES. every magazine I bought for about 5 months had the scratch and sniff adds stinking them up, there were scratch and sniff cards advertising the game in stores that you could take for free, it was everywhere. they advertised the HELL out of that game.

[Vonwert]

Re: Mother, why?

Yeah, big box and all. I think people were coming off FF6 and thinking that Earthbound was all kiddy compared to the dark graphics of FF6.

I loved that box and manual. Sadly I lost the box during a move.

[marcus]

Re: Mother, why?

I for one don't remember a single thing. I do remember the whole big box thing but I can't ever recall coming across a single add outside of Nintendo Power (and even then, the adds ran for maybe 3 issues) and I collected that magazine way before Earthbound came out. I do remember vast amounts of Super Mario RPG advertising and people talking about how good Chrono Trigger was way into the release of the 64. I remember everyone talking about how cool the 3DO was going to be and I remember a game on the neogeo or jaguar or 32x (or one of those crappy throwaway systems) that starred the Gamepro editors... but not Earthbound.

I'll have to dig through my attic of old stuff. Maybe I can rekindle an old flame.