The Legacy Behind The Game
EarthBound is probably one of the most persistent games in existence today. What I mean by that is, just when you think the game has been drained of its worth, new discoveries and mysteries about the game unfold. These would have to include the following:
1.The discovery of the Mother 1 game (in Japanese). What got me started on this was Carpainter's Website. In fact, I believe this is what started it all. Some attempts were made to get some menus of the game translated. Sadly the plot of the game wasn't understood completely.
2.The discovery of the NES Earthbound prototype. I'm sure you're all familiar with the story behind it. Someone purchased the prototype at an auction from Nintendo for $100. Someone by the name of Kenny Brooks purchased it. I posted on a newsgroup about the game. He then contacted me asking if I liked the EarthBound game. Later, he told me he was the one that had the proto (no one could find it at the time). After a week of hesitation (and desperately wanting to play the game), I gave his address to Neo DemiForce. They borrowed the game for $400, and dumped the ROM image. After some hacking, the game was playable, and dubbed Earthbound Zero. This event was probably bigger then EarthBound itself (to EarthBound fans).
3.After people played Earthbound Zero, many became confused if it related to the original EarthBound (people like me). I figured the answer would lie in the original Mother 2. A site called RPG Realm (Nintendo took it down), had many Japanese ROM images. Groups used these to "retranslate" the game, and compared it to Nintendo's translation (one good example is the Final Fantasy series. Son of a Submariner!). Tomato, has taken up the challenge of playing and retranslating the game. It appears that there is not much of a difference in the major plot of the game (Mother 1 and Mother 2 relation). However, there is a lot more of the game to be played. Do you know about how you can see the Squid Statue in the EB Players guide? Well, it's obviously a pic from the Japanese version. Now, I'm sure most of you know about that nude picture of Ness on page 111. The theory is now that this isn't an editing stunt, but Ness actually walks around nude in Magicant (it's his mind after all).
4.The discovery that Ness is in the upcoming fighting game Super Smash Brothers.
5.The (horrible) realization that Shigesato Itoi has left the Mother 3 project! (hopefully I'm wrong about this.) From what I hear, Miyamoto is taking over now.
6.And finally, the petition to get Mother on Game Boy Color!
It's clear that there is much more to this mere SNES game then meets the eye. However, with these discoveries come the following questions, and my answers:
"Why wasn't Mother ever released in the US?"
- Although Nintendo never really gives an explanation why they don't release games that are popular in Japan, I have a couple of guesses of why Earthbound was never released. For one, RPGs weren't very popular at the time in America (Final Fantasy was unsuccessful here. Which is probably why the two other NES games were never released). So, Nintendo probably figured why they should bring out a game that will just be another failure to them. Another reason is that Earthbound was supposed to come out during the SNES rage (when everyone was obsessed with graphics). And of course, Earthbound has some pretty poor graphics (but good for an NES game). I'm sort of glad Nintendo didn't release it. Because if it was unsuccessful, Nintendo probably wouldn't have released the original EarthBound we know and love today.
"Is Itoi REALLY leaving the Mother 3 project?"
- From what I hear, yes he is. I hope it isn't true though. Miyamoto is now taking over now. I think the reason is that Mother 3 was supposed to be a totally linear RPG (due to the 64DD re-writing capabilities). But because they decided just to have Mother 3 on a cart, all of Itoi's plans went down, just like the 64DD. So I'm assuming, since he couldn't implement any of his ideas, he left the project. Hopefully we'll see more of his work in the future.
"When's Mother for Game Boy Color coming out?"
- People have actually asked me this. The only development of this is the Mother Petition. Hopefully Nintendo will realize that a lot of people want this game (Smash Brothers almost wasn't released if it wasn't for people complaining about how they wanted the game. :) )
The next question should be, "What's the future of this EarthBound legacy?" Who knows! But I'm sure more will be found. That's what earthbound.net is here for! Stay tuned, and thanks for reading.
EarthBound is probably one of the most persistent games in existence today. What I mean by that is, just when you think the game has been drained of its worth, new discoveries and mysteries about the game unfold. These would have to include the following:
1.The discovery of the Mother 1 game (in Japanese). What got me started on this was Carpainter's Website. In fact, I believe this is what started it all. Some attempts were made to get some menus of the game translated. Sadly the plot of the game wasn't understood completely.
2.The discovery of the NES Earthbound prototype. I'm sure you're all familiar with the story behind it. Someone purchased the prototype at an auction from Nintendo for $100. Someone by the name of Kenny Brooks purchased it. I posted on a newsgroup about the game. He then contacted me asking if I liked the EarthBound game. Later, he told me he was the one that had the proto (no one could find it at the time). After a week of hesitation (and desperately wanting to play the game), I gave his address to Neo DemiForce. They borrowed the game for $400, and dumped the ROM image. After some hacking, the game was playable, and dubbed Earthbound Zero. This event was probably bigger then EarthBound itself (to EarthBound fans).
3.After people played Earthbound Zero, many became confused if it related to the original EarthBound (people like me). I figured the answer would lie in the original Mother 2. A site called RPG Realm (Nintendo took it down), had many Japanese ROM images. Groups used these to "retranslate" the game, and compared it to Nintendo's translation (one good example is the Final Fantasy series. Son of a Submariner!). Tomato, has taken up the challenge of playing and retranslating the game. It appears that there is not much of a difference in the major plot of the game (Mother 1 and Mother 2 relation). However, there is a lot more of the game to be played. Do you know about how you can see the Squid Statue in the EB Players guide? Well, it's obviously a pic from the Japanese version. Now, I'm sure most of you know about that nude picture of Ness on page 111. The theory is now that this isn't an editing stunt, but Ness actually walks around nude in Magicant (it's his mind after all).
4.The discovery that Ness is in the upcoming fighting game Super Smash Brothers.
5.The (horrible) realization that Shigesato Itoi has left the Mother 3 project! (hopefully I'm wrong about this.) From what I hear, Miyamoto is taking over now.
6.And finally, the petition to get Mother on Game Boy Color!
It's clear that there is much more to this mere SNES game then meets the eye. However, with these discoveries come the following questions, and my answers:
"Why wasn't Mother ever released in the US?"
- Although Nintendo never really gives an explanation why they don't release games that are popular in Japan, I have a couple of guesses of why Earthbound was never released. For one, RPGs weren't very popular at the time in America (Final Fantasy was unsuccessful here. Which is probably why the two other NES games were never released). So, Nintendo probably figured why they should bring out a game that will just be another failure to them. Another reason is that Earthbound was supposed to come out during the SNES rage (when everyone was obsessed with graphics). And of course, Earthbound has some pretty poor graphics (but good for an NES game). I'm sort of glad Nintendo didn't release it. Because if it was unsuccessful, Nintendo probably wouldn't have released the original EarthBound we know and love today.
"Is Itoi REALLY leaving the Mother 3 project?"
- From what I hear, yes he is. I hope it isn't true though. Miyamoto is now taking over now. I think the reason is that Mother 3 was supposed to be a totally linear RPG (due to the 64DD re-writing capabilities). But because they decided just to have Mother 3 on a cart, all of Itoi's plans went down, just like the 64DD. So I'm assuming, since he couldn't implement any of his ideas, he left the project. Hopefully we'll see more of his work in the future.
"When's Mother for Game Boy Color coming out?"
- People have actually asked me this. The only development of this is the Mother Petition. Hopefully Nintendo will realize that a lot of people want this game (Smash Brothers almost wasn't released if it wasn't for people complaining about how they wanted the game. :) )
The next question should be, "What's the future of this EarthBound legacy?" Who knows! But I'm sure more will be found. That's what earthbound.net is here for! Stay tuned, and thanks for reading.
