Nintendo Knows if EarthBound 64 Is Still Alive
To this day, the N64 still has no RPG's. Well, it has one, but Quest 64 doesn't even deserve to be called an RPG. While not as big as in Japan, the RPG market is getting to be a larger part of the American video games market. Two of 1998's biggest games, Pokemon and Zelda were both on the verge of the RPG genre. Clearly Americans want RPG's! The PlayStation has Dragon Quest and Final Fantasy, and they move many systems. So why doesn't Nintendo of America realize this?
Mother 3 just keeps being delayed. We can't trust the vague release dates people at Nintendo hand at us. Who knows whether it will change again? Clearly, EarthBound 64 is not one of NOA's priorities. Before they said that it would come out in late 1999. At E3, it was not shown, and when asked about when EarthBound 64 was coming out, a Nintendo spokesperson said that it a mid 2000 release date might be more realistic. Nintendo would rather promote Rare and American second parties for the rest of the N64's lifespan. I wish that they would give us some more solid information - tell us whether anyone is even working on it right now.
I bring this up because of the recent Ogre Battle 64 news. Ogre Battle 3 is a Strategy/RPG that Nintendo was originally going to publish for its American release. Like Mother 3, it was delayed and delayed and delayed (and given a slight name change). Instead of announcing that NOA is no longer going to publish it here, they slowly pushed it into the background. Now, they've taken it off of their release calendar. If something doesn't happen, it won't see an American release.
There is another reason why NOA could have decided not to pick up Ogre Battle. The Ogre Battle series has been known to contain adult themes, and story line is not for little kids. NOA may have passed on it in light of the Columbine Massacre. They did say that they would try to cut down on the violence in their games in a press release. Lets hope that Nintendo hasn't already given up on Mother 3. Or at least tell us if they did.
To this day, the N64 still has no RPG's. Well, it has one, but Quest 64 doesn't even deserve to be called an RPG. While not as big as in Japan, the RPG market is getting to be a larger part of the American video games market. Two of 1998's biggest games, Pokemon and Zelda were both on the verge of the RPG genre. Clearly Americans want RPG's! The PlayStation has Dragon Quest and Final Fantasy, and they move many systems. So why doesn't Nintendo of America realize this?
Mother 3 just keeps being delayed. We can't trust the vague release dates people at Nintendo hand at us. Who knows whether it will change again? Clearly, EarthBound 64 is not one of NOA's priorities. Before they said that it would come out in late 1999. At E3, it was not shown, and when asked about when EarthBound 64 was coming out, a Nintendo spokesperson said that it a mid 2000 release date might be more realistic. Nintendo would rather promote Rare and American second parties for the rest of the N64's lifespan. I wish that they would give us some more solid information - tell us whether anyone is even working on it right now.
I bring this up because of the recent Ogre Battle 64 news. Ogre Battle 3 is a Strategy/RPG that Nintendo was originally going to publish for its American release. Like Mother 3, it was delayed and delayed and delayed (and given a slight name change). Instead of announcing that NOA is no longer going to publish it here, they slowly pushed it into the background. Now, they've taken it off of their release calendar. If something doesn't happen, it won't see an American release.
There is another reason why NOA could have decided not to pick up Ogre Battle. The Ogre Battle series has been known to contain adult themes, and story line is not for little kids. NOA may have passed on it in light of the Columbine Massacre. They did say that they would try to cut down on the violence in their games in a press release. Lets hope that Nintendo hasn't already given up on Mother 3. Or at least tell us if they did.
