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• Talkin' RPGs With Itoi

  Shigesato Itoi, a true Renaissance Man of Japan's entertainment world, is mostly known to us gamers as the mastermind behind the Mother RPG series. And it's his iconoclastic, "outsider" view of the video game medium that makes his projects so unique and cult-friendly; someone deeply entrenched in the world of RPG development is far more likely to make a derivative Tales of game than anything approaching the level of Itoi's imagination. With how creatively successful the Mother games have been, it's surprising that developers haven't tried bringing in more outside artists to derail the tunnel-vision quite a few franchises and genres currently suffer from. Thanks to Itoi, I was deeply engrossed in Mother 3 over the fall and winter months of 2008, mainly because it took such a different approach than the other Mother games; rather than having a huge, worldwide scope (the usual method of most RPGs), the final entry in the Mother trilogy scaled things down to a much smaller and more detailed world that eventually changed (for the worse) over time. It was a fascinating approach that led me to care more about the game's world and inhabitants, all the way up until the heartbreaking ending. The reason I've been thinking about Itoi lately--aside from the fact that he's so dreamy--relates to a few translated interviews with the jack of all trades posted by the equally-dreamy Tomato over at Earthbound Central. The interviews may be framed by a larger discussion of Animal Crossing, but Itoi still has a few interesting things to say about RPG game design. Read More... Posted Apr 22 2009, 04:05 PM by Bob Mackey with | with no comments Filed under: earthbound, mother 3, mother 2, bob mackey, mother, shigesato itoi

• Why Were Game Magazines So Cruel to Earthbound?

  Earthbound Central has been collecting old magazine reviews for Earthbound, circa Summer 1995. Thus far, the stable includes Gamepro, Game Players, EGM, and most recently, Video Games & Computer Entertainment. I recently blamed Gamepro for destroying any interest my fifteen-year-old self had in Earthbound, as I well should: their review was wretched. But having looked back at Earthbound Central's library of horror, I've come to realise that Gamepro is not exclusively to blame for turning me off to Ness' adventure. American reviewers despised this poor game. EGM's John Gurka reserved a coveted place beside the Throne of God for mentioning that the storyline rivals that of Final Fantasy VI, but even he can't resist sniffing at the “Nintendo-era graphics.” Every other review sneers at the very same, berating Earthbound's lovingly put-together world as “childish,” “cutesy,” and “McDonald's Playland meets Bobby's World.” (So, which ultimately endeared itself to the world? Earthbound or Bobby's World?) Earthbound is looked upon as one of gaming history's least appreciated games. The farts-n-pizza ad campaign didn't help, but the reviewers of olde probably didn't have them in mind when they snapped off the game and started banging on the keyboard. Why did Earthbound get shafted in the first place? Read More... Posted Apr 03 2009, 11:20 PM by Nadia Oxford with | with 2 comment(s) Filed under: snes, earthbound, retro, gamepro, nadia oxford, egm, reviews, jrpgs

• The Mother 3 Handbook: Better than Advertised

  Ever since I found the Starmen.net community (then Earthbound.net) a decade ago, I've been amazed by both the devotion and productivity of the insane (in a good, fun way) Mother/Earthbound fans who call the site home. Since the beginning of Starmen.net, the community has certainly been through its ups and downs, from the disappointment of Mother 3's original cancellation to the elation caused by the announcement that the game was in the works for the Game Boy Advance--then, back to disappointment again when we found out Nintendo had no intention of publishing it here. The Mother 3 translation released last October was unquestionably the group's biggest labor of love; thanks to talented superhumans like Tomato, we Earthbound fans were given a complete localization of a fantastic game far more polished than the work produced by so-called professionals. Unfortunately, it looks like the Mother 3 translation now has a bit of competition in the category of "most ambitious, insane, and amazing Earthbound projects to reach completion:" now that I finally have the Mother 3 Handbook in my hands, it's impossible to decide what work is more mind-blowing. Read More... Posted Mar 30 2009, 02:00 PM by Bob Mackey with | with 1 comment(s) Filed under: fan project, earthbound, mother 3, bob mackey, mother, fan translations, fan art, fangamer

• Excitement Time: A New EarthBound on the Way?

  We here at 61FPS looove Earthbound. And from personal experience I can tell you that being a mega-fan of the series is an extremely bi-polar experience; we have our good moments, such as the recent Mother 3 translation, but we also have our bad moments, like every time Nintendo completely ignores the possibility of us seeing any Mother games on the Wii's Virtual Console. Now, we Mother fans are seemingly beset with more bad than good news, but a recent report from Earthbound Central may contain some of the best news we've heard in a looong time. In an article in the latest Weekly Famitsu about developer Level 5's unfortunately-named digital download service, Roid, the magazine hints at a possible new Mother game--though it doesn't drop any names. Here's what the amazing man behind EBC has to say about all of this: The article doesn’t say anything about the screenshot in particular, except asking, “Could this be THAT RPG?!” and that really big-title names are scheduled to be released on it. It’s not clear if this screenshot is just concept art or what, though. If you know Japanese, you can do an interactive demo of how the Roid interface works here, but there are no game demos or anything of interest in relation to this image. People didn't seem to believe Tomato's initial post, so, in Earthbound Central tradition, he overanalyzed the single, blurry picture of this mystery game to show how much of it was similar to EarthBound. Read More... Posted Mar 26 2009, 11:00 AM by Bob Mackey with | with 2 comment(s) Filed under: earthbound, mother 3, mother 2, bob mackey, famitsu, mother, roid, level 5

• Reminder: Those Mother 3 Handbooks Are Still Coming

  Remember the Mother 3 translation, released late last October? We at 61FPS couldn't stop talking about it--until that court order limited our Earthbound/Mother posts to only a mere dozen a week. Thankfully, sites like Earthbound Central (a must-visit) exist to fill the needs of the most psychotic Mother fans out there, but that doesn't mean there isn't franchise-related news worth reporting about here. Consider the Mother 3 Handbook produced by the devoted folks at FanGamer, for instance; we were all excited about it last Fall, but as its release date slipped into March, most of us have probably forgotten that we dropped 20 bucks on the guide many moons ago. So, as we reach the final days of March, where exactly is the Mother 3 Handbook? For all those concerned, a blog post on FanGamer's front page this week has confirmed that all of the books weren't lost in some freak postal accident. Read More... Posted Mar 20 2009, 03:00 PM by Bob Mackey with | with 2 comment(s) Filed under: fan project, earthbound, mother 3, bob mackey, mother, fan translations, fan art

• What's In My MP3 Player: Mother 3+'s "Pollyanna"

  There exists a song that's a perfect accompaniment to the sunrise on the first warm day of the year. That song, as I discovered though an example of ideal iPod shuffling, is “Pollyanna” from the Mother 3+ soundtrack. Pollyanna is one of a few pieces of music that recur through all three games in the Mother/Earthbound series. The revision done for the Mother 3+ soundtrack—which you can buy on iTunes (do it)—is very pretty and, as I already stated, God's own theme song for springtime. However, I dare say that the first occurrence of the song (Mother for the Famicom) is the most impressive. The 8-bit era wasn't lacking for ambitious and memorable game music, but retro-Pollyanna is especially heartfelt and spunky. The story for Mother was a bit less structured than most Famicom RPG offerings: not aimless, but not as urgent as “Holy crap, a Dragon Lord draws near.” Pollyanna, which serves as the basic world map theme for Mother, reflects the laid-back start to Ninten's adventure. The name of the song is telling in itself: “Pollyanna” is a reference to the hyper-positive lead girl of a popular children's book initially published in 1913 (it's still being printed and adapted today). When things were looking down, Pollyanna played the “Glad Game,” which allowed her to see the good bad situations. “Pollyanna” is even a term in the English language that refers to cheerful optimism. Read More... Posted Mar 18 2009, 11:29 PM by Nadia Oxford with | with 2 comment(s) Filed under: earthbound, mother 3, game music, retro, nadia oxford, mother, what's in my mp3 player, pollyanna

• Behold The Half-Assed Review That Steered Me Away From Earthbound

  Gather around, ladies and gentlemen. It's time to share my secret shame. Come for the story, stay for the punch, the pie, and a chance to wallow in the lingering stink of failure. When I was young enough to believe in honesty, I relied on game magazine reviews to tell me whether or not a game was worth a purchase. I've already gone over how many Great Canadian Funbux typically went into the purchase of one cartridge game, so you can probably forgive me for doing my research. Unfortunately, I kind of put myself at a disadvantage by taking to heart the opinions of only one magazine: Gamepro. To be fair, I have to admit that I wasn't steered wrong too often. If not for the rave review I read in the November 1994 issue of the magazine, I would have bypassed the majesty of Final Fantasy VI. But it was my faith in Gamepro that made me turn up my nose at Earthbound until just last year. While bypassing Earthbound because of a magazine review was a big mistake on my part, it wasn't like I'd boiled a puppy or cast an unforgivable curse on a baby. Earthbound's genius was snubbed by a lot of SNES owners; that's why the fandom has since been driven half-mad with regret. No, my problem is that Earthbound Central has scanned and archived the review that kept me away from Itoi's masterpiece...and I can't believe that I was swayed by such an impotent clump of...assumptions. Read More... Posted Mar 09 2009, 11:31 PM by Nadia Oxford with | with 4 comment(s) Filed under: review, snes, rpg, earthbound, retro, super nintendo, 16-bit, writing, gamepro, nadia oxford, games journalism

• Unsolicited Scares: Threed, Zombie Central

  All this talk about Earthbound and related disappointments made me hungry for a Skip Sandwich DX. I ate the sandwich with a mayo packet and began remembering what parts of Earthbound I liked best. Earthbound is an unsettling game for a number of reasons. First, the party consists entirely of kids, and even though kids have a deserved reputation for never shutting up, Ness and his pals are quiet, stoic and very much focused on the task at hand. Second, the threat they're up against is ethereal, but Giygas' influence on the grown-up world is unmistakable: adults' greed is amplified, corruption amongst authorities is rampant, and there's that one town with the whole cult thing going on. The third and possibly most potent reason for Earthbound's dark humour is its masterful blending of innocent colour and mood-setting music. If something bad is going down in a scenario, the sound will tell you before the visuals do. Any game that starts you off investigating an unidentified falling object in the dead of night with disjointed alien percussion as background music is a game that's not going to deliver warm fuzzies if it doesn't bloody well feel like it. Obviously, Earthbound isn't meant to make your heart stop at any one moment—final battle excluded, maybe—but I've come to think of the party's visit to the town of Threed as Resident Evil Crayola.. Zombies and ghosts have taken over the city, but they're pretty goofy looking critters (less so with Handsome Tom and Smilin' Sam; sorry, I hate puppets). Even so, the darkness surrounding the town is oppressive, and the background music hardly indicates that Ness and Paula are attending a kids' Halloween party. Read More... Posted Feb 19 2009, 05:26 PM by Nadia Oxford with | with 2 comment(s) Filed under: snes, rpg, earthbound, game music, retro, 16-bit, nadia oxford, virtual console, unsolicited scares, threed

• The Earthbound Legal Conundrum In-Depth

  The recent news about Earthbound never coming to the Virtual Console because of legal reasons has struck up a chorus of “But--” and “How come--”. People are understandably upset that Ness's adventure is going to remain in eBay Hell forever, and they want solid answers about why this wretched thing is happening. There still aren't any solid answers, but the good man in charge of Mother 3's recent fan translation, Tomato, has put together an incredibly in-depth list of reasons why Nintendo is erring on the side of caution. Put in simplest terms, the Internet has made it easier than ever to conjure reasons for an IP lawsuit, and Nintendo already has numerous lawsuits hanging off it at any one time like parasitic fish on the belly of a whale. Even a company like Capcom likely doesn't see half the number of lawsuits Nintendo does, thus explaining why it shrugged off the release of Mega Man and Mega Man 2 on the Virtual Console, despite numerous musical “tributes” in both games. As Tomato put it: To avoid crap lawsuits, Nintendo has a team of legal people who have to go through everything Nintendo plans to release and look for anything that can cause potential lawsuits. Then these things are fixed if necessary. The point is: they’re trying to avoid lawsuits in the first place. It doesn’t matter if they could clearly successfully win lawsuits brought against them; they’d still lose money in the process. Having this team of legal people is cheaper than putting up with every lawsuit that every crazy money-hungry company hits them with. Remember Star Tropics, an 8-bit RPG by Nintendo? When we were kids, Mike pelted his enemies with a Yo-Yo. On the Virtual Console, his Yo-Yo became a “Star” because some Canadian company owns the rights to the Yo-Yo name. Likely said Canadians are too busy drinking and racing moose to care about an old Nintendo game, but Nintendo figures, why take the risk? Read More... Posted Feb 17 2009, 11:13 PM by Nadia Oxford with | with 1 comment(s) Filed under: snes, rpg, mega man, earthbound, mother 2, fan stuff, nadia oxford, mother, legal issues

• Abandon All Hope: No Earthbound for the Virtual Console

  The Mother/Earthbound fandom is the loudest on the Internet. It's also the unluckiest. Earthbound was a commercial failure on the SNES. Mother 3 just ain't never gonna doggy-paddle its way here (officially). The first Mother game was dressed up for America, but was pulled at the last minute. And now it's looking like Earthbound won't be granted its long-awaited heroes' rest on the Virtual Console. “Oh God. What now?” The problem is beautiful in its irony: because it's such a thorough, loving tribute to the best and most creative bits of pop culture, Earthbound is also a fat target for copyright lawyers, IP theft paranoia and the bureaucracy bred by the same culture (that's irony, right? Right?). Earthbound's soundtrack alone uses a lot of samples from other songs, from The Who to the Monty Python theme. Shigesato Itoi makes no secret about his love for the Beatles, with John Lennon's “Mother” being not only the series' namesake, but its very foundations. Unfortunately, Apple Corps' sense of humour is about as sharp and attractive as a wet dish rag. Every IP lawyer in the world carries a list in his or her pocket that's titled, “I'm Just Not Going To Fuck With This,” and Apple Corps is on the top of each list. Read More... Posted Feb 16 2009, 11:14 PM by Nadia Oxford with | with 9 comment(s) Filed under: nintendo, wii, snes, rpg, earthbound, mother 3, nadia oxford, mother, virtual console, pop culture, shigesato itoi

• On the Importance of World Maps

  One of the major reasons JRPGs lost me a little during the last generation was the stripping away of one of the genre's most defining features: the explorable world map, which was taken out of many games in favor of less resource-intensive travel options. Now, I'm still a little conflicted about this; on one hand, I do like the intuitive menu-based exploration of games like Persona, and I've repeatedly learned (especially this fall with Opoona) that making a player traverse large expanses of land is an excellent way to pointlessly stretch out a game for dozens of hours. On the other hand, including a Super Mario World-ish map in an RPG always felt a little cheap and cop-outey to me; when I saw this choice show up in Final Fantasy X, I assumed that Square had signed some sort of contract with The Devil himself (little did I know they had done this a few months prior with Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within). It seems that the whole world map issue is entirely about fooling players into thinking your game world is more than a bunch of "rooms" stuck together, all while making sure not to bore them with interminable traveling. It's a tricky balance. Read More... Posted Feb 09 2009, 12:00 PM by Bob Mackey with | with 4 comment(s) Filed under: rpg, dragon quest, earthbound, jrpg, bob mackey, square enix, design

• The Problem With Video Game Apparel

  Even though video games invade nearly every part of my life, they're rarely found wrapped around my body. Okay, there was this brief three-year period in my life--roughly around the time I worked at GameStop--where I wore nothing but promotional t-shirts and blue jeans, but at some point I realized that oversized Eternal Darkness gear wasn't exactly winning over the ladies. So I promptly gave away all of my video-game wear and vowed to never return until someone, somewhere could make nerdy clothes that weren't entirely so... nerdy. Read More... Posted Jan 27 2009, 12:00 PM by Bob Mackey with | with 8 comment(s) Filed under: earthbound, bob mackey, merchandise, fangamer, fashion

• What's In My MP3 Player: Earthbound "Snowbound" OC Remix

  “Snowman,” the tune that has carried the Mother/Earthbound games through its wintry spots since the first title on the Famicom, is one of my favourite pieces of game music. I actually heard the song in Super Smash Bros Brawl some months before I played Earthbound and had a name for the it. It's a peaceful bit of music, if not a little melancholy—again, my first encounter with Snowman was the background music of the Abandoned Zoo level in the Subspace Emissary, and it wasn't a cheerful visit (If someone were to make a list of the least joyous places on Earth, I imagine an “Abandoned Zoo” would be close up there with a broken-down Disneyland inhabited only by snaggle-toothed hobos and sick dogs). I rough out five months of the year in a harsh, dead climate, so the sleepy warmth of the Winters boarding school in Earthbound, accompanied by a soft version of “Snowman,” produced an atmosphere I appreciated. My brother believes winter exists to make snowboarders happy, my dad believes winter exists to swear at, but I believe winter exists to wind us down, bring us closer to our friends and family in warm, happy gatherings. Until the cabin fever sets in and we kill each other. Read More... Posted Jan 23 2009, 10:55 PM by Nadia Oxford with | with 2 comment(s) Filed under: super smash bros brawl, earthbound, game music, nadia oxford, mother, what's in my mp3 player

• What's In My MP3 Player: The Mother Mashup

  If it wasn't clear by this point, I basically use 61FPS as my platform to talk about the Mother series (known to us Yanks as Earthbound) as much as humanly possible. But because of my professionalism, I'm forced to at least make my Mother chatter relevant; otherwise, I'm sure you'd be reading the 100th or so blog post about why I'm so obsessed with an obscure Japanese RPG series--and I swear I've only made 80 entries on the subject so far. That being said, today I bring you exciting--and more importantly--not completely irrelevant--news from the mother fan community. SpamM, a member of the fan music community Earthbound Crew, has just released an awesome 40-minute mashup named Earthbound Zero, which mixes the original Mother soundtrack with some highlights from the history of hip-hop. Unsurprisingly (to me, anyway), Keiichi Suzuki and Hirokazu Tanaka's funky, catchy soundtrack serves as the perfect backbone to music that couldn't possibly be more different. Go here to download it for free, and get ready for a completely unexpected experience. Related Links: What's in my MP3 Player: Shadow's Theme What's in my MP3 Player: Endless Skies What's in my MP3 Player: Kindred Read More... Posted Jan 22 2009, 08:30 PM by Bob Mackey with | with no comments Filed under: ost, earthbound, bob mackey, mother, what's in my mp3 player, mashup

• Whatcha Listening To?: 1-Up's Retronauts Podcast Covers the History of Earthbound

  It's a double dose of Earthbound today and a double dose of video game podcasts. Deal with it. Read More... Posted Jan 21 2009, 06:00 PM by Cole Stryker with | with no comments Filed under: 1up, earthbound, mother 3, podcasts, retronauts, whatcha listening to?: cole stryker

• The Best of Wintry Video Game Music

  When you live in something called "the snow belt," your tolerance for inclement weather wholly determines your sanity. We've gotten so much of the fluffy white stuff recently that traveling anywhere in my town now involves following a carved-out snow trench to its logical end, all while hoping you don't end up in another state or the fabled Canadas. But even with nature trying to snuff me out under a thick pillow of precipitation, I've gone through most of my life without hating this time of the year; in fact, winter-themed video game levels have always been a favorite of mine, despite their irritating qualities. And for some reason, they always seem to have great music--which I'd like to share with you today. Read More... Posted Jan 19 2009, 12:00 PM by Bob Mackey with | with 6 comment(s) Filed under: ost, music, final fantasy vi, super mario 64, donkey kong country, earthbound, bob mackey, soundtrack

• Virtual Console New Year's Resolutions

  Inevitably, any post you read anywhere about Virtual Console releases is going to contain some passive-aggressive bitching about what's still not available on Nintendo's digital download service. But I'm not saying that I don't do it, or that it's not undeserved; we're currently in the third year of weekly releases, and there are still some pretty big gaps in the Virtual Console library. So, as a public service to Nintendo, I've decided to offer some suggestions for titles we definitely want to see released on the Virtual Console in 2009; for my sake, consider them New Year's Resolutions.  It was the easiest framing device to come up with for this concept. The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask - The much-maligned Majora's Mask is the bastard son of the Legend of Zelda franchise; released just when PS2 fever was at its most insane levels, this installment in one of Nintendo's most-beloved series left a bad taste in the mouths of gamers who really just wanted to play more Ocarina of Time.  But those who were so quick to judge the time mechanic and oppressive atmosphere of Majora's didn't stick around to find out that it was just the kind of shake-up the Zelda series needed.  So far, the only way to play it on the Wii is through a buggy Zelda collection disc bundled with GameCubes circa 2003; and really, I think it's time for a modern audience to get their mitts on this game. Read More... Posted Jan 06 2009, 04:00 PM by Bob Mackey with | with 6 comment(s) Filed under: wii, castlevania 3, earthbound, bob mackey, virtual console, majora’s mask, super punch out

• Some Games Nadia Played In 2008 Instead of Working: Mother--Awwww...

  Mackey stole my big idea to declare Mother 3 one of my favourite games of the year--if not my very favourite of the year--despite it being a two-year-old Game Boy Advance title. I was going to be a rebel. I was going to spit out of the side of my mouth and tell you I don’t give a rat’s ass about your opinion on my taste in games, see? Oh well, it’s good to know that I’m not the only one who thinks Mother 3 deserves recognition amongst this year‘s shiny big-budget games. Mackey and I need to stop putting things off, get married and name our twins Lucas and Claus regardless of whether or not they’re male. All right, time to stop saying stupid things for the sake of being funny. I’m going to be serious and stupid, now. Mother 3 is the kind of game that reinforces my love for the pastime. When I finished it, I said, “God damn I am so glad I experienced that. I’m happy I’m a gamer.” Mackey and I already have about twenty thousand Mother 3 essays between us that covers everything from the game’s emotion-driven story to the rhythm based battle system that involves you in every fight; no more turbo-mashing the “A” button while simultaneously trying to please your girlfriend with the other hand. Mild spoilers follow the jump. Read More... Posted Dec 23 2008, 10:17 PM by Nadia Oxford with | with 2 comment(s) Filed under: earthbound, mother 3, game boy advance, nadia oxford, top 10, game stories

• My Top 10 of 2008 in No Particular Order: Mother 3

  It's the end of another year, and that can only mean one thing: it's list season. Inevitably, you're going to see top ten lists by the thousands; and, as an official member of the enthusiast press, I'm afraid I can't violate my directive. But, to make things a little more interesting, I've decided to assemble my 10 favorite games of this year in non-hierarchical form because--let's face facts--it's hard to pick a favorite. And unlike other top 10 lists, this one will be doled out to you in piecemeal for--oh wait, we've reach the end of the list! Thanks for playing. I know, I know; Mother 3 didn't come out in 2008--its Japanese release date was April of 2006.  But none of that matters when you're a love-starved Earthbound fan looking for his next fix--and besides, who's writing this list, you or me?  Sorry for getting a bit emotional there, but I can't help it; Mother 3 is a game worth getting emotional about.  Finally getting a sequel to something you've loved for over thirteen years is a pretty monumental event, especially when said sequel doesn't pee all over what made its predecessor good in the first place.  Mother 3 may be tad different than Earthbound, but in keeping with the tradition of the series, it's completely unlike any game out there--despite being built on a very old, Dragon Quest-y foundation.  And thanks to the heroic efforts of Tomato and his translation team, Mother 3 might just be my favorite game of the year.  I now regret never ranking my list entries. Read More... Posted Dec 23 2008, 12:00 PM by Bob Mackey with | with 1 comment(s) Filed under: earthbound, mother 3, mother 2, bob mackey, mother, top 10, top 10 of 2008

• What's in my MP3 Player: Earthbound "Bus" and "Funky Bookas"

  So I was sifting through my music collection, picking out some tracks to burn onto a CD I could listen to while driving to work and I came across this very short and very sweet piece from Earthbound: Bus. It's a funky little surf rock piece that will definitely make my commute to work a little more lively. And just because I like you, here's another Earthbound remix: Funky Bookas. This one sports an electric Arabic vibe for quite a unique sound. Both of these remixes were created by “Shadow”, who really needs to produce some more excellent work. Read More... Posted Dec 15 2008, 04:00 PM by Amber Ahlborn with | with no comments Filed under: amber ahlborn, earthbound, game music, remix, whats in my mp3 player

• Hey, RPG Hero: Go Home and Be a Family Man

  So on Saturday I indulged in my weekly Mother 3 play session-- ("Oh God, she's talking about Mother 3 again, you sneak up behind her with this piano wire while I slip this cyanide into Mackey's coffee.") Please let me live. I don't know when I'm going to be so motivated to pick a game's brain ever again. Mother 3 is unlike any RPG I've ever played--and for the simplest reasons. This, more than anything, is what fascinates me about the game. Shigesato Itoi realises that the easiest way to get people to love your characters is to treat them like human beings. For some reason, woefully few of his fellow RPG designers have picked that up. It's rare to find an RPG cast that everyone can relate to on a human level. Mother 3's world-saving brigade casts ground-shaking magic and racks up experience points and throws giant staples at enemies like any other JRPG (okay, the staples, not so much), but Itoi wants us to feel close to them. So he draws us in by being realstic about the one thing that unites even Superman with the common Earthling: family. Here there be spoilers. (Oh and don't feed Mackey any cyanide. Thank you. His parents appreciate your restraint.) Read More... Posted Nov 24 2008, 07:35 PM by Nadia Oxford with | with 5 comment(s) Filed under: rpg, earthbound, mother 3, gba, jrpg, nadia oxford, shigesato itoi, famly

• OST: Mother

  Everyone knows that Earthbound has some godly music, and we've all recently come to discover that Mother 3 is no slouch in this department, either. But what about the first Mother, AKA Earthbound Zero? Sadly, this is the one game in the trilogy that's almost always overlooked; it may be the least fun to play out of all three Mothers, but the soundtrack by Keiichi Suzuki and Hirokazu Tanaka helped lay the foundation for some of Earthbound's best tracks. American gamers had no idea back in 1995, but the sleepy, heartwarming music of Ness' house is a direct callback to one of the overworld themes of the first Mother; makes sense, given the connection with childhood homes and nostalgia. The greatest--and at the same time, strangest--thing about the first Mother is without a doubt its Japan-only (duh) soundtrack.  Instead of putting out the simple NES tunes on a CD, the producers went one step further by creating "complete" versions of Suzuki and Tanaka's songs with full instrumentation and lyrics.  I'm not going to lie; most of these lyrics are pure Velveeta straight out of the late 80s--but at least a native English speaker is singing them.  Embarrassing or not, these songs give us a peek into an alternate universe where Mother was a Disney musical instead of a Japanese 8-bit video game. And notably, two of the OST's songs are far more sweeping and epic than any Celine Dion Titanic single could ever be. Read More... Posted Nov 21 2008, 11:00 AM by Bob Mackey with | with 1 comment(s) Filed under: ost, earthbound, mother 3, mother 2, bob mackey, mother

• "Have You Heard the News? He's Gay!"

  I'm still not done with Mother 3. You could say I'm savouring it (something Mackey can surely appreciate). I'm coming close to the end though, so I'm in an adequate position to talk about the game on message boards. This is an especially fun way to waste time because Mother's papa, Shigesato Itoi, never struck me as a convential game designer. He's a writer first, something that I think comes out clearly in his games. For instance, I was talking with a dapper gentleman in a tophat about some of Itoi's characters in Earthbound and Mother 3. Both games feature at least one gay character. This is nothing new in Japanese-developed games and anime, where gays and transvestites serve the same function as our own laughtracks. Everyone laugh at the flamboyant man fretting over his shoes and dress! It's funny 'cause men aren't supposed to do that! The difference with Itoi's characters is that the player is not really supposed to laugh at them. They're vital to the plot, but they just so happen to be gay. Read More... Posted Nov 13 2008, 07:19 PM by Nadia Oxford with | with 7 comment(s) Filed under: earthbound, mother 3, mother 2, nadia oxford, homosexuality, shigesato itoi, gay characters, gay

• Earthbound in 3D

  With writer Shigesato Itoi calling it quits with the Mother franchise after Mother 3, it won't be long until we start seeing remakes--or maybe that's just wishful thinking. As charming as the original Earthbound (Mother 2) was, those 3D renders of in-games towns Onett and Fourside in Super Smash Bros. Melee were enough to make any EB fan squeal with glee. In my wildest of video game-related daydreams, I've often thought of an Earthbound remake, made completely in 3D, with the characters looking just like their little clay models did in the strategy guide. Some men dream, while others do; like YouTube user cswavely, who has painstakingly rendered a few of Earthbound's town in glorious 3D. Even with that whole new axis, they feel completely authentic to the original game's stubby sprites; but I'll let you judge for yourself: More videos after the cut. Read More... Posted Oct 28 2008, 04:00 PM by Bob Mackey with | with 3 comment(s) Filed under: earthbound, mother 3, fan projects, mother 2, fan stuff, fandom, remakes, bob mackey, mother, shigesato itoi

• On Renaming Characters

  As part of my generally anal-retentive gaming habits, I never rename characters in RPGs.  In my eyes, anything other than the original, intended names would be sacrilege; even at the age of twelve, you could find me correcting the all-caps names of my characters in Final Fantasy III to a more sensible case setting. For me, it's always been about immersion. As creative as I can be, it just feels so wrong to go against the designers' original choices, even when I'm given the option to change those choices. Maybe watching my stepdad play through Final Fantasy II starring my family warped me somehow--after all, he made me Kain. When I'm given an array of ready-to-be-names blank slates, I typically don't get too wacky. The guys are typically named after me and my friends, while the single girl character (there's usually only one) is reserved for my current girlfriend or possible girlfriend-to-be (god willing). I'll admit that games like Earthbound, with relatively personality-free main characters, also fall into this habit of mine, as do games like Secret of Mana, where I learn that the characters have names years after the fact--and also that these names are very dumb. In the era of voice-acting, renaming characters is no longer the norm. The awkward, off-putting, just-chugged-a-bottle-of-NyQuil conversations of Final Fantasy X were made all the more creepy by the simple fact that the other characters could not say Tidus' name--after all, you might've changed it. Years later, Dragon Quest VIII handled this problem much better; the name you'd chosen for your character still appeared in the written dialogue, but characters would say things like "my boy" and "guv'nah" instead of the offending proper noun. Here, I could name my character "Bob" and not worry about the consequences. So where does everyone else fall on this issue? I can't be the only one who feels compelled to stick to the original names I'm given, no matter how asinine they may be. Read More... Posted Oct 27 2008, 08:30 PM by Bob Mackey with | with 9 comment(s) Filed under: final fantasy vi, earthbound, final fantasy iv, bob mackey, character names

• The Reason Why Mother 3 Never Came to America

  None. There is no good reason why Mother 3 never came to America. Oh, there are a couple of valid reasons why we never officially received Earthbound's follow-up, but they're not necessarily good. The easiest blame can be laid on finances. We are elbow-deep in the era of the Nintendo DS right now and the heyday of the Game Boy Advance is long over. Nintendo might get away with releasing all three Mother games in a DS collection, but that's obviously not going to happen in a grand hurry. By now, the universe knows that the original Earthbound bombed on the Super Nintendo. Nintendo did a beautiful, loving job with the packaging and translation, but dropped the marketing ball hard enough to cannonball clear to China. Earthbound was marketed as a cheesy science fiction game brimming with toilet humour, which it wasn't. Alas, a mass-mailing of scratch-and-sniff stickers made to smell like rancid pizza will do a lot to kill an appetite for game. Besides, after experiencing the majesty of Final Fantasy VI and Chrono Trigger, why would anyone want to fight against giant piles of barf? I sure didn't. Earthbound tanked, Nintendo made up their mind about American tastes and Mother 3 never had a chance at a ticket to America. Since the release of the translation patch, however, more than one person has claimed that maybe Nintendo's fear of another financial disaster wasn't the only thing keeping Mother 3 from the States. There was suddenly talk about in-game content being inappropriate for American audiences: the dark story, the characters (oh, the characters) and whatnot. God knows Japan has thousands of little quirks that only those born under its flag can truly appreciate, but I don't see how Mother 3 is one of them. Read More... Posted Oct 27 2008, 05:35 AM by Nadia Oxford with | with 3 comment(s) Filed under: snes, earthbound, mother 3, super nintendo, retail, censorship, game boy advance, nadia oxford, profits

• Mother 3 Makes Me Feel Human Again

  Nadia's recent post got me thinking (and sniffling) about a game I've been playing--and a game I hope you're not sick of hearing about yet--Mother 3. The Japanese advertising campaign for Mother 3 declared the long-awaited sequel to be "strange, funny, and heartrending." While I haven't exactly been shedding tears over Mother 3, I can at least say that it's remarkably sad; and shockingly, scenario writer Shigesato Itoi has made his game "heartrending" in a completely sincere way. Forget about melodramatic depictions of flower girls being impaled; the tiny sprites of Mother 3 have been able to convey more emotion than any other game in recent memory. Spoilers for Chapters 1-3 coming up. This Japanese Mother 3 commercial should provide a nice buffer: Spoilers after the cut... Read More... Posted Oct 22 2008, 01:00 PM by Bob Mackey with | with 1 comment(s) Filed under: earthbound, mother 3, gba, bob mackey, shigesato itoi, emotions

• The Mother 3 Strategy Guide: Fandom Done Right

  Since I've had the chance to play it all weekend, I can say that I've been completely impressed by the Mother 3 translation project--so much so that the kind people at 61FPS are probably going to have to send people to my house to get me to stop blogging about it (this also happened with Mega Man 9). But until hired goons show up at my door, I'd like to write about the upcoming Mother 3 strategy guide, which shows just as much devotion, hard work, and obsessiveness (the good kind) as the translation itself. In keeping with the theme of the amazing (though mostly unecessary) strategy guide originally bundled with the American release of Earthbound, the fine people at Starmen.net and Fangamer have been working on a Mother 3 strategy guide in a pseudo-travelogue format--though this is no paltry .txt file uploaded hastily to GameFAQs.  We're looking at a full-color, roughly 200 page tome of Mother 3 goodness, fully illustrated (and clay-modeled) by devoted fans, that won't ship until early next year. And if you've got a small amount of disposable income like me, you can head on over to Fangamer's Mother 3 handbook page and give up a mere twenty dollars to make yourself happier in the future.  As a bonus, you'll also get a Franklin Badge keychain that probably won't ward off lightning.  I wouldn't try it, anyway. Read More... Posted Oct 20 2008, 11:00 AM by Bob Mackey with | with 2 comment(s) Filed under: earthbound, mother 3, translation, bob mackey, merchandise, strategy guides, fangamer

• What I'm Playing This Weekend: Mother 3. Doi.

  When we log onto the wide, wide Internet and talk about the games we loved as children, it's inevitable that a mean person will say, "That's just nostalgia talking. Game X was actually badly designed/badly written/infected with rabies." Then you break down and cry because you know it's true, at least to a point. But having only experienced Earthbound for the first time a mere few months ago, there is nothing nostalgic about my naked, shameless love for that game. I wholly believe that video games try way too hard to be art, but there are only a rare few titles that I would be comfortable about shooting into space to represent the human species as a whole. Earthbound is one, a lovely story about growing up in the shadow of world-devouring elder gods. I am fortunate because my wait for the Mother 3 translation has been short compared to long-established Earthbound fans'. Even so, it's been a nail-biting few months; I checked the site every day, poured over the trailers, marvelled at Tomato's work. Finally, the wait is over. Read More... Posted Oct 17 2008, 08:57 PM by Nadia Oxford with | with 8 comment(s) Filed under: earthbound, mother 3, fan translation, nadia oxford, what i'm playing this weekend

• THE MOTHER 3 TRANSLATION IS OUT

  I have to apologize for posting about the Mother 3 translation project twice in one week, but this post contains actual news, as opposed to just speculation. Today--right now--you can finally grab the Mother 3 translation patch; though how you choose to use it is entirely up to you (Note: it cannot possibly be used for evil). Here's the newest trailer, in case you still need convincing: I can't think of a better way to end this post than with project lead Tomato's comments about this project finally wrapping up: After more than 13 years of waiting, the sequel to EarthBound is now in English! I hope fans of the series, new and old, will find MOTHER 3 to be just as unique and interesting as its predecessors. We tried our very best to make a worthy translation, and I think we came close to hitting that mark. With any luck, the translation will seem just as "strange, funny, and heartrending" as the original Japanese version. MOTHER 3 is filled with secrets and rarities. Characters say new things after even the tiniest of events. Take your time to explore the game's intriguing world - you won't be disappointed! And when you're done, be sure to come back here, because we've prepared many more goodies for fans to check out and enjoy post-game! Enjoy your time in the world of MOTHER 3! Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to waste a significant portion of my Friday. Go and grab the patch HERE if you didn't do so immediately. Read More... Posted Oct 17 2008, 12:00 PM by Bob Mackey with | with 5 comment(s) Filed under: earthbound, mother 3, translation, gba, bob mackey, rom hacks