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NSO Mother 3 is out on Nintendo Switch Online today...in Japan.

Hylianhero777 said:
This stuff is so insanely overblown, some edits to text that probably would have been done in localization anyway and like two sprites and it would be fine. They have the lua script stuff for this now, it would not be hard.
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There's such doom and noise surrounding this title, and I think there's a lot of people who echo other comments about the game they've seen online, and I'm not biting. I think it is incredibly overblown and I still believe it's going to get a proper localization one day. That's going to take some small dev time, but it probably has to go through quite a few approvals, especially if released in multiple languages. It's not a first party game, but Harvest Moon took a bit to come to NSO from JPN only and probably had to go through the proper licensing channels from Natsume. We also got Devil World and Mysterious M

It's easier to release an as-is game in Japan, but I am surprised that they didn't hold it back to release it simultaneously though. Harvest Moon 64 was released in Japan in September 2022 and then released a year later in the west on December 7, 2023. No official reason for the split release, but I can assume it was legal paperwork for use of the name 'Harvest Moon'.

My theory now is that now that Mother 3 has released in Japan, the ball is now set in motion for a localization efforts. I'm not going to say it's "never coming" because it didn't get announced today. Also, when they do, they're going to make it a big deal, I guarantee it.


Leviraps said:
Theres no legal hurdle, it’s just people coping.

There were so many YouTube videos and forum posts back in the day about how Earthbound was a copyright and legal nightmare due to its soundtrack and characters and boom: it came to the Wii U two years later with zero changes.
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People tend to over-exaggerate legalities on the internet, part of it I believe is that people just parrot what someone else says or a YouTuber and never actually knows anything about how legal approvals or licensing actually works behind the scenes. (Including me! But I'm not going to claim I know something that I don't)

To also add:

People also said Sora would never be in Smash because of legal trouble / licensing issues with Disney. Spoiler: They were enthusiastic and easy to work with.

People also said Banjo-Kazooie would never be in Smash or released for Nintendo VC/NSO. Spoiler: Microsoft/Rare plays nice with Nintendo.
 
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Hylianhero777 said:
None of the Metal Gear Solid games, in any of their re-releases, have ever cut out any of the old music used in their original versions, including the master collection from just last year. It is true that the "main theme of MGS" stopped being used after the first few games due to an accusation of plagiarism (not, to my knowledge, any actual copyright claim from anyone) but that seems more to have been a choice not to associate with that song going forward than any sort of actual legal trouble.
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Norihiko Hibino said the theme was changed due to the fact that "Konami [had legal problems with] Russian composers who said we stole their music."

My point is there are examples of game companies changing their music due to legal disputes.
 
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We're getting Mother 3 profile icons worldwide!

05.webp
 
I feel like people talk up the hurdles because they view a re-release of this almost 20 year old game in a series that never really even sold that much overseas as a bigger deal than it is and don't want to admit that Nintendo just doesn't want to put the effort in to localize it for a NSO drop

if they ever do a touched up/remade version that they can sell for 40 bucks or whatever i'm sure that will come over here
 
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I don't know why people would've expected otherwise. It's an unlocalized game, but it released in Japan. Why wouldn't it eventually come out on that region's NSO? Frankly I'm surprised it hadn't before now.

It doesn't mean we'll never get Mother 3 in any capacity ever. Just not here, like this, right now. Seems pretty understandable.
 
Rooster said:
I don't know why people would've expected otherwise. It's an unlocalized game, but it released in Japan. Why wouldn't it eventually come out on that region's NSO? Frankly I'm surprised it hadn't before now.

It doesn't mean we'll never get Mother 3 in any capacity ever. Just not here, like this, right now. Seems pretty understandable.
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it's not even the first NSO GBA game to only come out in Japan to say nothing of other consoles that have also had some Japan only games on there
 
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TomNookYankees said:
Why the hangup with just downloading the fan translation anyway? Nintendo themselves have made it pretty clear that they are fine with people getting the fan translation. I don't even mean that in some "fuck nintendo for not localizing this" sort of way. Nintendo is well aware of the Mother 3 fan translation and not only have they never sent a C&D to Starmen dot net, but supposedly they gave private word of encouragement.

If you want to play Mother 3 in english, just download the fan translation. Nintendo themselves don't have a problem with it so this can't be interpreted as advocacy of piracy.
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I feel like a lot of people have a bias, conscious or unconscious, against anything "unofficial". It doesn't matter if it's something like Sonic where nobody involved in its creation works there anymore and the company that owns it doesn't care at all what you do with it, any fan creation is never going to be given the same respect and recognition as even the most garbage officially licensed product. Too many squares.
 
Stilt Village said:
I feel like a lot of people have a bias, conscious or unconscious, against anything "unofficial". It doesn't matter if it's something like Sonic where nobody involved in its creation works there anymore and the company that owns it doesn't care at all what you do with it, any fan creation is never going to be given the same respect and recognition as even the most garbage officially licensed product. Too many squares.
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I think there's some truth here, but honestly the only reason I'm not going to bother with the fan translation is that I don't want to play a GBA game on my PC. I assume a lot of others have this same reservation! I understand it's a very good translation though.
 
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Make sure to download these and show there’s interest in the franchise outside of Japan (as if they don’t know that already).

topics.nintendo.co.jp

『MOTHER3』をゲームボーイアドバンス Nintendo Switch Onlineに追加。すべての「MOTHER」シリーズがNintendo Switchで遊べるようになりました。 | トピックス | Nintendo

「Nintendo Switch Online＋追加パック」で楽しむことのできる「ゲームボーイアドバンス Nintendo Switch Online」の配信タイトルに『MOTHE
topics.nintendo.co.jp topics.nintendo.co.jp
 
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Stilt Village said:
I feel like a lot of people have a bias, conscious or unconscious, against anything "unofficial". It doesn't matter if it's something like Sonic where nobody involved in its creation works there anymore and the company that owns it doesn't care at all what you do with it, any fan creation is never going to be given the same respect and recognition as even the most garbage officially licensed product. Too many squares.
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I definitely am one of these people I openly admit. I absolutely respect the effort and passion that’s gone into translating the game by the fans, but a part of me always feels “wrong” for not experiencing something the most official way possible. Another great example is the original Star Wars trilogy. The only way to watch the original films pre-Lucas alterations in high quality is through fan work, which I highly admire has been done, but I still want official releases. Having fans work so hard to get this stuff done is very cool and much better than having nothing, but I’d still prefer official releases for the sake of companies respecting the fans’ wishes, more accessibility for everyone, and the sake of my own OCD.
 
Kaizo said:
I definitely am one of these people I openly admit. I absolutely respect the effort and passion that’s gone into translating the game by the fans, but a part of me always feels “wrong” for not experiencing something the most official way possible. Another great example is the original Star Wars trilogy. The only way to watch the original films pre-Lucas alterations in high quality is through fan work, which I highly admire has been done, but I still want official releases. Having fans work so hard to get this stuff done is very cool and much better than having nothing, but I’d still prefer official releases for the sake of companies respecting the fans’ wishes, more accessibility for everyone, and the sake of my own OCD.
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Similarly, I have this curse. I don't love it about myself. There are so many awesome fan things that I'm sure are enjoyable, but something about my interest just 'clicks' more if it's official. Personally I might just need to make myself dive headfirst into some things, like Mother 3's fan translation.
 
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Bro...if we get flippin' Mother 3 profile icons here before Mother 3 itself... I really hope Nintendo has the sense to not bring the Mother 3 icons over. It would be incredibly tone-deaf to rub those icons in our faces when they won't give us the actual game.
 
topsekret said:
Bro...if we get flippin' Mother 3 profile icons here before Mother 3 itself... I really hope Nintendo has the sense to not bring the Mother 3 icons over. It would be incredibly tone-deaf to rub those icons in our faces when they won't give us the actual game.
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They're icons. Get over yourself.
 
Did Emily Rogers or Eurogamer ever explain what happened to the rumour they put out about Mother 3 being localised and ready to release in 2016/17?

It's a fascinating rumour to me because it had multiple people backing it up and unlike the StarFox Grand Prix one, I don't think we've had anyone like DYKG find out and explain what happened with it (unless I've missed or forgotten about it).
Like I do believe that Nintendo of America/Europe do have a fully translated version of Mother 3 in their archives, the Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light release on Switch seemed to be a planned Wii U VC release held back for an anniversary from what I remember seeing (I know FE has localised scripts for all JPN exclusive games for Heroes, the fact it's one of those darker NES Wii U VC style roms lines up with the initial Mother 3 coming to VC in 2016 rumour), so I wouldn't be surprised if Mother 3 was planned for a similar thing at one point.
 
wiill64 said:
Did Emily Rogers or Eurogamer ever explain what happened to the rumour they put out about Mother 3 being localised and ready to release in 2016/17?

It's a fascinating rumour to me because it had multiple people backing it up and unlike the StarFox Grand Prix one, I don't think we've had anyone like DYKG find out and explain what happened with it (unless I've missed or forgotten about it).
Like I do believe that Nintendo of America/Europe do have a fully translated version of Mother 3 in their archives, the Fire Emblem: Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light release on Switch seemed to be a planned Wii U VC release held back for an anniversary from what I remember seeing (I know FE has localised scripts for all JPN exclusive games for Heroes, the fact it's one of those darker NES Wii U VC style roms lines up with the initial Mother 3 coming to VC in 2016 rumour), so I wouldn't be surprised if Mother 3 was planned for a similar thing at one point.
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There is very little chance Nintendo paid for a translation of a game as text heavy as Mother 3 and then decided last minute to not release it.

Also, this rumor has been misrepresented multiple times. It was never stated that the game was fully localized.

www.eurogamer.net

Controversial elements scuppered Mother 3 western release - report

A few years back, a western release of Mother 3 was finally on the cards. Originally launched for the Game Boy Advance …
www.eurogamer.net www.eurogamer.net

Writing this week on Resetera, Game Informer senior editor Imran Khan commented on how a western release "was full steam ahead for a while but upon re-evaluation there were aspects of the game that weren't going to go without controversy".
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Mekanos said:
There is very little chance Nintendo paid for a translation of a game as text heavy as Mother 3 and then decided last minute to not release it.

Also, this rumor has been misrepresented multiple times. It was never stated that the game was fully localized.

www.eurogamer.net

Controversial elements scuppered Mother 3 western release - report

A few years back, a western release of Mother 3 was finally on the cards. Originally launched for the Game Boy Advance …
www.eurogamer.net www.eurogamer.net
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Thank you for clearing that up for me, I appreciate that!
 
topsekret said:
Bro...if we get flippin' Mother 3 profile icons here before Mother 3 itself... I really hope Nintendo has the sense to not bring the Mother 3 icons over. It would be incredibly tone-deaf to rub those icons in our faces when they won't give us the actual game.
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lmao they’re icons? Give me a break. That isn’t “tone deaf” that’s “throwing international fans a bone.” You’d be incredibly naive to think Nintendo doesn’t know that most Mother 3 fans who want Mother 3 have already played it via fan translation. They know it’s out there. They also know people recognize Lucas from Smash. It’s not like Mother 3 is some secret. It’s just not available in English.
 
Dardan Sandiego said:
this is true, I already know how to ask where the bus station is and that’s all I needed to know in Earthbound, I’m sure it’ll be fine in M3
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I mean, while I was only joking with my “you can learn Japanese in a weekend” thing, the game is almost entirely Kanji-free, so it’s not the hardest thing in the world to read for early Japanese learners

though I’d argue that kanji-free japanese text relies much more on conversational understanding of the language that an early Japanese-second-language learner would struggle with, and that bigger picture, learning how to read kanji early on is actually much more important than the raw phonetics of the language BUT I DIGRESS
 
Very likely a localization not only to English but all the EU languages wasn't done due to expense and there is not a chance Nintendo release it with the aforementioned controversial elements as is. This makes an NSO release unlikely as it will cost money to localize and change what Nintendo wants to change.

Maybe Nintendo will spend that money and surprise us, but it explains why it wasn't announced for NSO this week.
 
I think Mother 3 will come out in English at some point in the history of the world. But I think it’s going to require a top-to-bottom remake. And I think they’re gonna remake Mother 2 (EarthBound) first.
 
I don't buy translation expenses being the issue here. Not when we live in a world where Tokyo Mirage Sessions was given the privilege to go out and bomb twice. Especially since most of the internal discussions we know of surrounding releasing Mother 3 occurred during the absolute nadir of the Wii U era, when Nintendo was looking for basically anything to drum up goodwill and brand attention.

I also don't buy the music issue when the original DOOM is out there constantly being rereleased with an entire soundtrack basically consisting of nothing but note for note copyright infringement of metal bands, including Metallica of all bands.

The issue is the Magypsies, it always has been, and I don't know why people try to come up with alternative answers. There's no way of dealing with them that doesn't cause controversy or piss somebody off.
 
Tab said:
I don't buy translation expenses being the issue here. Not when we live in a world where Tokyo Mirage Sessions was given the privilege to go out and bomb twice. Especially since most of the internal discussions we know of surrounding releasing Mother 3 occurred during the absolute nadir of the Wii U era, when Nintendo was looking for basically anything to drum up goodwill and brand attention.

I also don't buy the music issue when the original DOOM is out there constantly being rereleased with an entire soundtrack basically consisting of nothing but note for note copyright infringement of metal bands, including Metallica of all bands.

The issue is the Magypsies, it always has been, and I don't know why people try to come up with alternative answers. There's no way of dealing with them that doesn't cause controversy or piss somebody off.
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Tokyo Mirage Sessions if anything by necessity had to localize because the Japanese market is too small to make returns on a game like that. Mother 3 was made in a very different era where smaller games like that could be fine on just the Japanese market.

I don't think Nintendo is hurting so bad they couldn't spent some cash to get the game translated (even in multiple languages) out of good will, but they've probably evaluated the cost/benefit and deemed it not worth it, in addition to any potentially controversial content in it.
 
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Derachi said:
lmao they’re icons? Give me a break. That isn’t “tone deaf” that’s “throwing international fans a bone.” You’d be incredibly naive to think Nintendo doesn’t know that most Mother 3 fans who want Mother 3 have already played it via fan translation. They know it’s out there. They also know people recognize Lucas from Smash. It’s not like Mother 3 is some secret. It’s just not available in English.
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Western Fans: "Can we have Mother 3 on GBA?"
Nintendo: "No."
Western Fans: "Can we have Mother 3?"
Nintendo: "No, but here's Lucas in Smash. Have fun."
Western Fans: "Can we have Mother 3 on the Wii U Virtual Console?"
Nintendo: "No, but Japan can."
Western Fans: "Can we have Mother 3 on NSO."
Nintendo: "No, but Japan can. But you know what? Since you asked nicely, we'll bring the Mother 3 NSO icons over."

Tone-deaf: not understanding how people feel about something, or what is needed in a particular situation

We've been asking for Mother 3 for nearly 20 years. This NSO release would have been a great time to localize the game. It seems Nintendo doesn't "understand how we feel about this." Profile icons are "not what we needed in this particular situation."

How is this throwing fans a bone? This is like throwing a starving person a single Cheeto. If the act of "generosity" is that minor, it's more of a form of mockery.

If you don't see it that way, I'm glad for you. Not everyone has played the fan-translated rom. If you have, great. I, and many others, haven't.
 
topsekret said:
Western Fans: "Can we have Mother 3 on GBA?"
Nintendo: "No."
Western Fans: "Can we have Mother 3?"
Nintendo: "No, but here's Lucas in Smash. Have fun."
Western Fans: "Can we have Mother 3 on the Wii U Virtual Console?"
Nintendo: "No, but Japan can."
Western Fans: "Can we have Mother 3 on NSO."
Nintendo: "No, but Japan can. But you know what? Since you asked nicely, we'll bring the Mother 3 NSO icons over."

Tone-deaf: not understanding how people feel about something, or what is needed in a particular situation

We've been asking for Mother 3 for nearly 20 years. This NSO release would have been a great time to localize the game. It seems Nintendo doesn't "understand how we feel about this." Profile icons are "not what we needed in this particular situation."

How is this throwing fans a bone? This is like throwing a starving person a single Cheeto. If the act of "generosity" is that minor, it's more of a form of mockery.

If you don't see it that way, I'm glad for you. Not everyone has played the fan-translated rom. If you have, great. I, and many others, haven't.
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Fam how am I or anyone else supposed to take you seriously when you’re comparing “not being able to play Mother 3 in English” to actual fucking starvation? And you have the gall to call someone else “tone-deaf?”

Give me a fucking break.

You’re not going to get Mother 3 as it currently exists for reasons Nintendo will never (and probably cannot) publicly say. They just spent time yesterday talking about a THIRD game in the Endless Ocean franchise. I mean no disrespect for Nintendo’s premiere fish-looking franchise but I’m willing to bet more people have said the words “Please translate Mother 3” in the last decade than have bought either of the first two Endless Ocean games. You don’t think they’d have brought Mother 3 out if they could? Seriously? Do you think they’re holding out because they like to watch Earthbound fans get upset? If that’s genuinely what you think, I implore you to grow up.

We’ll never know if it’s because of the game’s content, the game‘s musical legality, or something else. Nintendo will never publicly say because if they COULD publicly say what’s stopping it, to get people to stop asking for it, they would have 18 years ago.

The fan-translated ROM is free and easy to find. GBA emulators run on almost everything. If you want to play Mother 3, in English, you can, but it’s gonna be that way unless the game gets extreme reworking (unlikely) or top-to-bottom remade with the offending content excised.
 
I do truly want more people to overcome their fears or trepidation about using the fan translation because the game honestly deserves to be played by as many people as possible.

Despite the fact that I and several others played it like this over a decade ago (and continue to!), posts above show that there are plenty who have yet to do the same. They don't deserve to be mocked or derided, either. Mother 3 deserves a multilingual international release.
 
Derachi said:
Fam how am I or anyone else supposed to take you seriously when you’re comparing “not being able to play Mother 3 in English” to actual fucking starvation? And you have the gall to call someone else “tone-deaf?”

Give me a fucking break.

You’re not going to get Mother 3 as it currently exists for reasons Nintendo will never (and probably cannot) publicly say. They just spent time yesterday talking about a THIRD game in the Endless Ocean franchise. I mean no disrespect for Nintendo’s premiere fish-looking franchise but I’m willing to bet more people have said the words “Please translate Mother 3” in the last decade than have bought either of the first two Endless Ocean games. You don’t think they’d have brought Mother 3 out if they could? Seriously? Do you think they’re holding out because they like to watch Earthbound fans get upset? If that’s genuinely what you think, I implore you to grow up.

We’ll never know if it’s because of the game’s content, the game‘s musical legality, or something else. Nintendo will never publicly say because if they COULD publicly say what’s stopping it, to get people to stop asking for it, they would have 18 years ago.

The fan-translated ROM is free and easy to find. GBA emulators run on almost everything. If you want to play Mother 3, in English, you can, but it’s gonna be that way unless the game gets extreme reworking (unlikely) or top-to-bottom remade with the offending content excised.
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It's just a simple analogy. Not saying they're the same in terms of severity. Stop trying to take random moral high-ground here and pretend to get offended over nothing. Though I see you have a "Founder" tag, so you'll probably try to get me banned over this lol.

Your main point seems to be "people shouldn't ask companies for what they want, and should just STFU and accept what they give you and be thankful?" Very weird take for a founder of a fan forum. Sorry I upset you. I'll leave your thread alone.
 
Dekuman said:
Very likely a localization not only to English but all the EU languages wasn't done due to expense
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They translated Mother 1 for the first time in 2015.

There was even less demand and a smaller audience for that than Mother 3.

They also translate projects like Famicom Detective Club. The cost is a total non-issue for Nintendo.
 
Quoted by: Tab
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topsekret said:
Western Fans: "Can we have Mother 3 on GBA?"
Nintendo: "No."
Western Fans: "Can we have Mother 3?"
Nintendo: "No, but here's Lucas in Smash. Have fun."
Western Fans: "Can we have Mother 3 on the Wii U Virtual Console?"
Nintendo: "No, but Japan can."
Western Fans: "Can we have Mother 3 on NSO."
Nintendo: "No, but Japan can. But you know what? Since you asked nicely, we'll bring the Mother 3 NSO icons over."

Tone-deaf: not understanding how people feel about something, or what is needed in a particular situation

We've been asking for Mother 3 for nearly 20 years. This NSO release would have been a great time to localize the game. It seems Nintendo doesn't "understand how we feel about this." Profile icons are "not what we needed in this particular situation."

How is this throwing fans a bone? This is like throwing a starving person a single Cheeto. If the act of "generosity" is that minor, it's more of a form of mockery.

If you don't see it that way, I'm glad for you. Not everyone has played the fan-translated rom. If you have, great. I, and many others, haven't.
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This is a telling summary of the position as it frames the conversation as one that exists only between overseas fans and Nintendo. It's juvenile to pretend that a Japanese company continuing to provide access to the game to a Japanese audience is a slight against everyone else. The icons, too, are being released to promote the fact that all three games are available in Japan; the rest of us are receiving them as a result of that.
 
topsekret said:
It's just a simple analogy. Not saying they're the same in terms of severity. Stop trying to take random moral high-ground here and pretend to get offended over nothing. Though I see you have a "Founder" tag, so you'll probably try to get me banned over this lol.

Your main point seems to be "people shouldn't ask companies for what they want, and should just STFU and accept what they give you and be thankful?" Very weird take for a founder of a fan forum. Sorry I upset you. I'll leave your thread alone.
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1) The Founder tag is simply because I’ve been here a while. Or maybe it’s because I tossed in a few bucks to support it around launch? I don’t remember. I won’t report you unless you’ve broken a rule which you haven’t. As a former mod I actually take use of reporting very seriously. So no, I won’t try to get you banned.

2) That isn’t my main point at all. I didn’t say that or anything to that effect at all. Did you even read my post? What I said was “there is clearly some reason, legal or otherwise, that we are never going to get Mother 3 in English in an official capacity.” I genuinely have zero idea how you got… that from my post.

I’ll reiterate my points again, as clearly as I can

-If we could have gotten Mother 3 in English, we would have by now. There is clearly something holding it back that Nintendo won’t say.
-It’s not tone deaf to release Mother 3 icons on NSO. They’ve released icons of Japan-only things to North Americans before.

3) I won’t lie, I did get heated because you compared not getting a video game to starvation. I know you called it a simple analogy but using a real world problem to describe an issue with an entertainment product is in incredibly poor taste.

4) It’s not my thread.
 
Sin & Punishment said:
They translated Mother 1 for the first time in 2015.

There was even less demand and a smaller audience for that than Mother 3.

They also translate projects like Famicom Detective Club. The cost is a total non-issue for Nintendo.
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Mother 1 had actually been translated for release in 1991, Nintendo of America simply chose not to release it because the SNES was about to release. That's why the title screen just says Earthbound and not Earthbound Beginnings, because it was originally just supposed to be released as the first Earthbound game in 1991.

And as a fun fact, the Japanese Mother 1+2 release on the GBA was actually based on this then unreleased American localization version.

It's basically like Nintendo having a completed Starfox 2, but choosing not to release it until the SNES classic because the N64 was coming out.
 
Look this is just one of those times we should be glad that fans made a localization. The game is indeed very good.
 
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Stilt Village said:
I feel like a lot of people have a bias, conscious or unconscious, against anything "unofficial". It doesn't matter if it's something like Sonic where nobody involved in its creation works there anymore and the company that owns it doesn't care at all what you do with it, any fan creation is never going to be given the same respect and recognition as even the most garbage officially licensed product. Too many squares.
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Glad I don't have this bias. What I played of the Mother 3 fan translation was impeccable. Also, AM2R is a better game than the official Metroid 2 remake we got. Nobody dare @ me.

danny-devito-walking-away.gif
 
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