Well, that certainly was a Nintendo Direct, wasn’t it?
Among the many big announcements, the one that you all seem most interested in is the
arrival of Earthbound and Earthbound Beginnings, also known as Mother 2 and Mother respectively,
on the Nintendo Switch Online subscription service.
Why did it take so long for these games to be added to the service, and, of course, where
is Mother 3?
That question never really goes away.
Nintendo plays things close to the chest when it comes to Earthbound games.
Often an explanation that’s given when these titles are overlooked in the West is that
they simply haven’t sold well enough to justify pouring a lot of resources into them.
Following a rather peculiar marketing campaign, Earthbound was overlooked by the majority
of Super Nintendo owners when it initially released.
This, though, doesn’t explain why the Mother games weren’t added to Nintendo Switch Online
sooner, as the games were also absent on the Japanese version of the service.
Mother 3 is also not on the service, likely because thus far it doesn’t offer Game Boy
Advance titles.
It’s worth noting that Nintendo does not make decisions about the Mother series alone.
The games’ creator, Shigesato Itoi, is very passionate – and very careful – about
how the series is treated.
Itoi is not primarily a video game developer – he was famous as a writer and celebrity
long before approaching Nintendo to realise his idea for the original Mother.
Indeed, Itoi has said that the reason there aren’t more Mother releases is because these
games are just a small part of his larger body of work.
He said: “Among big time popstars, if they, you know,
put out ten albums, around the fourth album, they can’t make very good songs.
The albums sell, but everyone at the concerts wants to hear songs from the first three albums.
Everyone.
“I’m glad that video games are not my profession.
If it was my job, I would’ve already made [Mother] 4 and 5.”
Itoi feels that the Mother trilogy are such strong games in large part because they are
not endlessly revisited, and as someone who has a lot of strings to his bow, he prefers
to leave these games relatively unspoiled.
While Itoi may not be a game developer, it is worth exploring his relationship with Nintendo’s
higher ups, as it sheds light on the reason why the Earthbound series is treated so carefully.
According to Itoi, his desire to make a game was in part because he felt, quote, “indebted
to Nintendo”.
He said: “I owe a lot to Mario.
I have asthma, and I start coughing when I lay down.
I’ve always had a heard time sleeping, and for a while I had to sit up at all times or
else I just couldn’t stop coughing.
The only things I could really do while sitting up at night were read a book or play a game.
So I’d wake up and grab a controller, and Mario would see me through my asthma at night.”
“Games were more unpopular back then.
I was defending them on TV, saying something like, ‘Manga used to be taboo — you’d
be scorned for having manga as a college student.
Video games are in the same position today, and although it sounds a little extreme, I
think games will eventually be an even bigger part of our culture than manga.’”
This broadcast happened to be viewed by then president of Nintendo, Hiroshi Yamauchi, who
later invited Itoi to a meeting at Nintendo’s headquarters.
There, Itoi met Shigeru Miyamoto for the first time.
Said Itoi: “We ended up becoming really close — we
got along quite well from the start.
I told him I actually had an idea of my own, and pulled out some copies of the notes I’d
taken, asking him if he thought it would work as a game.
“I pictured them jumping up from their chairs, saying, ‘Wow, what an idea!
We must try it!’
It was a dream of mine that they’d make a game using that idea, but instead the conversation
just kind of stopped at Miyamoto asking me how serious I was about it.
He said, ‘Itoi, how involved do you plan on being in it?
Being totally involved in a project can be very demanding.’
He sounded very solemn.”
Miyamoto wasn’t the only friend Itoi made at Nintendo.
While working on Earthbound, Itoi and Satoru Iwata became very close, with Itoi later describing
Iwata as “like a younger brother”.
Itoi said of Iwata: “Whenever we met up, we talked for the entire
time.
To the point where my wife told me once, ‘Men sure are chatterboxes!’
… “In our longest session, I arrived at lunch
and talked with him until maybe nine at night.
Iwata’s wife must have been wondering what was up with these two goofballs.”
This is, perhaps, part of the reason why the Earthbound series is treated with such respect
and restraint from Nintendo.
The game’s creator is not just a business partner, but a genuine friend to many of the
company’s overseers, both past and present.
Because Itoi doesn’t want the Mother series to be overly commercialised, Nintendo respects
his wishes.
In recent years, though, Itoi has appeared more willing to revisit the Mother series.
The ongoing Hobonichi Mother Project has unveiled a range of merchandise and retrospective books
covering the series.
It’s entirely possible that Earthbound’s arrival on Nintendo Switch Online is part
of Itoi’s renewed efforts to give fans of the games a little more love, and to make
the titles more accessible to fans new and old alike.
Oh, one more thing before you go.
If you’re interested in the life of Satoru Iwata and his friendship with Shigesato Itoi,
Shigeru Miyamoto, Masahiro Sakurai and other key players at Nintendo, you might want to
keep an eye on this biographical video game we’re developing.
It’s called Satoru Iwata Saves The World, and it’s going to be a 2D platformer.
It’s not quite ready to show off yet, but Chapter One, focusing on Iwata’s high school
years, is coming soon.
In the meantime, there’s a link in the description for our Itch.io page where you can add the
game to your collection and be informed of future updates.
Thanks for watching!