Mother Knows Best; NoA Does Not

Many people will not find this to be a big deal in any sense, but I think it represents a significant message to fans of the Mother series; Mother 2 was released in North America as Earthbound, on the SNES.

Fans were most excited when Super Smash Bros. Brawl included the all-new Lucas, from Mother 3, which has not been released by Nintendo of America here, among the roster of playable fighters. The excitement increased as news of other various elements from Mother 3 were included in the game as well. And then it was revealed that veteran Smash Bros. fighter Ness, from Mother2/Earthbound was returning, and his hometown of Onett is an arena. Mr. Saturn, from Earthbound, also returns as an item and trophy, and the music Snowman (from Mother 1 and 2) is a track in the game. Earthbound fans couldn't be happier to see these things in a new game, especially if this can help promote the series for a possible release of Mother 3, and maybe the other 2 games as well (Note: Mother 1+2 was a two-in-one game for the Game Boy Advance in Japan, before Mother 3 came out. It was not released overseas, but would be an easy way to do it).

However, there is one element from this series that does not remain. In 'Brawl's Masterpieces section, there are demos from various Nintendo games that can be unlocked. There is a demo of Mother 2 in the Japanese edition of the game. This should be a demo of Earthbound, thusly, in the U.S. edition of the game. However, the demo of Mother 2/Earthbound was removed by Nintendo of America.

There doesn't seem to be any real reason for NoA to even bother removing just a demo from the game. But it's just a demo, you may be wondering 'So what?'

I think there may be a certain message NoA is giving to the fans with this strange move, and a lot of fans are not happy because they get similar feelings.

The Earthbound/Mother community and fan base is VERY strong and VERY vocal, and they DEMAND Mother 3, which is almost 2 years old in Japan, be brought over to North America. NoA is very aware of this fan base, and quite honestly, they don't seem to care. The fans have made themselves more than known to NoA, and have made their wish more than clear. And NoA has done nothing, and have said before in the past that they don't have Mother 3 on the horizon, and will probably never get to it, even though the fans demand it.

And then there's the Virtual Console, which has the potential for a vast gallery of great and classic games. Fans have hoped that Earthbound (and possibly even Mother) would be released on the VC. It was being reported by Starmen.net, the giant Mother/Earthbound fan site, that NoA 'is' going to release Earthbound on the VC 'soon', or 'eventually'. Well, apparently, that depends on what your definition of 'is' is, because there has been no word or evidence that NoA actually is planning to do this; nothing official, anyway. And this was first being reported late last summer. Even members of Starmen.net are now wondering if it actually is true, and if the game will come to the VC at all...

Naturally, if NoA was planning to release Earthbound on the VC, then keeping the demo of the game in 'Brawl would make a lot of sense, and also be convenient. However, if they are planning to release the game to VC, then why remove the demo that could actually help promote the game, and gain interest in it? But why bother wasting the time and effort at all?



Essentially, I think that most likely, Nintendo of America is giving the fans of Mother and Earthbound a giant 'Fuck Off', with the removal of this simple demo.

They know what the fans want, and they don't want to give the fans what they want. They are likely very tired of hearing the fans demands, and probably even pleas and begging, for a game or games that they simply do not want to release.

Nintendo of America does not want to bring Mother 3 here.

Nintendo of America does not seem to care about the Mother series.

Nintendo of America doesn't even seem to want to re-release a game from the series that they already released once before, and one that also has a strong, loyal and grateful fan base. By the way, in regards to the original Mother, for the NES, NoA actually did translate that game as well, but backed out at the last minute and did not release it. So NoA has two games they completely translated, and even though one was not released, it's still already been done, and they don't care to release either one.

Nintendo of America does not care what the fans want.

I, and other fans, really can't see any other logical reason for NoA ignoring all of these things, and then also bothering to remove an Earthbound demo from 'Brawl, especially if it could be useful for a re-release of the game. You may think I'm reading more into this than there really is there, but given Nintendo's history with all of this, I doubt I'm at least not far off.

I may be wrong, and in the end, maybe Earthbound will be on the VC. But I think this is just a greater sign that NoA is just overall ignoring the series, as well as the fans. I certainly doubt we will see Mother 3 soon, if ever. I'm sadly not holding my breath.

So if you do care about the series, what can YOU do?

Well, Starmen.net held their EB Siege Campaign last year, in which fans wrote letters and cards, sent envelope art, and called Nintendo of America, letting them know of their demand for Mother 3, and even the other 2 games. Fans are still encouraged to do these things. And fans have already started asking questions about the removal of the demo. Apparently, they are not really getting answers though...I wouldn't expect NoA to release an official statement about this; they'll just ignore it. But keep watching for more news.

Starmen.net's Newspost and NoA Contact Information