Mother 3 to stay lost in translation
by Ross Miller 
{ Nov 6th 2006 at 5:25PM }
Any hopes that Mother 3 was in the process of being translated in English have just had their hopes dashed by Nintendo of America Treehouse Localization Producer/Manager Nate Bihldorff. In an interview with Planet GameCube, Bihldorff exclaims that he "wouldn't look forward to [a Mother 3 translation] in the immediate future," adding that none of the writers are currently working on one, though maybe some of the translators that do not work for him may be "in discussion."It has been over seven months since the title was released in Japan, and in development for years prior -- if Nintendo was to bring the title over, the process would have already begun. That it would be a sure-fire hit, with a built-in audience of rabid fans, is just another piece to the confusing puzzle: why would Nintendo, as a for-profit business, not spend the time and effort to bring the title over?
The fan translation for Mother 3 has been ongoing since its launch.
[Via Starmen.Net]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
poopy @ Nov 6th 2006 5:30PM
mmm poop... wait mother 3 is not being tranlaited... noooooooo (2hours) later nooooooooo poooooop poop opoooppooopopooo
Pince @ Nov 6th 2006 5:33PM
@1 Agreed...er, I think.
FuzzyPickles @ Nov 6th 2006 5:37PM
Christ. Are they even aware of the following Earthbound has here in the states? I mean, the fan translation is good and all... but the Mother series is probably among the hardest games in the history of mankind to translate well.
aj @ Nov 6th 2006 5:40PM
as if it ever had a chance anyway..
we americans love our guns and porn..
eb has little to none of these prerequisites..
trent @ Nov 6th 2006 5:42PM
seriously, why the heck would nintendo do this to us? earthbound was my very first rpg. i LOVE that game. do they hate us? is our money not good enough?
Dave @ Nov 6th 2006 5:44PM
First of all, to those who are in despair: www.mother3.org
Secondly, NOA has a long history of making stupid moves like this. Nothing new here, move along.
Thirdly and finally, Mother is a series known for having things that required censoring when translated to English. Add to this the fact that tons of jokes are inside Japanese jokes (think Milk-chan) or make massive use of Japanese love for puns and you'll see why this is probably the biggest time/money sink for a professional translation group that's expected to be perfect.
Thus why mother3.org's translation will rock. They aren't expected to be perfect and they have no requirement to censor anything, yet will be smart enough to translate the jokes for English speakers as they are massive fans of the series. Screw NOA on this one, the fans will take care of themselves.
Kevin @ Nov 6th 2006 5:44PM
This sucks. Earthbound is my favorite RPG :\
DarkTetsuya @ Nov 6th 2006 5:50PM
#4: well if it had either of those (particularly the latter), a certain crack-pot lawyer (who shall remain nameless, so it doesn't show up on Google) would shit bricks.
Matt @ Nov 6th 2006 6:05PM
Not only am I puzzled as to why they refuse to bring us Mother 3, but I am equally baffled as to why they do not port Super Mario RPG from SNES to GBA or DS. Surely it is possible, and clearly their Mario and Luigi iteration is doing well, so why the idiocy?
The H @ Nov 6th 2006 5:58PM
Nintendo tends to turn a deaf ear to the thousands of Mother fans in America. I just dont get it. WE WANT THE GAME, NINTENDO!!!!!!! ...*cricket chirps*
Zoë K. @ Nov 6th 2006 6:00PM
Because they're dicks.
I love Nintendo. I really do (read my journal if you don't believe), but this is just meeeaaan.
Don't give us Mother 2 if you're not going to give us 3. :P
taedan @ Nov 6th 2006 6:03PM
Lazy bastards.
otakucode @ Nov 6th 2006 6:06PM
Why did Nintendo FULLY translate the original NES Earthbound game into English and then never release it? I've always wondered that. They spend the cash to DO the translation, finish it up and make prototype carts and all... and drop it. Luckily it got found a decade or so later and dumped and released on the net so people could play it on emulators, but I've always wondered... why?
Duscrom @ Nov 7th 2006 2:57AM
Uhm add those reasons and realize that sales in the thousands is not a good goal. If there were fans in the millions, sure. But the Mother following is a niche game.. and yes, the game would have to be re-written for commercial sells.
So, your choice is either nothing... cause, if they do a direct translation, it's NOT going to sell beyond the fanbase... or Nintendo makes the game. Then they cencor it, and re-write it for the mass market, and maybe even retool it. Then the fanbase complains and so on.
MetaHuman @ Nov 6th 2006 6:53PM
"why would Nintendo, as a for-profit business, not spend the time and effort to bring the title over? "
HA! Nintendo asked the same question when Mother 2/EarthBound came along. They had a gigantic promotion for the game and even Shigeru Miyamoto was recorded saying that based on its success in Japan that it would likely find "3,000,000" customers in the United States. We all know how that went.
I LOVED EarthBound and its one of my favorite games of all time, and I truly want its sequel (and precursor) legitimately translated, but would enough people (by Nintendo's standards) enjoy the effort to make another release worthwhile, or will there be even more people who will prey on its 'inadequacy' in graphics and not buy it (something that did plague the two prior games)?
chocobo @ Nov 6th 2006 7:05PM
@ 13 & 14:
here's your answer:
Mother/EarthBound 0
Nintendo of America planned to translate and release the first Mother game in the United States under the title EarthBound. The game was ultimately deemed unprofitable for a US release, however, and the project was cancelled after the game had already been translated and all packaging and advertising was ready. Some rumors have Nintendo refusing to release EarthBound 0 in America because the Super Nintendo had already been released in America and they thought that no one would notice a new NES game because large amount of gamers had already shelved their Nintendo Entertainment Systems for their new Super Nintendo.
In recent years, one of the auctioned beta cartridges of the game was made into a ROM and circulated for download on the Internet. To avoid confusion, the game was dubbed EarthBound 0 by fan translator "NeoDemiforce", as Nintendo had since released the Super Nintendo sequel to Mother in America under the title EarthBound.
from: http://tinyurl.com/yftlpl
Stopper33 @ Nov 6th 2006 7:18PM
I wouldn't be too surprised to see this game appear on the virtual console.
CJC @ Nov 6th 2006 10:25PM
Aw, dammit. Then it's all up to the fan translators.
What did American Ness and pals do to piss you off Nintendo?
Chris @ Nov 6th 2006 11:19PM
You'd think they'd want to get the Mother/EarthBound series out there now. Smash Bros. including Ness has introduced it to a much wider audience than it originally had. The trophies and stages (not to mention Mr. Saturn) have probably left many people who missed it the first time around (me included, unfortunately) wondering what else there is to see in the series.
President Weasel @ Nov 7th 2006 5:02AM
This is a niche title. The niche may be full of rabid fans, but it's still a niche. The fans may desperately want the game to be released in the US and Europe, but there aren't enough of them to guarantee a return on the time, effort and money that would go into a localised version.
It's hardly surprising that NOA wouldn't want to take this risk.
trent @ Nov 7th 2006 9:10AM
the point is it has teh potential to become more than a niche title. its a great game, and since the market has changed so much since then, there will be more people who will give it a play and realize they love it.
Jaradcel @ Nov 7th 2006 11:32AM
I think a litmus-test title for the possibility of a Mother/Earthbound 3 (or 2, whichever... the translations mess up the numbers) would be a game like Contact.
It's got the same style of quirky humor that Mother is known for, and if it can generate the sales, there may be a good cause for NOA to pick it up properly.
If Contact tanks (And all review scores seem to suggest this, despite the game being not bad at all) then NOA will once again shelve the idea.
number40one @ Nov 7th 2006 5:27PM
I've never played any part of the EB/Mother series, but have been following news of M3 for a while now. This really bums me out, as I would have picked up a copy on release day.
Lothis @ Dec 15th 2006 7:08PM
EarthBound is a lot like Family Guy, if you ask me. When it first came around, it bombed, most likely due to bigger names with a similar play style (Final Fantasy VI held the attention of most RPG players in America at that time). But over the years, and largely due in part to Super Smash Bros. (and Melee, Melee mostly), EarthBound has been exposed to a much wider audience and has become immensely popular. People aren't expecting spectacular graphics and don't let that stop them from playing it now, and they get hooked. I mean come on, who doesn't love the third strongest mole? Were it not for EarthBound, many gamers, including myself, would not like RPG's. That's saying a crapload cause my gaming library is now composed of at least 70% RPG's. EarthBound was my very first RPG and is my favorite game to this day. Is it the best game ever made? Hell no. But it is a great game, and humor in the Americanized version of Mother 2 is not lost in the translation. Perhaps the jokes were completely altered but it stayed quirky. There's no reason for Nintendo not to translate it.
And even if it is a fan request, its not like Nintendo hasn't done other games based solely on fans screaming for it (Pokemon Emerald anyone?)