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Mother 3

Mother 3 Plush Release Date Hobonichi

In commemoration of the game’s anniversary, the Hobonichi Mother Project is releasing a four-pack of Mother 3 plushies on April 25. The set includes Lucas, Claus, Kumatora, and Duster and costs about $72 (11,000 yen) prior to shipping fees.

Accounting for time zone changes, this means the set will go up for purchase on April 24 at 10 PM ET. Fortunately, Hobonichi is generally quite good about keeping its products in-stock – and it often provides several big restocks for its popular sellers. If you can’t afford these right now, don’t worry. They’ll most likely be available later, too.

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Will there ever be a Mother 3 localization

The past couple of months have been both great and terrible for EarthBound fans. On one hand, we’ve received so much — a huge wave of Porky merchandise and plushes, a bunch of EarthBound icons for Nintendo Switch Online profiles, and even a release of Mother 3 on the Switch’s Game Boy Advance lineup. The problem is that Mother 3 release was only in Japan.

There’s a lot of discussion surrounding a potential Mother 3 localization – it seems to become a talking point every few years, mainly around the game’s anniversary in April. Though there are far more reasons why Nintendo wouldn’t want to release Mother 3 in the west, there are a couple of (admittedly quite hopeful) reasons that a localization is still possible. Today, we’re breaking down all of the reasons why. We’ll be discussing some light spoilers here, so if for some reason you’re avoiding them, please keep that in mind before you continue reading.

Mother 3 Switch Online

Mother 3 has just come to Nintendo Switch Online, but only in Japan. Those with an active subscription to the Expansion Pack tier can access it now.

At least in the present, don’t expect an official English release in the west. Nintendo has yet to ever localize the game in English dating all the way back to the original Game Boy Advance launch.

Mother 3 localization Shigesato Itoi

EarthBound creator Shigesato Itoi recently shared a few words about fan requests for a Mother 3 localization in English. Itoi shared a few words about the game in the Earthbound, USA documentary that was just released this week.

He started out by mentioning how he’d “love for people in the U.S. to play Mother 3.” Nintendo was apparently offered the fan translation to use, but it “wasn’t quite as simple as that.”

Itoi said:

Mother 3 reggie fils aime game content

Former Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime has once again chimed in on Mother 3, including how the game has never been localized.

Reggie already said this week that there were “many conversations” about the title and a possible western launch. However, nothing ever materialized. Reggie suggested that an overseas release simply never made sense from a business perspective, but now we have further clarification.

mother 3 reggie western release

Former Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime has opened up about Mother 3, and specifically how the title has never been made available in the west.

Reggie released his new book today, and the audio version contains a bonus interview with Geoff Keighley. At one point, Keighley asked if Nintendo felt it just wasn’t worth bringing over.

Reggie said in response:

Mother 3 producer on why it hasn't seen an English release in the west

Mother 3 originally came out for the Game Boy Advance, but only in Japan. Since then, fans in the west have been clamoring for an English release.

Shinichi Kameoka, the producer of Mother 3, recently shared his own thoughts as to why the game has never been localized. As part of a Q& with the Kit & Krysta Podcast, he said:

mother 3 localization worldwide release

It’s been over 15 years since Mother 3’s original debut, but the RPG has never received an official English localization. However, one important developer that worked on the project hopes to see that happen someday.

Producer Shinichi Kameoka recently told Nintendo Everything that much like the fans, he’d “also love to see Mother 3 released in the US and Europe.” He added: “As a lover of games, I will continue to wait for Mother 3’s release worldwide release (in English).

For many years, one of the Nintendo rumors that continued to surface time and time again was a possible localization of Mother 3. After EarthBound Beginnings was added to the Wii U Virtual Console back in 2015, things looked even more hopeful. Speculation has since started to die down though, and we haven’t really heard much about the game’s status.

Game Informer senior editor Imran Khan claims to have some information about what happened. Khan says, “It 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”.

Khan didn’t say what those elements were specifically, but it sounds like Nintendo wasn’t interested in changing the title or censoring it in any way for the western market. That means the idea of localization was abandoned, and Mother 3 remains a game that has only been released in Japan.

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Animal Crossing

At every E3 – or any major Nintendo event for that matter – many fans hope to see the announcement of games like Animal Crossing for Switch or the western release of Mother 3. There still wasn’t news on either of these last week, but Nintendo is definitely aware of the interest.

IGN spoke with Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime at E3. As a blanket statement regarding announcements for the company’s franchises, Reggie reiterated that information will be shared “close to its launch date versus teasing people for years on end.”


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