Summary

• Mother 3 has gained a cult following outside of Japan, but it has never been officially released in the US.
• Series creator Shigesato Itoi has stated that he is no longer interested in bringing Mother 3 to the US, and that Nintendo may have previously turned down offers from fans to help create a translation.
• The chance for an official English release of Mother 3 seems to have ed, as Nintendo has missed its window of opportunity and the game remains niche in the US market.

At this point, it looks like Mother 3 will never come out in the US. First released for the Game Boy Advance as a Japanese exclusive in 2006, the third game in the Mother series has since gained a worldwide cult following. It seems like a game perfectly suited for the US video game market: it draws heavily from the American cowboy mythos, and has a universal, if not easily translated, sense of punny, cartoonish humor. But despite consistent player demand, Mother 3 has still never had an official release outside of Japan.

For some, this is old news. The fight for Mother 3 has been raging on for decades, and many have long since given up. However, new information provided by the series' creator suggests that Nintendo had the opportunity to publish Mother 3 in the US, but declined, and that the moment to do so has since ed. Here's everything to know about the sad, strange history of Mother 3.

EarthBound Series Creator Says He's "Done With It For Good"

Why Mother 3's Lack Of A US Localization Is All Nintendo's Fault

According to an interview in the new documentary Earthbound, USA, series creator Shigesato Itoi no longer has any interest in bringing Mother 3 to the US. If a Mother 3 localization was unlikely before, it's even more so without the creator involved. While he believes it'd be great for US fans to get a chance to play it, he goes on to say that once he's done with a project, he's truly done. And after almost two decades of hubbub over Mother 3, how much more done can a person really get?

Itoi also acknowledges the existence of a fan-made English translation for Mother 3. The fan translation is still available for free online, but requires a copy of the original game to be played. According to Itoi, however, that almost wasn't the case. He's understandably vague about this, implying that Nintendo once had the chance to work with fans to create a Mother 3 translation, but wound up turning it down. Itoi says he may have been interested in the project then, but not now - the window for an official release of the fan translation, even in a modified form, seems to have closed.

Why Mother 3 Was Never Released Outside Japan

Mother 3 is the third game in the Mother/EarthBound series, following multiple separate, but intertwined stories all set off by the invasion of the evil Pigmask Army. The most central story follows Lucas, a young boy who gets separated from his brother Claus during the initial attack. It deals with conflicts between the natural and the unnatural, greed, grief, cruelty, and love. It's at once shockingly funny, profoundly sad, and undeniably charming. It has an excellent, eclectic soundtrack, and a unique mechanic in which characters can land extra hits in battle by attacking on beat. So why has Mother 3 never been released outside Japan?

The first-ever Mother, which came out in 1989, was also a Japanese exclusive at first. The second game did come to the US under the name EarthBound in 1995, only to meet with poor sales and a lukewarm critical reception. However, in the years since, there's been a grand reappraisal, with many acknowledging the series' bold originality and departure from typical RPG tropes. But by the time Mother 3 came out in Japan, it seems Nintendo had already decided the franchise didn't have legs in the US.

And it wasn't so easy to begin with. Mother 3 had a troubled development cycle, and was originally announced for the Nintendo 64. However, Mother 64, as it was then called, was abruptly canceled on August 22, 2000, with the GameCube's release near on the horizon. This led to a widely circulated fan petition demanding HAL Laboratory resume development of Mother 64, which eventually garnered over 31,000 signatures. (The petition is actually the main subject of the documentary EarthBound, USA, but the documentary touches on the fan translation as well.)

Eventually, HAL did pick up where it left off with Mother 3, releasing it in 2006 for the Game Boy Advance. It was an instant, enormous hit, becoming the most pre-ordered game in Japan that year and receiving widespread media attention. There was talk of a US localization at the time, but one never materialized. Reggie Fils-Aimé, who was Nintendo of America's president when Mother 3 came out, later told Bloomberg it just didn't make good business sense. The GBA's life cycle was almost over, and the Nintendo DS was already available throughout the world.

Shortly after it became clear that there were no plans for an official localization of Mother 3, professional translator Clyde "Tomato" Mandelin laid plans for an unofficial one. From the beginning, those involved stated an intention to immediately stop work on the project if Nintendo announced an official US release. To this day, it's available free online - but , it requires a copy of the original game, plus the expensive hardware and arcane computer knowledge necessary to dump the game's files. There's been the occasional talk of a revival, but nothing else has come to fruition.

EarthBound 1 & 2 Are On Switch, But Mother 3 Probably Never Will Be

Mother 1 eventually got an official English localization, and was released for the Wii U's virtual console in 2015 as EarthBound: Beginnings. Both it and Mother 2 are currently available on Nintendo Switch Online (with Mother 2 known in the US as just plain EarthBound), but at this point, Mother 3 probably never will be.

The translation work on Mother 1 and 2 was already done when they came to NSO, but since Nintendo missed its window of opportunity to use the fan translation of Mother 3, it'd have to start from scratch now. Despite the cult following, Mother 3 is still pretty niche, and if Nintendo couldn't justify spending money on a translation 17 years ago, it's even less likely to do so today.

It's unfortunate that Mother 3 may never come to the US, but it seems like the moment has ed. The most devoted fans have already found a way to play the fan translation, and Nintendo has missed its opportunity to parlay that into a full English release. But whether they're just hearing about it for the first time or they've been glued to the Mother saga since 1995, all interested parties should give EarthBound, USA a watch. It's a fascinating take on a compelling story, even if it's no substitute for Mother 3.

Source: GameTrailers/YouTube, Bloomberg