Reggie talks about how Mother 3 was considered for release in the west (for 3DS/Wii U)

[Gradon]

Reggie just released his new book, "Disrupting the Game: From the Bronx to the Top of Nintendo" and in an audio version of the book Reggie has an interview with Geoff Keighley, where he opens up about releasing Mother 3 in the Wii U era of Nintendo.

During the DS era:

I had many conversations with Mr. Iwata about this game, about the fan passion, and certainly the perspective was the first game on the Super Nintendo Entertainment System had not sold all that well. Certainly as I've gone back to look at it, the marketing wasn't great. […] it hadn't sold well, because yes there's a lot of time and financial investment in localizing this type of content, it just really wasn't a priority. And then when it's at the point where we're putting all of our effort on Nintendo DS and games like Metroid Prime Hunters and Mario Kart for DS and Pokemon for DS, it really just was not a strong business priority. But boy, the game journalists had to ask me every single time.

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On distributing the Japanese version on non-JP 3DS eshops:

There was a serious conversation during the Nintendo 3DS days, and as we launched the Wii U, that we should look at making the game available digitally through our digital storefront, because at that point the production and distribution costs are the minimus. We had already had conversations about having a group of games that were not localized, that it was the pure Japanese game made available. And we did that for a number of titles. They did okay. Mr. Iwata and I had that conversation about Mother 3.

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On releasing Mother 3 on the Wii U had the stars aligned:

What ended up happening is that we launched the first Mother game called EarthBound Beginnings on the Wii U eShop. That's a sense of the conversations that were happening and the thought process. And who knows? If Mr. Iwata had not passed away, if maybe the Wii U had done better in the marketplace, maybe the Mother 3 game would have made it at that point. So there were certainly conversations, but it would have needed to have been done the right way.

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Source

So there we have it, multiple conversations happened about releasing Mother 3 during the 3DS/Wii U era and sadly it didn't materialise.

This is the most Reggie has talked about the behind the scenes biz on Mother 3 so I really appreciate him opening up about it.

10 years on from the Wii U, do you think it'll eventually be localised for Switch?

Cancel my localisation if old.

 

[GamerJM]

To answer the poll, not for the Switch, but for the Switch 2.

Also, just releasing the raw Japanese ROM of an RPG in the west would be wild and probably unprecedented for a game with this much text, I think. But I'd totally be down for it and support it; as someone who knows enough Japanese to get through games like Mother 3, I'd rather have the chance to buy without importing than not.

 

[The Dragon Mask]

It seems like since Star Fox 2 finally came around they may finally do this for GBA Online on Switch.

The only issue is Star Fox 2 was already translated, and was a much smaller amount of story content and they'd never use the fan translation for Mother 3 imo, so it's an actual investment for them.

My general perspective is that everyone should just accept that Nintendo can't be relied on for the game and get it another way.

 

[Diarrhea Day-Lewis]

No idea this was out omg gotta buy it asap

 

[Finale Fireworker]

Now that we know the conditions that must be met, we simply go back in time and influence the past to make the Wii U a successful platform and save Satoru Iwata. Reggie has shown us the path, now we only need the guts to go back. Safety not guaranteed.

 

[Unknownlight]

This is actually good to hear. Mother 3 not being localized because of financial decisions is much better than it not being localized because of the Magypsies, or all the other conspiracy theories.

 

[neoak]

Mother 3 would require a translation, so unless Nintendo licenses the fan one, which is like an unicorn existing, Mother 3 in the West ain't happening.

 

[Dyle]

Come on Reggie

Another example of how little autonomy NoA has

 

[Lukar]

No idea this was out omg gotta buy it asap

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???

 

[GamerJM]

My general perspective is that everyone should just accept that Nintendo can't be relied on for the game and get it another way.

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You literally can't do this without either breaking the law (which I don't feel comfortable doing because I'm paranoid about getting hit with a fee after someone in my college dorm had a five figure fine for torrenting Battlefield 3), or buying a ROM dumper and an expensive second hand copy.

 

[Diarrhea Day-Lewis]

???

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Im just saying I didn't realize Reggie had a book coming out

 

[Lukar]

Im just saying I didn't realize Reggie had a book coming out

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Ah gotcha

 

[Roliq]

You literally can't do this without either breaking the law (which I don't feel comfortable doing because I'm paranoid about getting hit with a fee after someone in my college dorm had a five figure fine for torrenting Battlefield 3), or buying a ROM dumper and an expensive second hand copy.

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Wait, how did that happen, did the dorm found out and forced him?

 

[GamerJM]

Wait, how did that happen, did the dorm found out and forced him?

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I think so. I don't know the specifics of the details.

 

[Fudus]

You people not buying enough Wii Us was what caused us to split to the dark time line.

 

[FSLink]

You literally can't do this without either breaking the law (which I don't feel comfortable doing because I'm paranoid about getting hit with a fee after someone in my college dorm had a five figure fine for torrenting Battlefield 3), or buying a ROM dumper and an expensive second hand copy.

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No one's going after you for acquiring a translation patch of a game from 2006, lol. You could literally buy it off the JPN Wii U eShop, rip it with homebrew and patch it that way. Repro carts are also not that expensive.

 

[Aeana]

You literally can't do this without either breaking the law (which I don't feel comfortable doing because I'm paranoid about getting hit with a fee after someone in my college dorm had a five figure fine for torrenting Battlefield 3), or buying a ROM dumper and an expensive second hand copy.

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You can also buy a repro cart with the translation already on it. It's not really any more legal, but if your concern is being dinged for downloading, it would certainly get around that.

 

[DanarchyReigns]

So there were talks. Many talks.
Damn Wii U... why did you have to fail?!
At least there's a tiny mini minute microscopic chance it will happen.

 

[Weiss]

just play the fan translation oh my god

 

[Mekanos]

It's never getting localized. The fan translation has existed for almost 15 years and almost everyone who wants to play it has already. What is Nintendo's incentive to pour thousands of man hours and dollars into a translation?

 

[Horohorohoro]

Why do people still think it's going to be localized? The fan translation is probably better than we'd get anyway, but regardless, it's not ever going to happen. It's been over a decade, they have no reason to.

 

[VeryBerryPunch]

I doubt it'll release in English for the Switch

And even it miraculously did, it would probably be altered and people sure love to make noise about "CENSORSHIP!"

So just play the fan translation already

 

[Deleted member 4494]

Why do people still think it's going to be localized? The fan translation is probably better than we'd get anyway, but regardless, it's not ever going to happen. It's been over a decade, they have no reason to.

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You're living in a time where not only did shenmue get a 3rd game after 20 years, it's probably going to get a 4th. Thinking Nintendo might translate and sell a game that is a critical darling in a series that is beloved by Nintendo fans is, comparably, not much.

 

[Taco_Human]

Never gonna happen, Nintendo too safe

 

[Vylder]

I just don't get why they thought the game wouldn't sell too well but made the effort to remake the Famicom Detective games?!

 

[Layell]

It's never getting localized. The fan translation has existed for almost 15 years and almost everyone who wants to play it has already. What is Nintendo's incentive to pour thousands of man hours and dollars into a translation?

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There are some dreadful purists out there who would never dare try it unless blessed by an official release, hence why this satire exists:

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[Vylder]

It's never getting localized. The fan translation has existed for almost 15 years and almost everyone who wants to play it has already. What is Nintendo's incentive to pour thousands of man hours and dollars into a translation?

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They would probably make a shit load of money by releasing the game physically in a collector's edition from people that would not even care about the game.

 

[Digital Dinosaur]

At this point, I do believe Mother 3 will be international one day but it will not be a translation of the GBA original.

More likely is Nintendo will on some far-off anniversary in Japan, do a recreation of the entire Mother trilogy - perhaps by Grezzo, in the visual style of the Link's Awakening remake. Maybe some final send-off from Itoi if he ever feels like fully participating in a game development project again.

That'd be the project that gets released world wide, if anything ever happens.

 

[Lowblood]

Yeah, it never really occurred to me until now, but Iwata was probably a big advocate for the series. Having someone that high up pushing for it could have been the difference needed.

At any rate, unless they actually did produce a localized version at release or back during the Wii U era (that's just been sitting in a Nintendo Vault since), it really doesn't make sense for them to go and do it now. If we ever see Mother 3 it's gonna be as a remake, which would at least allow them to get around any content concerns. But even that's a long shot, you'd have to get Itoi on board.

 

[Poltergust]

It's never getting localized. The fan translation has existed for almost 15 years and almost everyone who wants to play it has already. What is Nintendo's incentive to pour thousands of man hours and dollars into a translation?

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I haven't yet...

 

[Mekanos]

They would probably make a shit load of money by releasing the game physically in a collector's edition from people that would not even care about the game.

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Based on what? You underestimate the labor costs involved to translate a text-heavy game like Mother 3. It's not trivial.

I haven't yet...

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Yeah, that's why I said "almost." C'mon, Jack!

 

[spman2099]

I am personally very interested in this one. That being said, there are definitely some problematic elements that I think they would need to address. I think the best course of action would be to higher consultants from the LGBTQ+ community to figure out the best way to move forward with a translation. Honestly, I just don't think Nintendo cares enough to do it right and doesn't want the headache. So I doubt it ever gets made.

 

[Astro Cat]

I don't believe you Reggie. You had your chance

 

[BassForever]

I am personally very interested in this one. That being said, there are definitely some problematic elements that I think they would need to address. I think the best course of action would be to higher consultants from the LGBTQ+ community to figure out the best way to move forward with a translation. Honestly, I just don't think Nintendo cares enough to do it right and doesn't want the headache. So I doubt it ever gets made.

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Ehh just put a content warning screen when you boot up the game and call it a day. One of those WB "this was made when we weren't as woke, has been preserved for culture blah blah".

Also I'm now on team Mother 3 will happen, likely as part of NSO+EP as part of the GBA online service.

 

[TheKeipatzy]

The chances are as rare as rocking horse shit "uncensored" but I do think they can localize it with modern sensibilities if they want to.

But I hold out as much hope for that as I do official Saturn mini coming out. Which is to say slightly higher than a Master system mini, but less than panzer dragoon saga remake. Or some such order

 

[RochHoch]

Y'all want Expansion Pack subscriptions, Nintendo?

Put it on NSO GBA

 

[inner-G]

"If Mr. Iwata had not passed away, if maybe the Wii U had done better in the marketplace, maybe the Mother 3 game would have made it at that point."

Goddamit.

He should still be here and we should have Mother 3 :(

 

[pixeldreams]

Selling a non-localized version would have been a disaster. Sure people would have bought it so they wouldn't feel guilty about pirating the fan translation, but that's not a game that would be even remotely playable without being localized.

The chance of Mother 3 being released with an English translation is near zero and gets lower every single day.

 

[Crayolan]

Glad they didn't release it untranslated, barely anyone would have bought it and people would have just stuck to the fan translation. Then of course they'd be like "why'd it sell so bad?" and take the wrong lessons. Nice to hear that Iwata was for it but just couldn't justify the financials.

It's never getting localized. The fan translation has existed for almost 15 years and almost everyone who wants to play it has already. What is Nintendo's incentive to pour thousands of man hours and dollars into a translation?

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To be fair, they also just released first-time translated remakes of the Famicom Detective Club games last year, which are similarly text heavy games. What was their incentive to remake those? Outside of Nintendo we also have Square releasing remakes of SNES-era RPGs in the west for the first time just recently and those are seemingly doing well enough for them to continue.

Not saying I think it's happening but it doesn't seem as impossible as it once did.

 

[Brickhunt]

I've started listening to the audiobook. It's not anything revolutionary, but I'm enjoying it so far.

Reggie's account seems to make perfect sense. The momentum to release Mother 3, a GBA game, was clearly lost when the Wii U underperformed.

But I do think the chances of it getting localized will increase a lot when the GBA service becomes available on the Switch Online. Specially in a era on which many commercially successful game were inspired by Earthbound.

 

[GamerJM]

No one's going after you for acquiring a translation patch of a game from 2006, lol. You could literally buy it off the JPN Wii U eShop, rip it with homebrew and patch it that way. Repro carts are also not that expensive.

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Isn't there not a way to access the Wii U JP eShop because of region locks?

 

[Uncle at Nintendo]

I just want to know if there was actual work done on the official translation and if it was shelved or if there was just talks but no project ever materialized.

 

[Atom]

I can't believe reggie retired just so he could avoid releasing Mother 3.

Nah in seriousness I'm grateful he at least tried to have conversations about it. Realistically for all the hoo hah nintendo does about emulation and piracy probably most people who have really wanted to play it at this point have played it as well so idk how viable it would be as a value add, unless they did a full remake.

Isn't there not a way to access the Wii U JP eShop because of region locks?

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You'll need a Japanese Wii U yes. Realistically a repro cart, though originals aren't *that* absurd, cart only. You can use a DS and a r4 or equivalent to dump the cart (this might not work for repros).

 

[Oddish1]

I always knew people who didn't buy a Wii U were terrible and now I finally have the proof.

 

[Madao]

another victim of the Wii U failure. at this point the Wii U failing has been more catastrophic than the failure of FF the spirits within was for Square back in the day.

this game is never seeing an official english release unless the whole trilogy gets remade (or just this game but remaking only one seems a bit weird)

 

[Mekanos]

To be fair, they also just released first-time translated remakes of the Famicom Detective Club games last year, which are similarly text heavy games. What was their incentive to remake those? Outside of Nintendo we also have Square releasing remakes of SNES-era RPGs in the west for the first time just recently and those are seemingly doing well enough for them to continue.

Not saying I think it's happening but it doesn't seem as impossible as it once did.

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Remakes are an entirely different value proposition, especially since they would be getting revenue from the Japanese release and these games would be sold at higher prices than an untouched port of a GBA title.

If Mother 3 got a remake though it would almost certainly be localized. But that's a different conversation.

 

[The Dragon Mask]

I've started listening to the audiobook. It's not anything revolutionary, but I'm enjoying it so far.

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Audio book? I'd heard the script for all games was released recently(-ish), but I was not aware of an audio book version. That might make for some good Japanese practice, as I've been meaning to play Mother 3 in Japanese like I'm doing with Undertale.

If you could point us towards any more information on this it would be much appreciated. Thanks!

 

[belairjeff]

Audio book? I'd heard the script for all games was released recently(-ish), but I was not aware of an audio book version. That might make for some good Japanese practice, as I've been meaning to play Mother 3 in Japanese like I'm doing with Undertale.

If you could point us towards any more information on this it would be much appreciated. Thanks!

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He's talking about the audio book for reggie's new book, not a game script lol.

 

[Deleted member 4494]

One thing I don't really understand as regards the cost of releasing Mother 3 is, well, none of it actually makes sense on a close inspection.

The primary cost of something like Mother 3 is going to be in a couple things: the pre-production / production and distribution of the game, and the translation of said game for external markets. The reality of the situation is that both of these things are done and are at Nintendo's fingertips, should they wish. Sure, they probably wouldn't take the offer of the English translators on the 'free' translation, and they'd pay for their own. But, the game is done, it doesn't need distribution in any physical sense, and it can more-or-less be released anywhere with little-to-no hassle. It does not need to be edited or censored in any way to be released, either -- at most, if you're wanting to be extremely conservative, the could place a warning of some kind or additional information in the rating. The cost of releasing Mother 3 at this point is just intensely low.

So, if they're making the argument that it's too costly I just say: bullshit. Indies who have literally no money release games that are of higher quality these days on the cheap. It's just not the same world, anymore.

I guess I just wish they'd come out and say the truth: they don't give a fuck. I'd accept that as an answer.

 

[Cirerus]

I remember that at the end of the Wii life Nintendo stopped locating many games and releases were scarce (see Operation Rainfall) with the lack of third party developers due to the obsolete architecture of the console. It simply killed the momentum and I believe it is one of the reasons for the failure of the Wii U.

Fans had to beg for anything that wasn't something extremely popular that sold more than a dozen million copies or needed a bigger location job. Niche and smaller games are good to cultivate a fan base.