Earthbound/Mother fans gathered on Twitter today for a monumental occasion that may see their most dear wish granted. In response to a Japanese Nintendo tweet regarding today’s Nintendo Direct event, series creator, Shigesato Itoi roughly stated (according to translations) “7 a.m. is amazing. It may be snowing.”
朝7時って、すごいな。雪が降ってるかもしれない。 https://t.co/TQk985WDqp
— 糸井 重里 (@itoi_shigesato) February 9, 2022
These few words left fans of the series more hopeful than ever that something new is coming very soon and will possibly be shown off at today’s Direct. Fans have spent years begging Nintendo for an English translation of Mother 3 and Shigesato’s statement has fans hopeful that’s finally happening. Of course, EarthBound fans are used to disappointment and many are still preparing for the worst despite this possible good sign.
The EarthBound series is one that many see as one of Nintendo’s most neglected due to a lack of series usage outside of the Super Smash Bros. Nintendo’s reasoning behind abandoning the series isn’t clear and many attribute it to the series’ past of walking on a thin copyright infringinement line. That still doesn’t answer why the series hasn’t made a comeback as Nintendo’s main traditional RPG series that fans recognize it as.
Renewed interest in a new installment popped back up recently when footage of a scrapped Nintendo 64 installment of the series, EarthBound 64/Mother 64, hit the internet. That led fans to joke about how an unreleased game in the series hit the internet before any word of an official Mother 3 release.
While it’s still unknown if Shigesato is truly hinting at a new entry in the EarthBound franchise or something completely new, it’s a good idea to remain cautiously optimistic, but keep expectations in check. Though, it would be a good idea for Nintendo to finally tap into one of its star series and see what potential it has for a new generation.
