Will Mother 3 come out? Will FF come to GCN?

Really, sometimes I think Nintendo is just dying to be on my good side. I think the new Link looks stupid, so they change him. I want a sequel to a somewhat poorly selling game, they say they want it too. On top of that, they rejoin with Square. Honestly, I could only be more pleased right now if Nintendo would change Mario Sunshine.

For all of my early childhood, Nintendo was electronic gaming and electronic gaming was Nintendo. No one else mattered. Eventually, I caved and actually replaced my NES with a Playstation. Yes, I held onto that NES for a while. I even got a Dreamcast eventually. However, I couldn't last without my Nintendo. I went on the internet and got emulators for NES and SNES. I excitedly requested a Gamecube for Christmas. Unfortunately, the enthusiasm was dwindling: SSBM looked like the only really good thing for the Cube for as long as anyone could predict. Seeing a stupid backpack on Mario that hinted at odd gameplay, an overly detailed face on Fox, and an under-detailed face on Link made me very disappointed.

Now, I look at Nintendo in a whole new light. Suddenly, I'm pleased with everything. I think it's all because of that Mother 3 thing. It's really managed to make some news for an underrated N64 title that was cancelled without ever getting a really fair chance. I'm quite pleased.

All in all, I think they're getting close to their lost position of being electronic games. Good for Nintendo.

--Tetsu



Congratulations on writing a Letter of the Week!

Mario Sunshine will be interesting, to say the least. I don't expect much out of it.

I've always been Nintendo-loyal. Never owned a non-Nintendo system until someone gave me a Genesis Nomad a few months ago.

Congrats on the branding,
-STARMANDELUXE-

First I would like to say that it's great to have Squaresoft being affilliated Nintendo again, so maybe they'll release Final Fantasy X for the GameCube ^_^! Second, Mother 3 MUST be released for the GCN and EarthBound/Mother 2 SHOULD be re-released for GameBoy Advance. One of the reasons I got one was for the sake of EarthBound! My point is, was Nintendo "throwing us a bone" in SSB:M by putting in Ness, Mr. Saturn , Homerun Bat, etc. or are they trying to tell us that ther could be a Mother 3/EarthBound 2 for the GameCube. In Mother 2 at the end of the game it said 'To Be Continued....' and in EarthBound it said 'The End?' so it must mean that there is a chance for a sequel. So now I say "Please Nintendo!! Make a sequel to EarthBound and re-release EarthBound for the GBA!!!!"

--Die-Hard Nintendo Fan Ness

P.S. Ness Rules!!



You speak for everyone when you say this, I'm sure. Unfortunately, my own take on EB being re-released and Mother 3 coming out: "Not any time soon." It's really too bad, but I don't see that happening anytime soon.

Also, if you like at the Home-Run Bat's description in SSB:M, it notes that it's first appearance was in SSB, meaning that it was not created in the name of EarthBound. Oh well. :|

--StarmanDeluxe

No, the StarmanDeluze typo was unintentional. I'm wondering... you told me to but his CD...

Nintendo and Square should join my lemonade stand network. I make so much money. I sense a Carpy/Deluxe rivalry. LET'S FINISH THIS AT WRESTLEMANIA.

--Carpainter



I get the definite feeling that a rivalry between Carpy and me would not be good. And, as long as Carpy keeps writing letters that are more personal than they ought to be and have nothing to do with the topic (hmm... As I write that it feels as though I'm attempting to bash Carpy when I'm not :| Just thought I'd clear that up, heh), then I will continue to print them in this very space. It's a sacred tradition, I tell you! Sacred! Sacred as the Pope's dying knees!

Oh, right. And Carpainter seems to make a TYPO OF POSSIBLE OFFENSE (from here on known as a TOPO) in every letter! Is this one, saying that I told him to "but" SLing's CD, another simple typo... OR IS IT OFFENSIVE IN EVERY WHICH WAY!? Find out next week, when you WON'T have to wait two weeks for it while I'm on vacation! --StarmanDeluxe

Nintendo has always been my absolute favorite for all time game company. We all love nintendo in some way. And we all should, they started out the games that most of us grew up on and are still playing today. Nintendos children may have left them for a while but they are going to come back. Just like Square did. Final Fantasy started on the nes, and probably was the reason Mother 1 never was released in the U.S of A. [Note from StarmanDeluxe: Umm... I don't see the logic in that. In fact, it defies logic so much that I had to make a note in your letter.] ] Mother wasnt final fantasy and they were afraid it wouldnt be a hit [Another note from StarmanDeluxe: Well, that was bad logic, but at least you gave some :/]

in the U.S. Speaking of Mother I am also very happy that Mother 3 may still have a chance to be released. I loved Earthbound sence the day I saw screen shots of it. It looked like a game I could play for the rest of my life. And so far it is still going that way. And Mother 3 hopefully can do the same thing. And this topic made me check out the N64 screenshots. If they remake that Mother 3, even though it seems more like the other rpgs now. I would still love it. They just got to make the game good, and from the looks of it they have. I hopes Mother 3 is remade, released in the U.S(so I wont need to get a japanese gamecube with money I dont have) and keeps what made earthbound good. We love you Nintendo!

--GoLdChEeSe



Yay, yet another stereotypical response. But that thought that Square was the reason Mother 1 was never released here bugs me... Although I don't agree at all, if it's true... We may just have to whip out our pitchforks!

--StarmanDeluxe

Hello. My name is Freddy. I think my favorite food is bananas. My favorite animal is rat. My favorite color is yellow. My favorite show is Barney but I think elmo is the best. Bye.

--My name is Freddy



NO YOUR NAME IS BETTY IT IS NOT FREDDY IT IS BETTY

--StarmanDeluxe

All I can say is I hope they don't have anything involving collecting monsters in Mother 3...


--SLing



My dad keeps calling Pocky "Pokemon-Themed Chocolate on a Stick." :( POCKY IS NOT PRONOUNCED POKEY AND HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH POKEMON KTHXBYE. Yeesh!

--StarmanDeluxe

I think Nintendo is finally get it right, on both the Gamecube and Game Boy Advance fronts. Their dishing out the untouched classics on the GBA then giving us some newer versions of them the the GC. I just hope they don't wait another 3 months or so to tell us the latest news on the progression of Mother 3, or worse, a "cancellation"(I guess that is what you could call it at this point).

--Bob Cobb



Yeah, I really like seeing the classics, like Breath of Fire II and Super Mario World, returning on GBA. It's really good to see. Speaking of updated games on GCN, I can't wait for Metroid Prime. It's gonna be sooo cool...

--StarmanDeluxe

OK. I don't mean to be negative, but I doubt Itoi will go through with Mother 3. It was predicted to be released a long time ago. I remember flying out of my computer chair when I found out about the Mother 3 project. In my eyes, it's been dead for a while.

As for Square and Nintendo, I'm clueless about everything there. The only Square game for Nintendo I played was FF3, and I thought it was lame (probably because I couldn't beat the purple octopus). Wait, they did Super Mario World, right?

I'll get you, octopus, someday...

--Andorian



Heh, a Square platformer would be interesting:

Mario: I think we should jump up.
Luigi: I think we should go down the pipe.
Mario: What's your reasoning?
Luigi: My reasoning is blah blah blah.
Mario: Ohhhh! Let's go down the pipe then.
*Player takes control again, and goes down the pipe, only to find a message saying that Peach died because she got lost on an island and Toad couldn't feed her enough fish.*

No, Square didn't do Super Mario World, they did Super Mario RPG, a delightful little game (one of my all-time favorites of all time, in fact).

And you couldn't beat Ultros? Ha! He's easy all three (yes, three--horrors for you!) times you battle him! Maybe you weren't using Bannon (or whatever)'s healing ability?

--StarmanDeluxe

Well, in all honesty, Nintendo's RPGs have been going down the crapper since Square abandoned them. When I heard that they're back together, I got up and danced!! As for EB64, the news of a possible Mother 3 for the Cube also made me dance. EB64 is going to RULE! That is a fact! I've been waiting for it since the first rumors. I got pretty honked off when I heard EB64 was canceled, and said some things about nintendo that I cannot repeat in front of company. Anyway, I hope it gets done! I dont care WHAT they do to it, I NEED more EarthBound! The only thing im hoping for is a real last boss. In all due respect, I just don't want to Sing and Pray the crap of of another alien.

--GG Crono 4



Heh, Giygas was a tad easy, now that I think about it. And, I too believe Nintendo RPGs have sucked since Square left. Hmm, we agree on everything! You must be my second-ever MAILBAG SOUL BRUDDAH! Rock on!

--StarmanDeluxe

"Square's returning to its Nintendo roots?!" And in other news: heck froze over, pigs with wings were sighted, and I officially am living in Heaven on Earth!!!!WOOHOO!

*Ahem.* I feel happy that Square is joining up with Nintendo again. Though I hope that they (Square) will release another Super Mario RPG. Square RPG's are fun... almost as fun as EarthBound!

On a second note; if M3 isn't truly released, I will need to chain myself to my bed, lest I set fire to APE. Thank you for reading this letter; I am Da Foo, and that's news to me!

--Da Foo



Ya know, my pinkies are both all dry at the second join (nearest the tip), and I pick at them and make big holes. Ewww.

--StarmanDeluxe

SLing,
I think there is a good chance of seeing Mother3 on GameCube. Ness got a large amount of attention in SSBM. He was a playable charater right away and got 2 levels. Mother is a very popular series in Japan (rivaling Final Fantasy, I've heard). So I think it just might happen. I'd like to see Square come back too. They had a great relationship back in the days of SNES and with Nintendo going with DVD and not carts I'm sure Square is at least looking at the system. Plus with GBA doing so well I'm sure Square is taking interest. They released all the old FF games for WonderSwan (a hand held) in Japan, but nothing can rival GameBoy here, so I'm sure that cash-cow hasn't escaped their view either. So lets all hope and pray we get to see Ness return in his own game and maybe even a little Square.

--RanmaTom



I HEARD THERE WAS TALK OF REPLACING ME WITH SLING WHILE I WAS IN HAWAII... BUT NO! NO NO NO! THIS GUY TAKES IT A STEP TOO FAR! HE ADDRESSES HIS LETTER TO SLING! ARGH! I'M THE MAILBAG GUY! NOT SLING! *Face goes red and head explodes*

Ahem. Now back to your regularly scheduled programming...

--StarmanDeluxe

I think that the odds of Mother 3 being released have definitely gone up dramatically over the past few months, but I won't keep my hopes up. I've done that before and gotten burned. I believe that they have some Earthbound related project in their portfolio as of right now, but whether that will be released to the public or not remains to be seen.

As for this whole thing with Square returning to Nintendo, yay for the world. Maybe now we'll finally have sequals to classics such as Mario RPG, Secret of Mana (even though that already had a sequal in Japan), and other favorites throught the years.

--Evil Dr. Reef



Legend of Mana was the sequel to Secret of Mana, and it was released here in the states. There was also Seiken Denetsu 3 (I believe that's what it's called), and that was Japan only, but there was an American sequel.

Oh, right... "Yay for the world," is MY phrase, kid. Don't make me send the feds after you...

--StarmanDeluxe

Sup Starman DX?

I just signed the petition and already it feels awesome to be apart of it all once again. Nothing like a good petition to bring the community togethor. So anyways...Yea, its awesome that Mother 3 is gonna rear its gorgeous head but I knew it would anyways, there was no doubt in my mind. Itoi da MAN!! He takes care of us, ya know? The thing that bugs me about Mother 3 is that it doesnt seem to be holding true to the whole "modern day world" theme the last two games have had. From the pictures it looks like its part future age and part medieval age...maybe its just me but im sure everyone can agree thats bad.....i have nothing to say about Square other than that good feeling everyone got when you played SNES with final fantasy entoe....yea, im hoping for that again on the gamecube and ADVANCE. One last thing, the coolest thing happened to me a few days ago....i was wearing my starmen.net hoodie (AWeSOME)and some kid ive seen many times before but never got to know approached me and said "you earthbound fan?" we got to talking and it was just [Censorship: Darn] cool--YO im makin a call out to Glenn-you know who u are! Oh one last thing--i just wanted to say the best EB music is scaraba and the close second is the final battle music. Peace out.

--Psionic Brawler



I wish stuff like that happened to me. I have a hoodie, too, but nobody knows about it at my school. I'll just have to keep wearing it and hope.

--StarmanDeluxe

Hey guys,

I can't thank you enough for starting a Mother 3 petition. IGN Cube has the enws on their site, and we just got it posted on ours, www.nintensity.com. Anyway, I'm threatening to delete a person's forum account if they don't sign it. Just try to get Planet GameCube onboard, and you'll see a large boost.

And one more thing, make sure Nintendo makes one with Ness, Paula, Jeff and Poo as the main characters. No crappy characters.

--John



Nintensity.com, eh? Remind me to add that site to my bookmarks.

It's great we're getting so much support for our petition. Hear that, guys? Try and get PlanetGamecube, and we'll have yet another boost. Anyway, thanks for posting news about our petition. Hopefully, It'll be very well received by Nintendo.

--StarmanDeluxe

Without a doubt, finding out that Square is returning to Nintendo was a huge shock. I'm talking "Cel-Shaded" Zelda shock here, folks. With that said, lets review on what can and could possibly happen.

First of all, my take on Nintendo is that they're really trying to push the fact that they still want to be highly competitive in the console market. Seems to me that they're really trying to "outdo" Microsoft with this move.

In all of this, we Nintendo, Square, and RPG fans should be thanking Nintendo's main man (for now) Hiroshi Yamauchi. He first severed ties with Square, only to later develop a fund so developers like Square would go on board with Nintendo.

Remember folks, he's retiring this year, and the old man must have wanted to go out with a bang. Either way, this should really boost the amount of RPG's on Nintendo's GCN and GBA, respectively. It should also be an invitation to Square fans to hop back over to Nintendo...This story isn't over, yet.

--MikeTheEBGuru



Sounds about right to me.

--StarmanDeluxe

Now, see, all these people are saying "Hey, wow, Mother 3 will come out because they're talking about it!" I'm not sure I honestly believe it. Y'see, when news comes out, I'm almost always the last to hear about it. So I'll probably wander into the chatroom grumbling "Lousy Big N, go make M3" and someone will say "They are!" so I'll be like "Woo!" But then the next day I'll come in and say "Woo!" again and someone else will say "They canceled it again" and I'll get kicked for swearing.

So the fact that I seem to be slightly aware of the current news is probably a sign that things won't change. Watched pots never boil, watched cats don't play with yarn, etc., etc. Sorry, I'll try to pay less attention...

--SimonBob



I'm not totally optimistic about it, either, but at least it's news. The site would slowly die out if it wasn't for news.

We can end on this note. See you all next week!

--StarmanDeluxe