One year later: Mother 3 fan translation project
by Eric Caoili 
{ Nov 13th 2007 at 7:40PM }
Convinced that Nintendo has no intention of ever localizing Mother 3 for release outside of Japan, fans of the Mother/Earthbound series have been working on their own unofficial translation for the endearing RPG. The volunteer group has put a year's worth of work into the project so far and is celebrating that milestone with two releases:
- An anniversary video showing the game played with an English script. It's a preview of not only the team's progress, but of the bugs that still need to be addressed at this stage. You can watch the three-minute clip after the post break.
- An updated menu patch with the most up-to-date translations for Mother 3's menus and chapter titles. Of course, this menu patch and the eventual full translation patch require an unauthorized, completely illegal ROM copy of the game to be of any use. Yarr!
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Mr Khan @ Nov 13th 2007 9:21PM
Meh, its not like taking the fan translation would hurt Nintendo, it would be stealing, but financially its not like those who aren't fluent in Japanese can enjoy the game anyway (and thus can't buy it)
Basically, its not going to help them, but its not going to hurt them either, sales won't go down (unless Nintendo up and decides to localize right after they finish this project, then there would be some serious egg on their faces)
But damn does that game look awesome
HawthorneKitty @ Nov 13th 2007 9:41PM
Wow, it looks awesome. I wonder why Nintendo wouldn't localize it though...
DonWii @ Nov 13th 2007 10:24PM
@Haw,
Because Earthbound sold poorly. The game has a cult following outside of Japan.
Hopefully, though, the inclusion of Lucas in Brawl, interest in the franchise will increase and we may see a localized version.
Backslash @ Nov 13th 2007 10:36PM
This looks like such an insane game.
Brello @ Nov 13th 2007 11:52PM
@DonWii
I'm sure Lucas is only present because it would just mean additional work to take him out. May is well leave it in there as a present to the tiny Earthbound following here in the US. I doubt a localized version will come about, though. Of course, I could be wrong.
Setai @ Nov 14th 2007 3:17AM
@Brello
There's still some hope. Look at what Marth and Roy did when they were included in Smash Bros Melee. Four Fire Emblem games have been brought over to the US now and a fifth one is scheduled for the DS. So I wouldn't quite say there is no chance for Mother 3 yet.
fdisk_format @ Nov 14th 2007 11:49AM
I still can't understand why Magical Starsign didn't sell well in the US. It's a fantastic RPG. I've beaten the game three times, and I still go back and play it again quite often.
Suiname @ Nov 16th 2007 5:44PM
I don't think including Lucas in brawl will have much effect on creating Earthbound demand in the US. Ness has afterall been in all the smash bros games, and that didn't do much.
Christian D @ Nov 16th 2007 5:53PM
it's awesome to see how far along this translation really has come .. . i watched my ex girlfriend play this whole game in japanese when it originally came out and with how the menu system is you can play it without knowing a lick of japanese, plus shigesato itoi put alot of emotion into those tiny little sprites, glad to see it in english, even if it isn't official .. .
Jeffrey @ Jan 19th 2008 11:51AM
I can't wait for this game, I know the unofficial version is going to take a while longer to finish. I just wish Nintendo would Release it here.
http://groups.myspace.com/Wiiwantmother3 Help mother 3 come to America!!!