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Topic: Another Freakin' EarthBound Topic: Numbering

Posts 1 to 20 of 22

MasterGraveheart

Hey guys, recently saw some EarthBound stuff for fan concepts of EarthBound Trilogies... when something crazy caught my eye. They numbered them EarthBound 0, 1, and 2 respectively. This was perposterous to me because Mother came out first, even if the US only got Mother 2 as EarthBound. I roam around the net between searching out a lost picture of Yuffie dressed up as Tifa and find that calling the first Mother game "EarthBound Zero" isn't very uncommon. In fact, it's downright universal to everyone outside of the Land of the Rising Sun. But I still stand by my feelings that it just isn't right.

Think about it. In Japan, the series went Mother for the NES, Mother 2 for the SNES, and Mother 3 for the SNES. In the US, Mother 2 was released as EarthBound, but regardless, Mother precedes "EarthBound" in continuity. Heck, the subtitle for Mother 2 is "Gyigas Strikes Back," or something along those lines.

In comparison, Japan got Final Fantasy I, II, III, IV, V, and VI while the US got the I, IV as II, and VI as III. However, SquareEnix went back and fixed the numberings after VII came out. Since I don't think anyone holds Nintendo to a standard below SquareEnix, why woudln't Nintendo want to fix their own series' numbering?

I guess the question I'm asking is this. How do you number YOUR Mother/EarthBound games? Is it 1, 2, 3 like it was meant to be? Is it 0, 1, 2 in a complete warping of what was intended? (I mean, come on, even Nintendo Power admitted that EarthBound wasn't the first game in the series. Heck, the NES game almost made it to the States...)

Or, do you think of "EarthBound" as the first and will wait to see what comes out next, if any, and call that 2, then the last one 3? That'd be kinda weird, but... then again, I don't get why you'd call them 0, 1, and 2, so... have at it, Nintendo Life!

MasterGraveheart

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sykotek

I call them Earth Bound Zero, EarthBound, and Mother 3. I feel it is a non-issue, but in regards to the title of Zero, it is just how the group that dumped the game named it instead of leaving it Mother. Its so petty, you know what game it actually is, so what does it matter. It doesn't change anything about the game itself. You can call it EarthBound Origin if you want.

What is the meaning of life? That's so easy, the answer is TETRIS.

MasterGraveheart

Well, it may be petty, but I'm worried about future generations who are too lazy to to do research, or farewhether gamers who may enjoy games but not try to know every single nuance. See, numbering in anything is a bit of a pet peeve of mine, whether it's video games, movies, books, anything. Yeah, people in the deep know are going to know the truth, or people alive and aware relitively close to it's actual release. Maybe I should blame the Angry Video Game Nerd for his chronologically confused video, but it is something that irks me.

MasterGraveheart

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EarthboundBenjy

People who are too lazy to do research are not people who will find out about Mother in the first place.

EarthboundBenjy

V8_Ninja

I usually like to say Mother, Earthbound, and then Mother 3.

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Chariblaze

MasterGraveheart wrote:

Think about it. In Japan, the series went Mother for the NES, Mother 2 for the SNES, and Mother 3 for the SNES.

I thought Mother 3 came out on GBA.

Chariblaze

the_shpydar

I don't think this is an issue that's worth thinking about. Anyone who cares enough about the Earthbound series will readily know that "Earthbound Zero" is just shorthand for Westerners. It's different than the SNES FF games, since there were actually other, different games titled FF2 and FF3 in the series, which (can and still does for some) cause confusion.

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Stuffgamer1

V8 Ninja wrote:

I usually like to say Mother, Earthbound, and then Mother 3.

As do I.

Chariblaze wrote:

I thought Mother 3 came out on GBA.

That's because it did. The series, in order of console: NES, SNES, GBA.

I think the naming issue is only of any real import if Nintendo surprises us all and actually makes a collection of the three games. What would they call it? Earthbound Trilogy? Mother Trilogy? Would they mix and match the Japanese and American titles?

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Adam

Stuffgamer1 wrote:

the naming issue is only of any real import if Nintendo surprises us all and actually makes a collection of the three games. What would they call it? Earthbound Trilogy? Mother Trilogy? Would they mix and match the Japanese and American titles?

That's the only really interesting question. I don't see that it matters what any random fan chooses. If Nintendo surprised us with a trilogy release, it's most likely they'd go with Mother 1-3 for a lot of reasons:
1) The name Earthbound hasn't been used in a title for 15 years when it sold a meager number of copies. It isn't exactly an untouchable or unforgettable name in the greater scheme of things.
2) Using Earthbound Zero would acknowledge ROM hacking, which Nintendo won't do, and there's no other logical numbering for the original short of making up a subtitle, which I don't think the creator would like.
3) This hypothetical trilogy release would allow them to rename Earthbound itself, whereas if there were individual releases they might have felt obliged to make them uniform.
4) Since Final Fantasy 7 there has been a distinct trend toward unifying series internationally under the same names. Of course, Art Style hates me and doesn't want to let me make this point more definitively, but I see it as a general trend.
5) The name Mother 3 is what everyone knows the sequel by already.
6) Despite being a catchy title, "Earthbound" has no direct meaning in the game, as no one is trying to escape from Earth or anything, though I'm sure we all have our own little interpretations. The whole concept of alien invasion has been toned down in each game, too, making it less and less relevant. M1 begins with an account of an abduction and even shows one of the alien ships (not counting the UFO enemies). M2 makes mention of Giygas's alien origins briefly. I don't want to spoil M3 for anyone, but I'll just say that there is less involvement in the last game.
7) "Mother" however becomes an increasingly relevant title. In all of them there is both the play on "Mother Earth" and the literal meaning, both of which are especially important in M3.
8) Because if they don't, I'll just write the word Mother over it anyway.

Edited on by Adam

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MasterGraveheart

Chariblaze wrote:

MasterGraveheart wrote:

Think about it. In Japan, the series went Mother for the NES, Mother 2 for the SNES, and Mother 3 for the SNES.

I thought Mother 3 came out on GBA.

It was a long day, it was late at night, I was really tired, I was actually playing my SNES, leave me alone!!! =P

If we're talking about using BOTH Mother and EarthBound, perhaps something along the lines of... Mother, EarthBound: Mother 2, and WhateverYouWant: Mother 3? Nintendo's used Mother quite a bit in the states, so why not use it and turn EarthBound into a chapter title?

MasterGraveheart

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sykotek

@MasterGraveheart: Oh, I just reread what I wrote in my last post and I apologize, what I meant to say is that its not a big deal to me, I wasn't trying to criticize you, so please don't take it as such. What I meant to say in regards to the EarthBound/Mother series,
"A rose by any other name would smell as sweet"

What is the meaning of life? That's so easy, the answer is TETRIS.

Adam

Earthbound was the title for Mother 1 and Mother 2. It wouldn't make sense to make it into a chapter title when it was used as a series name, not in reference to a particular game.

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Bass_X0

V8+Ninja wrote:

I usually like to say Mother, Earthbound, and then Mother 3.

This for me too.

Edgey, Gumshoe, Godot, Sissel, Larry, then Mia, Franziska, Maggie, Kay and Lynne.

I'm throwing my money at the screen but nothing happens!

MasterGraveheart

@sykotek: Don't worry, I didn't.

@Adam: Well, I know that Mother was intended to be EarthBound for the US, but that fell through and the SNES got the same name, so I don't know if not calling a re-release of Mother in the US just Mother while keeping the US dubbed EarthBound: Mother 2 would be completely out of the question.

MasterGraveheart

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Stuffgamer1

Earthbound hasn't been used in a TITLE for 15 years, but it WAS mentioned in the Smash Bros. series. Thing in Brawl that refer to Mother 3 simply call it Mother 3, but those referring to Mother 2 say "Earthbound" every time. Not that this SHOULD matter much to this theoretical trilogy pack, but it might if someone's feeling stupid at Nintendo.

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turtlelink

sykotek wrote:

"A rose by any other name would smell as sweet"

Natal to Kinect. Not so sweet...
Anyway, i am sure Nintendo would call them by there real names mother, earthbound and mother 3. Or they would do what they did with S&P 2, give them a subtitle

Edited on by turtlelink

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Adam

Well, Nintendo isn't going to give a localized title for a game that wasn't localized, Stuffy. I don't think that's fair to hold against Brawl. Calling Mother 3 "Earthbound 2" would have only gotten our hopes up for nothing, but they kept Earthbound's original name because they were staying true to the release history.

Edited on by Adam

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Stuffgamer1

turtlelink wrote:

sykotek wrote:

"A rose by any other name would smell as sweet"

Natal to Kinect. Not so sweet...

The product isn't sweet either, so...yeah.

@Adam: I wasn't holding Mother 3 against Brawl, but rather pointing out a use of Earthbound. That info would get a bit confusing if they released the Mother Trilogy. Ya just can't win, really.

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MarkyVigoroth

I say "Mother."

Actually, I like Bowser AND hairy bellies!

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