Take to the skies

Earthbound coming to the Wii U Virtual Console was quite an event — fans had been asking for the game since the days of the original Wii.

Given the tremendous exposure surrounding the launch of the game, you might assume that Nintendo would want to explore the possibly of bringing other titles in the Mother series to the west — specifically the Game Boy Advance sequel Mother 3 — but sadly, that doesn't seem to be the case.

When asked by IGN if the positive reception given to Earthbound would change the way Nintendo views the franchise, Nintendo's Reggie Fils-Aime replied:

To answer your specific question, I would have to say no. We knew the response to EarthBound was going to be strong. Believe me, I’ve met those fans. The first question out of their mouth is, ‘Reggie, when is EarthBound coming? Mother 3!’ I’ve met, I think, all of them. So we’re always looking at our rich history to identify those opportunities of games we could bring back and have consumers experience.

For me, it was Chrono Trigger. That was a key game in my early video-game-playing days, and I love when we made that game available. So we’re constantly looking at opportunities to bring back some of our great legacy content, reintroduce that to consumers, and have them enjoy it the way many of us did years and years ago.

I have nothing to announce regarding Mother 3 at this time.

It's a shame that Nintendo doesn't seem to be interested in releasing more Mother games outside of Japan, but the cost of translating all of that text is considerable — would the company really see a return on its investment, given the small install base of the Wii U? Let us know what you think by posting a comment.

[source uk.ign.com]