The First Mother Game Is Finally Coming To The West As EarthBound Beginnings

*SCREAMING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Ahem....OH MY GOD WHO AM I KIDDING THIS IS AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! To the Wii U!

Man nintendo are already knocking it out the park this year and they haven't even done a presentation yet! I'll be picking this up for sure quite interested to see what nintens like compared to ness.well they did the smash one but you know what I mean! Aw man am buzzing just came back from seeing faith no more n get this news!!

YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! JUST YESSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!! THIS BRINGS HOPE FOR MOTHER 3!!!!!!!

Where did this come from? Just wow, can't wait to wake up and play it

Boogie time!!!

Oh happy day indeed!

wow! Just wow. This is an historic day. The day the eshop stood still.

Mother 3 incoming? Surely it must be!!

Great news! It seems Nintendo finally has commitment again for the Mother series. Mother 3 may be next, and maybe there's even a new one in the cards!

Welp that happened...

Excellent news. I've heard this game isn't quite up to Earthbound, but this surely increases the chances of Mother 3 finally being released?

Between the Smash DLC and this (and amiibo), I'm one happy (broke) Nintendian.

It's about time. This seems more interesting than the NWC right now.

Oh my head hurts with all this info!

What insane news! Mother 3 is totally a possibility now!

No WiiU, so this is kind of disappointing. Would like it to be on 3ds.

This has made me so, so happy.

"Don't cry... until you've seen the ending..."

That name is awful. Why not just call it Mother, like everyone has for 30 years.

Let me rain on this parade before anyone gets their trumpets out: there was a pre-existing translation for Mother 1 from back in the day, done by NOA--this does not, however, mean that Mother 3 is a given* since there is no such, pre-existing, translation (unless you count the fan translation).

*I note this because I see some of the more rabid corners of the net screaming "MOTHER 3 HAS TO HAPPEN THIS WEEK, TOO!", even though I'm reasonably certain nobody here would be quite that excitable...right?

If mother 3 happens this week also thats it I'm done. Greatest gaming year yet!

@ECM To be fair, the game was probably retranslated because the original translation left a lot to be desired.

@Technosphile: Everyone hasn't...it's also commonly known as EarthBound Zero, as the leaked American ROM was titled. I think EarthBound Beginnings is a good title...it also makes me think Mother 3 might get a new title when/if released here. That'd be interesting.

HAPPENING
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Still hoping for Starfox 2.

The finalized version that guy teased us.

@ECM haha I hear ya! Mother 3 is not going to happen this week or this year! Prob in 3 years to push the NX.

Ironically I just started the Mother 3 fan translate this week so I won't be getting Mother 1 for a long while (too much grinding). Great game so far.

NO WAY! I came back after making a sandwich to see Itoi on the screen and nearly dropped my plate. Honestly I really want Mother 3 still, but this is a good sign of things to come, no?

MIND BLOWN

And people were worried Nintendo wouldn't have any surprises left after all the leaks and recent Directs.

I need to finish Earthbound, got stuck on that Diamond Dog :/

Woah! Where'd this come from? Count me in!

Well, Nintendo has been teasing Mother 3 for a very long time... Especially now that Lucas's back in SSB, who knows? Maybe we'll se something at E3, maybe we won't...

So what time can I expect this to be available? I need this immediately.

I'm so happy about this I can only hope this means Mother 3 is coming soon

This caught me completely off guard, will be buying as soon as available in UK.

That's it. I'm not watching the Digital Event tomorrow. There is literally NO way that they can make me happier.

Our voices have been heard! We've finally gotten another EarthBound game localized!

Very happy about this. Went to the eShop, but it is not there yet. I live in Canada.

Still in tooootal disbelief. THANK YOU, Nintendo. Man what an awesome surprise. Was really great seeing Itoi.

Gotta get home to download this now! Sorry, Valve, but it looks like my Steam sale money is going to Nintendo this year.

Whaaaaaaaaat?!

Yesssssss! I have no money with me right now, but yes! Thank you!

@Gorlokk Wait, Itoi was at the Nintendo World Championships? Hate I missed that.

Wait, if its a NES game, why no 3DS release?

Anyone know if they retranslated the game or if it's just the original never-released translated ROM?

Anyway this is amazing news! Hopefully we can get them to release the ROM for Star Fox 2 on virtual console since it's apparently fully completed.

Now who said Nintendo doesn't listen to its fans?

@NintendoFan64 - It's in about 39 1/2 hours (40 1/2? Not so good at time math) so you can't watch it tomorrow.

Hurray for everybody.

Dang it nintendo! I just bought Ryu and Roy! Why you do dis to me?!

@rjejr I know. I thought it was tomorrow, but I made a slight miscalculation. Anyways, I now face a bigger problem: I DON'T HAVE ANY MONEY ON THE ESHOP! I NEED MONEY TO BUY THIS! NOW!

This is just nuts.

I've never played Earthbound SNES. Didn't really catch my eye.

But now that I can get a localized Nintendo-approved version in the States of "Mother", I'm completely on-board to picking it up and trying it! Might lead to me to love another Nintendo IP! About time Nintendo!

This re-release formula worked well with me with "The Mysterious Murasame Castle". Downloaded a retro NES game that's brand new and love it. Though I have to say I'm disappointed this isn't a 3DS release.........what's up with that Virtual Console library as of late anyway???

I am so happy over this announcement.

Looks like I'm gonna have to pay another visit to the eshop today.

For... My beloved 3DS? No? Maybe it will get Mother 3! I would love that, especially if it included the playable version of Mother 1 and 2 as well!

@NintendoFan64 lol. Like, I literally just went to the store to buy an eshop card. Then I came home, and now I see this!

TAKE MY MONEY NINTENDO I
LOVE YOUUIUU GFHFFTF

Awesome, please release on 3DS too! It's NES game after all, so 3DS is more than capable.

My heart stopped the entire minute I read the first lines of this news until the time I realised it's not on the eShop yet! Now that I calmed down I cannot sleep until I see this game on my Wii U. EarthBound Beginnings. What a nice ring to it Nintendo won the E3! Now, must go check the eShop again....
will be updated tonight, right?

Damn Nintendo.... just wow.

I can't find it on the US E-shop. Is there something I need to type in to find it?

Is it coming to the 3DS? I'd much rather play it on a portable. I think I'll hold out for a 3DS release.

I love that they announce this after I blow all my E-shop credit on Smash DLC.

But if they were willing to do this, hopefully that means GBA Mother 3 official translation and release as well.

And now you cannot say the Wii U VC isnt as good as the Wii VC.

Well, maybe you can but stilll...... XD

The impossible may soon happen... Come on Nintendo, confirm Mother 3.

Awesome. Wish it was retail though.

Cool. Now put Mother 3 up.

This just goes to show that even with all the E3 leaks, Nintendo can still surprise. I wouldn't have called this in a million years.

I believe Nintendo may have already won E3. Watching the World Championships right now. Announce AC Wii U and it will easily be the best E3 from Nintendo I've seen.

Hope this comes to 3DS too

Cmon Reggie give us mother three

Welp, I was going to save my 30 dollars for something else but it looks like I'll have to use $20 for an eshop card again.

EarthBound Zero has a nicer ring to it, if you ask me, but I'll take it!

oh how i love e3 week! i got a feeling theres gonna be some more great surprises hitting the eshop within the next 3 days....

But imagine though the possibilities if Nintendo translate more games. We could see the likes of the Fire Emblems that never made it outside of Japan (Especially since most of them were NES, SNES, GBA and DS entries), Famicom Wars, just to name a few!

Oh.. OH MAN... OH MAN!!! You guys, think about it... Lucas arrives in Smash, we get a western release of Mother 1... It's the 20th anniversary of Earthbound's American release. I'm going all in on my prediction: Mother 3 release in the west (I'm betting Wii U) and I'm letting myself believe we may learn of the development of a sequel. Remember when Reggie said they're going to announce things people haven't even thought to think of yet? THIS COULD BE IT.

Okay, maybe I'm going overboard a bit, but I've been rocking this username for a very long time, and this E3 it is finally relevant.

Nintendo please also but this game on the 3DS, this needs to be a Wii U / 3DS cross buy. Earthbound is perfect for the portable experience.

Just give us Mother 3!!!

@Sonic1994CD It's on the main screen. Just scroll down below the Smash DLC. It's easy to miss, but the image looks like a weird drawing of Ness.

Glad I held off on playing Mother!

Now, IF you excuse me...
MOTHER 3 CONFIRMED!

Soooooo....can we expect Mother 3 reveal at E3 ?
Or better yet, an official endorsment of Mother 4 + Mother 3 + an official Mother 5 ?
Why does it taste like copper ?

@earthboundlink Thanks a lot dude

Now I hope this means that the choices of Lucas and Roy for Smash are not just coincidences and that Mother 3 and Binding Blade will come on Tuesday!

Why. Is. It. Not. On. 3DS?!

About time ~

@Grumblevolcano

Did Europe ever get Sacred Stones yet? If they did, MAYBE the US will see a release soon?

Yes, The Sacred Stones is out in EU (on Wii U VC).
But EarthBound Beginnings is still nowhere to find.....

When they first showed the title, Earthbound Beginnings, my head almost exploded because I actually thought this was a brand new Earthbound game that was a prequel to Earthbound

Still; cool to see them finally bringing this to the west officially.

Nintendo really needs to bring Mother 3 here now too after this. I've played the fan translation and I personally think it is actually the best game in the series, by far (in so many ways), and rate it as one of the greatest video game experiences I've had.

Could you imagine if at E3 they announced Mother/Earthbound 3 for e-shop and a new Mother/Earthbound game for Wii U or 3ds like Mother/Earthbound 4. Screw Kim Kardashian; that would break the internet.

@Boyoshi If Nintendo revealed an actual new Mother game, it would likely blow my mind!

Mother 3 = one of the best games I've ever played—I'm so pumped for even the fan made Mother 4—and if Nintendo were to show a PROPER new Mother game, that was given the love and attention this franchise deserves, then it would probably be one of the greatest moments of the show for me.

@DekersHekers That's what I'd like to know. I've been waiting for earthbound to release on 3ds. I wanna support nintendo but I also want to play the game and currently the only way is through emulators.

I downloaded it. I've only played a little bit of this game on an emulator while I was deployed to Iraq in '08. Didn't really get too far into it, I'll definitely change that soon.

@Jim_Purcell I agree.

@Meaty-cheeky Yes it is, I really hope they decide to bring it to the 3ds. Id have more of a reason to use my 3ds lol.

Kinda weird how this isn't released on the 3ds with it being an NES title. Come on man! At least give us that ? The Vc has been kinda a slow burn lately with only Sega/M2 keeping it a float with the 3d classics.

claps Great move, Nintendo. This is a huge step in the right direction. Now we just need Mother 3 and the unlocalized Fire Emblems made available.

WOAHH Hhhh I wasn't ready for this

Awesome news!

I'M SO HAPPPPPPY!!!!

@DarthNocturnal The price in the American eShop is $6.99. Nintendo knows they can get away with charging $2 extra for Earthbound, and now this. It's kind of irritating, but I know I'll still buy it.

I guess its a good thing I haven't started Earthbound yet. Almost like a prophecy or something.

@HiroMorisato
It's a real shame...

So for someone like me who has never played a Mother game, should I start here or would it still be better to start with SNES Earthbound?

Well I've never played an earthbound/mother game before so I should pay my dues and try one soon as they seem to be classics! Since my name is Lucas, I already have a connection........

@brooks83 To my knowledge they aren't related in terms of plots aside from a few minor details, and Earthbound (SNES) is easier, so I'd say start with that.

If anyone wants to know what to name the party at the beginning, the boy is Ninten, the girl is Ana, the first boy is Lloyd and the second Teddy. Of course you can call them what you like, but I remember even as far back as the first Zelda, I always had to name the protagonist Link. I'm sure other people are the same as me!

@brooks83 These three games have separate plots and different characters, much like the Final Fantasy series.

Seeing this on the E-Shop today totally blew me away. I have always been aware of the rom floating around on the internet titled Earthbound Zero of the unreleased translated prototype but never could get my head around playing it that way but this.... as a virtual console title on my Wii U I am definitely going to play it now. Playing on the console proper is the way to go. I am a huge fan of the game of the Mother game we know as Earthbound and have always been intreged by the titles we never got. This is so freaking cool!

@brooks83 Technically, the main villain in EarthBound was also a major player in the first game. Not in a way that's terribly confusing for newcomers (or less EB would've had an even tougher time in America 20 years ago), but still. Mother 2 had a subtitle: Giyig Strikes Back. That was changed to "The War Against Giygas" in America to avoid confusion. In both cases, it really only appears in the opening scene and not the proper title per se.

Now, EarthBound Beginnings is a VERY old-school game, and much harder to play through than EarthBound. If you're certain you're going to play them all and not give up, start with the first just to get it out of the way. The series only got better with each sequel, so saving the worst for later would suck.

@SanderEvers other games in the series have never been localised before, many people have been waiting to play this, some for twenty years. It's all very well you not being interested but try and respect the feelings of those for whom today is an historic day.
Plus Nintendo's conference isn't even until tomorrow. There will be new games announced then. They've probably deliberately decided to announce this old game prior to the conference to focus on new titles so be grateful for that, I suppose.

@JaxonH Europe got Sacred Stones 5 and a half months ago (first week of January).

@DekersHekers Because that would require to rework the whole game. They've already had a fully translated and localized version for 25 years now.
Also, I don't think it would look good in 3D at all. How do you make sprites pop out on the overworld without looking strange? And how do you make battles (with a solid black background) interesting in 3D?

@HiroMorisato Just buy a Wii U.

Nintendo keep Gameboy and Gamegear games exclusive to 3DS and the Wii U gets GBA and SNES exclusively. They've said plenty times that this is the way things will stay. 3DS isn't powerful enough to emulate GBA and Wii U needs all the exclusives it can get right now.

WOWOWOWOWOOWOW! Here Nintendo, take my money! Didn't see this coming. With Lucas returning to Super Smash Bros I thought we'd be getting Mother 3.

Wow, this is great to hear. I've never played any Earthbound games, so I'm looking forward to starting it with the first game.

Hey, if this is a NES game, why it isn't confirmed for 3DS? Since I don't have WiiU I would buy it, like, instantly, or even faster!

@Krisi Actually, it's a Virtual Console game, and considering how the VC games on the 3DS aren't 3D anyway, it'd make no difference.

@DekersHekers Oh, my bad. I thought you asked why it isn't in 3D.

Mother 3 has to be coming later for them to bother doing this.

@Krisi It's cool. I'm just wondering why it's not on the 3DS, when it can clearly support NES games. Especially with the New 3DS, there's no excuse...

@DekersHekers Well... I guess they wanted to lift Wii U sales even more? I guess Earthbound was released on the Wii U VC first for a reason as well.

@Sanicranfast 3DS doesn't need to emulate GBA games, it can run them natively in DS mode. Just like the Wii U can run GC games natively in Wii mode btw.

@DarthNocturnal It's 7 EUR here, up by 2 EUR from the normal 5 EUR for NES games.

Guys, lets complain less about the Virtual Console it is released in, and lets focus on celebrating that the game is finally on the West! If Nintendo's planning on following that GBA games are only for Wii U VC, It May point to the fact that they may want the Earthbound trilogy in a single console

Late.........too late Nintendo.......tooooo late.
Mother:Zero was far better already an title.
Too late. I remember there was an interview with the Art-editor and people who did the censoring work.

Late

Late

Late

About Mother 3, translated patched, etc etc etc etc. I would rather pay for an GBA bundle with the authors book in hardcover and cross translation. Seriously late. Play it on an crappy 3ds as if PPC did not exsist. Thank you so much Nintendo for making something that people cared about a long long time ago.

Just combing the sands for the salt.

@RegalSin Judging by the majority of reactions I've seen, people still care about this game being localized.

I don't care its not as good as Earthbound! I've wanted this game for so long and to think I can download it today...holy crap.

@manu0 Earthbound was 10 instead of the usual 8 but it was still worth it.

This means Mother 3 has a chance!

@RegalSin Calling it Mother Zero would have made people a bit confused about the name Earthbound and Mother. People to this day still get confused by the name Mother. And judging by all the hype in the comments, people still care about this game.

O_O
Oh... my... god...
NINTENDO HAS ALREADY Savage rainbow unicorn WON E3 FOR SURE.
Mother 3's chances just raised so high! So much so that I 'd be shocked if a Mother 3 localization DIDN'T happen.
And since Lucas was just released as Smash DLC, I'd say this was all planned...
EDIT: Umm... where did that "savage rainbow unicorn" come from? That wasn't there when I posted this.

Well, this will be a purchase this afternoon. Perhaps if I finish the first one, I will be inspired to grind out the end of Earthbound.

@manu0 That's the way Nintendo want to do it though. Sure, the ambassador stuff worked, but it wasn't what Nintendo are wanting out of the GBA. They want to be able to offer save states and all that jazz, something the 3DS simply ins't powerful enough to accomplish.

The original Mother's release is the finest example of what's now possible with the Virtual Console. I hope Nintendo (and third parties) will see this wave of positivity as a clear sign that many of us still love retro gaming.

@Stuffgamer1 Mother 3 would probably be names Earthbound 2

Do the powers that be at Nintendo even remember they make the 3ds? I am having my doubts.

Do the powers that be at Nintendo even remember they make the 3ds? I am having my doubts.

@RegalSin Can't hear you over the sound of half my friends playing it right now.

@Sanicranfast None of that was true.

@Zelda64L Woah, there! I know that you're excited (I sure as hell am. I'm still excited from last night!), but you might wanna refrain from dropping an F-bomb.

o_o... no way. Is this legit? Oh my GOSH!!!! THANK YOU!! THANK YOU SO MUCH, NINTENDO!!! YEEESSS!!!!

@russellohh

3DS isn't powerful enough to emulate GBA. That's an established fact at this stage.

http://www.vooks.net/why-the-game-boy-advance-isnt-on-the-3ds-virtual-console/

http://www.ign.com/boards/threads/is-the-new-3ds-powerful-enough-to-run-snes-and-gba-vc-games.454235744/

@Sanicranfast So it can't play any GBA games, except all the GBA games already on it, which are slightly different than a standard VC game.

Considering EVERY Ambassador program was ported to the 3DS in less than 3 months, it doesn't sound terribly labor intensive.

Give me $100 and I'll do it.

@russellohh if you can't hear me then why did you tap me.

@Chaoz Mother Zero was the first and official translation we will ever have. All nintendo will do is put an spedo over it just like what happen to Castlevania:PCE on the
Wii Virtual console. Censored.

You can play the Mother: Zero translation with or without censored edition right now.
It has been like that for probably over ten or fourteen years now being able to play Mother Zero.

Maybe your logic is "What is new to you is old to me.

@NintendoFan64 Well the popularity just proves the amount of neo-fans being born every minute. Just as the many rebels and freedom fighters being born in the Orient/Middle East right now.

Does that make any sense? That an consumer being born today is the consumer of something yesterday?

Mother is an awesome game and shows you where Dragonite, and Mew came from. I really miss the idea of having the "World Inside" theory.

Everytime I want to go to reality I go to sleep in this world. It is my world and my world. Then there is the talking dog and Robot woman as well.

Among many favorites is the tank in the desert and the death of the Fonziee in this game. "I will have to be the tough one from now on".

@russellohh You're confusing RUNNING GBA titles and EMULATING them. Don't argue about stuff you clearly do not understand.

The 3DS RUNS N64 games that have been ported to 3DS, it does not emulate them. The 3DS runs GBA titles in DS mode (which also could run GBA titles) but is not powerful enough to emulate GBA titles the same way the Wii U does.

The Wii U RUNS Wii games in Wii mode, by turning down the specs and simply making the system think it's a Wii. The Wii U uses it's specs to emulate N64 games. It does not emulate Wii games like it does N64 titles.

Running software and emulating an entire platform to run software are two completely different concepts. The Simple fact is, the 3DS isn't powerful enough to emulate GBA games.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emulator

http://www.vooks.net/why-the-game-boy-advance-isnt-on-the-3ds-virtual-console/

NDS can run SNES emulated games, sorta.. but the PSP can do it better???

@Sanicranfast Yes, everyone knows that, thank you for your dictionary definition of emulation. The point is the 3DS can PLAY gba games, Nintendo just doesn't bother porting them, even though as we've seen, it is INCREDIBLY easy for them to do so, why?
The same reason they only release two Lucario amiibos per city, waited over a decade to bring Earthbound to the VC, and make just about every other business decision they've made in the last 20 years.

@RegalSin Everyone heard you, just no one agreed. Mother Zero added a few features, but as a ROM, had terrible sound, a subpar refresh rate, and overall was unimpressive. Hundreds of thousands of people just bought Earthbound Beginnings. You may not care, and you are more than free to continue. Now if you'll excuse me, you're interrupting my Earthbound time

Why isn't this coming to the 3DS as well?

Somewhere an editor of a newspaper is sat in his office with 2 reporters telling him their scoop. The first says that Mother has finally been localised for the West. The other tells him that they have finally found the Holy Grail in mainland France.
The editor ran the Mother story on the front page.

Nintendo wants any 3DS owners out there that doesn't own a Wii U to go out and buy one, Thats why there also slowly killing Virtual Console on 3DS.
Sneaky Nintendo this easily could be put on 3DS, but Nintendo need to sell more Wii U's.

Still very happy that Earthbound Beginnings is finally here!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qfdSJ1T6cGI
Please take a look!

And now the Mother 3 begging will begin, and reach a fevered pitch
Seriously though, I had a chance to sample Earthbound Zero on ROM and while it may not stack up to Earthbound, I will HAPPILY play this game BECAUSE it's Earthbound. Wow, oh wow... I don't have the words right now. Surely if this can come, one day... one day, Earthbound 2 (Mother 3) could come. Off topic, Itoi is a rather deep fellow. I'd love to chat with the guy

@Krisi I'm just worried it will only be released on the Wii U.

@omalleycat215 - We've waited over 20 years for this. You're not allowed to say this is disappointing.

welp, when it comes to surprise announcements, methinks Nintendo might bring home the bacon this year as well. whether or not they "win" E3 based on already confirmed-to-appear titles is another matter entirely.

@NintendoFan64 @NintendoFan64 Sorry about that! Actually, just wondering, are you an admin or something? Cause I was wondering where the "savage rainbow unicorn" came from. Did you do that?

@sagen The release itself does not disappoint me. The fact that the game is not on the 3ds is what disappoints me. I have Mother 1+2 on the GBA, but I can't read Japanese. Wanted to play a fully translated Mother on the 3ds. No Wii U, so I miss out.

@Zelda64L Savage Rainbow Uni-WHAT!? Anyways, no, I'm not a mod. I don't have a badge on my avatar.

@Solid_Stannis I jinxed it... forgive me.