Something Earthbound/Mother fans thought would never happen just happened. The 1989 Famicom classic Mother 1 (aka Earthbound Zero) was just released on the USA Wii U eShop as "Earthbound Beginnings" and is in English. This is an official translation and the first time it has ever been released outside of Japan. What are your thoughts on this? Are you throwing money at the screen or downloading it now?
Considering I have a CIB reproduction that I play on my NES, I won't be getting this. It is cool that this game is FINALLY get some sort of release in NA. Still kind of peeved about Mother 3 though.
Nintendo is really late to the party on this. Like well over seven years late to the party with this series. Most people who have wanted to play these games have either emulated them, bought reproductions of them, imported them, or slapped the roms onto their flash carts by now. I'm not a huge fan of the how the Wii U plays nes games either, they all look like someone turned the brightness setting all the way down and put some grainy filter over them. This all being said though, it is nice that they at least give the series some attention for once.
THEY LISTEN.............NOW get rid of Region locks and Reevaluate You Tube Policies and we're back in the game.
This is so weird to me, but it's also really fantastic for people that never got to play the actual first game. Still, Nintendo releasing a game they finished but originally cancelled? What's next, Star Fox 2 on the Virtual Console?
Could be test ground to see if localizing Mother Complete for 3DS would be worth it (do it Nintendo). I could see Mother 3 being difficult to localize unless heavy alterations were made to the game or it got at least a T rating. Still... Clearly someone at NoA knows the worth of the series given that Mother and Earthbound are Wii U VC-exclusives. Funny that after years of neglect, they are suddenly breaking it out in great strides in an effort to sell Wii Us, or so it seems. Both could easily be done on the Wii or (at least for "Earthbound Beginnings" given the handheld VC policy) 3DS.
I didn't expect Nintendo to release it even though they already have the game translated. I have a CIB repro for the NES and a repro of the GBA version and I don't think I will buy the WiiU version. The game is ok but it isn't as good as the other two in the series, which is understandable since it was the first one.
That release really shocked me and a bit surprised they gave it a T for Teen rating just like part 2 did! Now if Nintendo only starts to localise the Famicom Detective games to their NES or SNES VC eShop both or one of the two getting an english translation then i'll buy either one in a heartbeat! P.S I'd would also LOVE to see Mother 3 to get a GBA VC eShop release too later down the road if the sales keep up