After such a long silence, I had assumed the game was cancelled yet again. This is phenomenal news.

Now would be the time to start bombarding NOA with requests for a stateside release. Seeing as they shafted us for Mother 1&2 this game may need the help.

I hope it's similar, I remember someone that Itoi said he had to rework it or something to fit it on another system (Being the GBA)

But hopefully similar.

Funny, I see nothing on there that says it'll never come Stateside... Stupid whiners.


In any case, I read about this news at Starmen.net... We're having a big party and hoo-haa over there because of it all.

Man, this makes me giddy.

Wow, this is very good news! It's also interesting on so many levels that it's hard to decide which to tackle first.

The gaming media has been getting more and more divulgive of games. Remember the NES days? Back then, you might easily read about a game, get excited about it, and find that it's in stores already because it's a review of an actual game.

Not so these days. While games are getting longer and longer to develop, their success has also become more important with the huge sums being thrown especially into cutting edge graphics. That is why we see games that are 'revealed' and hyped years before their release, even when there's very little actual game made.

Mother/Earthbound 3/64 was one of those games. It was eagerly awaited and hyped, even though it was barely beyond the concept state, and the platform it was supposed to be on (64DD) was in a similar state. Now that the game is actually being made with a team that's comfortable with the technology that's already there, Shigesato Itoi wants to take the opposite route of EB64 and the whole game industry.

"As quiet as possible." Silence like that is unheard of in games. Because of the internet and of course traditional game media, gamers know the games they're going to play from beginning to end months before they're actually playing the game. Even the revolutionary Hideo Kojima used the Tanker scene to campaign MGS2 on a massive scale, even though the actual game turned out to be something quite different.

Even when the game is released, there might not be a massive marketing blitz on Nintendo's behalf as per Itoi's comments. Then again, there might be: "until just before its release". Nevertheless, it's very encouraging that one of gaming's veterans and innovators has the courage to go against a trend that is spoiling games for us before we have the chance to play them.

Finally, some news - it's ALIVE, IN THE NAME OF GOD..ALIIIIIIIVE.

(I think that's how it goes)

No US release? Who let the alarmist in? Let's just sit tight for a bit huh?

You can't believe how happy this game makes me as Earthbound is essentially my favorite game. I can't wait to see this game come out ANYWHERE, and then I'll worry about getting it. God I'm so happy.

By "absolutely alright" he means "no chance in Hell for a US release".

Maybe before it comes out over here they'll see fit to release the GBA version of the other two.

It's all because he expected us to stay occupied by leveling enough to buy the seaside house in Onett.