Mother 3 released on the Game Boy Advance exclusively in Japan in April 2006, and never been localized to English. Now that EarthBound and EarthBound Beginnings landed on Nintendo Switch Online, the producer behind the game said he hopes to see the title get a global release in English-speaking countries in the foreseeable future.
In an interview with Nintendo Everything, Mother 3 producer Shinichi Kameoka said that, just like the fans of the Mother series, he would “also love to see Mother 3 released in the US and Europe.” He added, “As a lover of games, I will continue to wait for Mother 3’s worldwide release (in English).”
When asked if he had any fond memories of working on Mother 3, Kameoka said, “I remember how Mr. (Shigesato) Itoi rewrote all the placeholder text that our staff had put in, and the atmosphere of the game changed completely. That was really eye-opening.”
According to Nintendo Life, because Mother 3 was a Japanese-exclusive release, Western fans were forced to rely on a fan translation patch to experience the game. Last year, former Nintendo of America President Reggie Fils-Aimé joked about Mother 3’s return, saying he has the English version of the game in his possession but hasn’t played it.
Nintendo hasn’t released a statement regarding any plans for an English localization of Mother 3. In 2019, former senior editor of Game Infomer Imran Khan suggested in a ResetEra thread that the English release of the game was cancelled because it was too risky to localize a game with certain aspects that may be too controversial for Western players.
Today, Kameoka is president and CEO of indie Japanese studio Brownies. Its latest game, EGGLIA Rebirth, was released on Nintendo Switch on February 10.
