To celebrate the 30th anniversary of the Mother franchise (which includes the RPGs EarthBound Begginings, EarthBound, and Mother 3), Japanese magazine Famitsu partnered with Hobonichi to conduct a survey among fans of the series.
The survey contains several questions, one of which asks fans what they want from the franchise in the future. The answers will be seen by the series' original developers.
Although Hobonichi is a company that makes everyday items, it was founded by Shigesato Itoi, the creator of Mother, and continues to be led by him. Satoru Iwata himself worked as the company's IT manager while also serving as president of Nintendo.
Shigesato Itoi had previously said that he had done everything he wanted to do with the Mother franchise, but this survey seems to indicate that he is willing to become involved with its games again, even if only through a remake or rerelease.
It is worth remembering that a rejected concept for an EarthBound remake for the GameCube was recently shown, featuring a unique art style that resembled the series' official artwork and evoked games such as Yoshi's Woolly World and Kirby and the Rainbow Curse.
The concept was rejected at the time, but it has caught fans' attention in the present
Mother and Its Fans
Fan involvement has always been very important in the history of Mother. The first game released in the West, EarthBound, sold very poorly due to an unsuccessful marketing campaign, very expensive copies of the game, and other factors. However, the fan base has always been dedicated and continued to grow over the years.
Some of the events that increased the franchise's popularity were Ness's appearance in Super Smash Bros. and the release of countless popular games based on the series, especially in the indie scene, including LISA and Undertale.
Even without a Western release, Mother 3 had a strong influence here
Legitimate copies of EarthBound were almost inaccessible until 2013, when the RPG was rereleased on the Wii U Virtual Console, where it became a sales success. Since then, the game has been released on the New Nintendo 3DS Virtual Console, and its prequel, EarthBound Begginings, was released in the West for the first time, also on the Wii U Virtual Console. It is hard to believe that any of this would have happened without the game's dedicated fan base, since the series initially got off to a terrible start in the West and there would have been no reason to "revive" it.
One long-standing wish among fans is a Western localization of Mother 3, since the title never left Japan and fans have to turn to unofficial translations to experience the game. Although the movement in favor of an official translation is already well recognized by Nintendo itself, that may not be the survey's main piece of feedback, for one simple reason: it is exclusive to Japan, which already has its own version of Mother 3.
"Come on, Reggie! Give us Mother 3!"
