Shigesato Itoi Discussed Complications of Mother 3 Localization

EarthBound creator Shigesato Itoi spoke about the possibility of an official localization of Mother 3. As part of an interview for a new documentary called EarthBound USA, Itoi stated that he would love for people in the West to play the game, but there were complications with the localization. [Thanks, IGN!]

The EarthBound USA documentary documents the Mother franchise’s cult status in the US. It also touches on the development of the game’s popular fan translation. The documentary team’s interview with Itoi marks the first time he has spoken about the desire for Western fans to play an official localization. He remarked that the fan translation was offered to Nintendo, but they turned it down, stating it “wasn’t quite as simple as that.” Despite his interest in seeing a release for Western fans, he has no interest in returning to the project personally as he has moved on.

Itoi’s interview is the latest comment from an official source about the state of any official Mother 3 localization. Producer Shinichi Kameoka, previously told Nintendo Everything that he would love to see it happen. Meanwhile, former head of Nintendo of America, Reggie Fils-Aime, told Bloomberg that Nintendo had little interest in a US version of the game due to the transition to the DS hardware at the time.

While Mother 3 still has no official release outside Japan, its predecessors, EarthBound and EarthBound Beginnings, are playable as part of the Nintendo Switch Online library.

The EarthBound USA documentary featuring the full interview with Shigesato Itoi is available now via Fangamer.