Happy Anniversary, Earthbound Zero!
For Japanese gamers, Thursday, April 27, 2006 marks the end of Mother 3’s first full week of wide release. However, this particular calendar square gives us English speaking players a reason to celebrate as well: You see, April 27, 2006 is the eighth anniversary of the ROM release of everyone’s favorite NES prototype, Earthbound Zero.
With Reidman’s “vague” announcement about Mother 3 possibly receiving a North American localization, most of the buzz on Starmen.net right now is related to Americans finally getting their hands on a long-awaited Earthbound sequel. Yes, many thrilling things await English-speaking Mother fans. Even if the English translation of Mother 3 falls through, we’ve all had a heck of a time getting here. Besides, after the Earthbound 64 debacle a few years ago, it’s awesome just knowing that Mother 3 exists at all. And if we DO get an English translation, patrons of this website will no doubt explode with joy, forming a massive cloud of happiness that promises to rain gumdrops and everlasting love across America for weeks to come.
But let’s take a moment to step back from all the Mother 3 excitement and celebrate the efforts of the people who put their heart and soul into the original Mother and its ill-fated cousin, Earthbound (Zero). The first and most obvious person to thank is Shigesato Itoi, whose work with this series has been entertaining gamers worldwide for the past 17 years. Without him, there would be no Mother, no Earthbound and no Starmen.net. Thank you to the programmers: Kazuya Nakatani, Takayuki Onodera and Motoo Yasuma for their well-made product; the Music Producers: Akio Ohmori and Ritsuo Kamimura for their unforgettable songs; and the Character Designers: Shinbo Minami and Tatsuya Ishii, for the unforgettable inhabitants of the Mother world. I’m also very appreciative to Ape Inc. and Nintendo for all they did to bring Mother to the Famicom. And speaking of Nintendo, the legendary Shigeru Miyamoto (of Mario and Zelda fame) did his best as the producer of this title – giving us gamers yet another reason to admire him.
I would especially like to thank the Earthbound (Zero) localization team – specifically, translators Toshiko Watson, Yuka Nakata, Hiroko Faulkner and English Script Writer Phil Sandhop – for working so hard on a game that never saw a proper release. We all appreciate your hard work, and Earthbound (Zero) has finally received the attention it deserves. Your labor was definitely not in vain, and is now ingrained in the minds and hearts of hundreds of gamers.
Space doesn’t allow me to thank everyone involved in the making of the first Mother game, but here’s a link to a more complete list, courtesy of our own Starmen.net: http://starmen.net/credits/nes.php.
I’d also like to applaud the efforts of Steven Demeter and the Neo Demiforce, who eight years ago, took a chance and spent hundreds of dollars to bring us the Earthbound (Zero) prototype. And let’s not forget those who donated to the cause. Thanks, guys. If I had any idea what was going on at the time, I’d have pitched in too; but because of selfless people like you, I didn’t have to.
Finally, I’d like to thank Reidman, Tomato and all the mods and section heads for their work on Starmen.net, as well as anyone else who truly cares about this website and the Mother series. We are what keep this series of games so alive – let’s keep it that way.
Indeed, Mother/Earthbound fans should be very excited about the recent influx of Mother 3 news: There’s no doubt that good things are coming our way in the future. But just remember how we got to this point – and who got us here.
For Japanese gamers, Thursday, April 27, 2006 marks the end of Mother 3’s first full week of wide release. However, this particular calendar square gives us English speaking players a reason to celebrate as well: You see, April 27, 2006 is the eighth anniversary of the ROM release of everyone’s favorite NES prototype, Earthbound Zero.
With Reidman’s “vague” announcement about Mother 3 possibly receiving a North American localization, most of the buzz on Starmen.net right now is related to Americans finally getting their hands on a long-awaited Earthbound sequel. Yes, many thrilling things await English-speaking Mother fans. Even if the English translation of Mother 3 falls through, we’ve all had a heck of a time getting here. Besides, after the Earthbound 64 debacle a few years ago, it’s awesome just knowing that Mother 3 exists at all. And if we DO get an English translation, patrons of this website will no doubt explode with joy, forming a massive cloud of happiness that promises to rain gumdrops and everlasting love across America for weeks to come.
But let’s take a moment to step back from all the Mother 3 excitement and celebrate the efforts of the people who put their heart and soul into the original Mother and its ill-fated cousin, Earthbound (Zero). The first and most obvious person to thank is Shigesato Itoi, whose work with this series has been entertaining gamers worldwide for the past 17 years. Without him, there would be no Mother, no Earthbound and no Starmen.net. Thank you to the programmers: Kazuya Nakatani, Takayuki Onodera and Motoo Yasuma for their well-made product; the Music Producers: Akio Ohmori and Ritsuo Kamimura for their unforgettable songs; and the Character Designers: Shinbo Minami and Tatsuya Ishii, for the unforgettable inhabitants of the Mother world. I’m also very appreciative to Ape Inc. and Nintendo for all they did to bring Mother to the Famicom. And speaking of Nintendo, the legendary Shigeru Miyamoto (of Mario and Zelda fame) did his best as the producer of this title – giving us gamers yet another reason to admire him.
I would especially like to thank the Earthbound (Zero) localization team – specifically, translators Toshiko Watson, Yuka Nakata, Hiroko Faulkner and English Script Writer Phil Sandhop – for working so hard on a game that never saw a proper release. We all appreciate your hard work, and Earthbound (Zero) has finally received the attention it deserves. Your labor was definitely not in vain, and is now ingrained in the minds and hearts of hundreds of gamers.
Space doesn’t allow me to thank everyone involved in the making of the first Mother game, but here’s a link to a more complete list, courtesy of our own Starmen.net: http://starmen.net/credits/nes.php.
I’d also like to applaud the efforts of Steven Demeter and the Neo Demiforce, who eight years ago, took a chance and spent hundreds of dollars to bring us the Earthbound (Zero) prototype. And let’s not forget those who donated to the cause. Thanks, guys. If I had any idea what was going on at the time, I’d have pitched in too; but because of selfless people like you, I didn’t have to.
Finally, I’d like to thank Reidman, Tomato and all the mods and section heads for their work on Starmen.net, as well as anyone else who truly cares about this website and the Mother series. We are what keep this series of games so alive – let’s keep it that way.
Indeed, Mother/Earthbound fans should be very excited about the recent influx of Mother 3 news: There’s no doubt that good things are coming our way in the future. But just remember how we got to this point – and who got us here.
