EarthBound Beginnings: Difference between revisions

''Mother'' would be succeeded by ''[[Mother 2]]'' (released internationally as ''[[EarthBound]]'') in 1994, which itself was followed by its own sequel ''[[Mother 3]]'' in 2006. In 2003, ''Mother'' was also released as part of the Game Boy Advance compilation ''[[Mother 1+2]]''. On June 14th, 2015, in celebration of ''EarthBound'''s 20th anniversary, the localized version of ''Mother'' was officially released by Nintendo on the Wii U Virtual Console service as ''EarthBound Beginnings'', making it the second installment of the series to be released outside of Japan. On February 9th, 2022, ''EarthBound Beginnings'' was rereleased for the second time internationally, this time being made free for owners of the Nintendo Switch Online service.

Development for the game commenced in the late 80s, after [[Shigesato Itoi]] pitched the idea of a modern-day RPG game to [[Shigeru Miyamoto]]. Beforehand, Itoi was well-known for his copywriting career in Japan, although he habitually played the Nintendo [[Famicom]] with a passion. He was not skilled at Miyamoto's [https://www.mariowiki.com/Super_Mario_Bros. Super Mario Bros.], but he became an avid fan of Enix's [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dragon_Quest Dragon Quest] franchise. While playing the [https://dragonquest.fandom.com/wiki/Dragon_Quest#Videos first game] late at night, he pondered the changes he would make to the RPG formula if he were in charge, as RPG games at the time primarily consisted of knights and princesses in a fantasy medieval-european setting. While they were flourishing in Japan, he didn't know anything about medieval Europe, and he started to imagine an RPG game set in contemporary times as he found a modern-day setting more investing and interesting. He continued developing the idea, and, later on, while he was at Nintendo for other business matters, saw the perfect opportunity to propose his ideas for the project to Shigeru Miyamoto. He stated how the modern-day setting would be unique because it conflicted with the standard RPG formula, as real life did not support magical powers and the children could not simply brandish firearms. He also enthusiastically suggested ways for how these natural limitations could be overcome to produce a distinctive and exceptional game.  

While Miyamoto had explained this in the most considerate way possible, Itoi was still overcome with an immense feeling of powerlessness. He was convinced he had something incredible on his hands, but when he realized the project would require an actual ability to be able to bring it to reality, he felt a deep sense of loneliness. While he tried to keep a positive attitude about him during the ordeal, he was eventually overwhelmed with helplessness and he wept bitterly on the bullet train ride back to his home. Unbeknownst to Itoi, Miyamoto was intrigued by many of his ideas; another reason he held back from immediately green-lighting the game was the abysmal failure of celebrity-endorsed games in the past, as well as doubt that Itoi could remain invested in his project throughout its development. After some thought, he called Itoi, giving him permission to return to Nintendo to propose his idea again. At the meeting, Miyamoto brought a "super thick" packet of development texts from a text adventure game and told Itoi he would have to write a similar document for the project. He also told Itoi from experience that the game would only be as good as the amount of effort Itoi invested into it, stating that Itoi would be unable to invest the appropriate time in the project with his current copywriting-filled schedule. Itoi restated his interest for his project and lessened his workload in response, and, after Miyamoto assembled a development team for Itoi and assessed the team for compatibility, development for ''Mother'' was officially green-lit by Nintendo in 1987.

During development, Itoi drew upon multiple sources for inspiration, including the iconic Stanley Kubrick film [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2001:_A_Space_Odyssey_(film) 2001: A Space Odyssey], which can be seen with ''Mother'''s extraterrestrial themes and the importance of monkeys within the game's plot. To provide a fantastical element in the game, the city of [[Magicant]] was created, in which [[Maria|its ruler]] is critical to the story's progression. One inspiration led to another when forming ''Mother'', which Itoi himself calls a "blending of genres". This principle applied to the music as well, (edit later) The president of Nintendo of Japan at the time, Hiroshi Yamauchi, was impressed by Itoi's work on ''Mother'' and proposed the idea of a new company meant to support new talent within the video game industry. Itoi then formed the company Ape Inc. on March 1987 with him serving as chief executive producer, which then joined the ''Mother'' development team towards the end of the game's development. In coming up with the name for the project, a temporary title, "ESP1", was used until the word "mothership" provided the primary influence for Itoi. But the title held other meanings as well; the John Lennon song "[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mother_(John_Lennon_song) Mother]" served as influence, while Itoi felt that the game had a "motherly" feel compared to other RPGs at the time: the feeling of motherhood was also present in the game through [[Maria]]'s maternal love for [[Giygas]]. The title could also evoke connotations with the feel of the phrase "Mother Earth" as well.While the development was painful for a multitude of reasons (It was littered with detailed limitations due to the RPG's contemporary setting, which the team had to overcome), Itoi felt that by the end of the game's development, it had turned out to be something "really interesting."