Untitled EarthBound game (Nintendo GameCube)

Untitled EarthBound game (Nintendo GameCube)
Image of the unreleased title
System	Nintendo GameCube
Genre	RPG
Rating	N/A
Publisher	Nintendo
Developer	Namco
Release dates
Japan	Unreleased

An untitled EarthBound game was in development for the Nintendo GameCube. The project was discussed in the summer of 2003, although the exact date of the beginning and cancelation of the project is unknown.

In a Twitter report by Baten Kaitos director Yasuyuki Honne, he had met with the then-Nintendo president Satoru Iwata and EarthBound series creator Shigesato Itoi to discuss potentially making an EarthBound entry for the Nintendo GameCube, which uses a felt like art style according to the concept artwork. However Itoi stated he was not interested as he felt it seemed "a little strange" with Honne claiming Itoi "seemed flabbergasted". At the end of the report Honne stated Itoi did however like the 1980s felt recreation of America.

Gameplay

Little is known about how the gameplay was going to be, although concept art shows it was going to be similar to the traditional EarthBound-style RPG gameplay. The game was going to feature a felt like art style with Ness as the protagonist. Only two pieces of artwork were shown: one shows Ness outside a house in a town reminiscent of Onett. The second image shows four Nesses fighting an enemy resembling the Bag Lady from EarthBound Beginnings.

Gallery

• 

  First image featuring Ness outside a house.

• 

  Second image featuring a fight against an enemy resembling the Bag Lady.

Trivia

• It is unknown whether the game was going to be a new EarthBound title with a felt aesthetic, or whether it would have been a felt-styled remake of EarthBound Beginnings or EarthBound. It is generally agreed upon that it would have been a felt remake of EarthBound Beginnings based upon the wording of Yasuyuki Honne's Twitter article and the presence of the Bag lady from EarthBound Beginnings, despite the protagonist(s) being named Ness in the fight against the Bag Lady.
  • It is also agreed upon that one of the primary reasons the game was turned down was that Itoi and his team were still trying to bring Mother 3 into fruition at the time, so they would probably have been too pre-occupied to produce the GameCube title.

References

• Honnesan's Twitter report
• Translated Twitter report

	and by Shigesato Itoi
	Unreleased titles (EarthBound 64) (Nintendo GameCube)