Difference between revisions of "EarthBound Beginnings"

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]] to "a degree that most would consider obsession".<ref>[https://shmuplations.com/mother/]</ref> He was not skilled at Shigeru Miyamoto's {{mw|Super Mario Bros.}}, but he became an avid fan of Enix's {{wp|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 far more investing and interesting. As he did not know how to develop a game, he wondered whether he would be able to find a company to make the game for him, calling up a friend and asking if the concepts he had in mind would make for a good title. In the meantime, he continued developing the idea, and, later on, when Nintendo happened to call Itoi over for a minor business matter entirely by coincidence, he saw the perfect opportunity to propose his ideas for the project to Nintendo themselves. Having brought along some game design plans he had created himself, he fretted over when he could show them his plans while he was on his business matter. When he finally did show them, the people there were surprised, with Miyamoto himself agreeing to meet with Itoi about the project. At the meeting, Itoi 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.  

Miyamoto's reception was lukewarm at best; while he praised Itoi's ideas, he calmly and gently told Itoi that his project proposal was in no way an indication that he could actually pull it off. Itoi's work in the advertising industry had not prepared him for the game development of the game industry; while he was used to fleshing out concepts and ideas and executing them with a team, even if they didn't quite achieve their original vision, the development of a video game was significantly different: the plan to create something, no matter how impressive it was, was meaningless unless it could actually be achieved. Itoi would have to be an active participant in the development of the game, something that he had no experience with, since he was a complete amateur with the game industry. The proposal stage of the project wasn't the part that impressed everyone, like he had originally thought: he was no different from anyone else who presented their ideas to other game companies (aside from his fame). Miyamoto then reluctantly asked: "I know it's a lot of work, but...how about starting over from the beginning and making it simpler?"

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, having put an immense amount of time and effort into fleshing out his concept, 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 was discouraged, he kept a positive attitude about him during the ordeal and took Miyamoto's words "in a good way", but 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 insisted to Itoi he would have to write a similar document for the project. (Add info from Miyamoto's ''Mother'' perspective at the MOTHER 3 N64 Roundtable Cancellation talk) 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 ''Mother'' was officially green-lit by Nintendo in 1987.

After Nintendo green-lit the project, it took a month for Miyamoto to assemble a development team for Itoi and assess the team for compatibility. The development for ''Mother'' officially began in the city of Ichikawa in the western Chiba Prefecture. In order to participate in development, Itoi had to take daily commutes from Tokyo to Ichikawa, which was exhausting for him. But at the same time, as he stated in an interview, he "wanted it more and more." Itoi also showed his dedication to the project by writing the entirety of the game's script. The basic elements of the project remained mostly unchanged from the germination of the game to the end of development. Early on, Itoi's development team didn't have much faith in him, as there were rumors circulating that he had only ever attended two meetings at Nintendo, and the general consensus was that ''Mother'' was a sort of "vanity project" to Itoi. In addition, Itoi was hesitant to discuss his involvement in ''Mother'' with anyone, as other people had interpreted Miyamoto's earlier request to Itoi about "making it simpler" as Miyamoto asking Itoi to "please stop." But Itoi was serious about bringing ''Mother'' to fruition, even if it meant having to work all-nighters like other game developers.  

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|Ape Inc.]] (stylized 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 {{wp|John Lennon}} song "[[wikipedia: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. Part of Itoi's drive to complete ''Mother'' was to simply play it himself, and share the game with his friends and let them play it also: after all, his starting point for the project was to create a game that he would want to play himself if it ever existed. 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."