Earthbound Creator Says New Sequel is "Impossible"

[Your Gaffer]

If someone wants to make an Earthbound like RPG then more power to them. But this creator has finished his creation and feels it is complete. That is his decision.
All too often today great games are turned into franchise money machines and the qualities that made the original game so engaging get watered down and washed away until you are left with something with no soul. I'm glad at least one game series is allowed to end.

 

[The Great JT]

What's the matter, Itoi, run out of ways to traumatize us? Because otherwise, that's quitter talk. Nut up and brutalize our collective subconscious like you know we love it.

 

[ace_of_something]

I loved the crap out of Earthbound. Recently though I sold all my SNES games (having a two new babies on the way is expensive) and Earthbound yielded me more than everything else combined. So other people must miss it too.

 

[PFCboom]

Oh come on... Okay, in my daily rigors, I have to put up with guys who constantly tell me to do things with little to no explanation. I don't always like it, but I usually learn why I do these things. Usually.
This... This just irritates me. If you're going to tell someone that something is straight up "impossible" then you'd best have some kind of reason why. Mother 3 would make bank if it were localized, and it would make even more if Nintendo took up those amateur translators on their offer.
"Impossible", eh? I don't buy it for a second. Improbable, difficult, inefficient, maybe. Impossible? Never. In my line of work, "impossible" doesn't exist until you've given up, and even then, someone else can probably make it work. Like the fan-created Mother 4 in progress. It's going to take a long time, but I don't hear anything even close to "impossible" coming from them.

... Impossible. That word offends me, and I never even knew it.

 

[Snotnarok]

Why are people against series ending instead of going till they're out of ideas, garbage repeating the same steps?
One RPG series I really enjoyed actually ended, as in there's no reason for any further games because well the main villain has been killed and there's nothing that can really go back into it, and honestly I think it's a good thing there's actually an end and you feel like you've accomplished something instead of constantly being mocked by "see you next game"

Said series is Phantasy Star, no, not Online, Universe, whatever subtitle, Phantasy Star was a series of inter-connected games and it ended at 4. No matter how Online may have tried to tie the series together it's over and it's awesome because over the course of the games you've DONE what you set out to with different generations of characters through out different eras that were DRASTICALLY different.

 

[Aiddon_v1legacy]

basically he's saying "stop asking for it, dammit." I can get behind that

 

[Sir Christopher McFarlane]

As a fan of the Mother series, I'm pretty against a sequel. Mother 3 just feels like too good a conclusion for the series to end it with anything else. There is no new premise to explore that wouldn't decimate some of the points and meaningful events of the original story.

Honestly, Mother 3 is a very difficult act to follow without damaging the original. It'd be like making a sequel for Inception. You could do it, but it would remove all of the character development of the original film, or just not surpass the masterpiece that was the original.

Also, no one wants another Hideo Kojima style incident, where the writer wants to stop before the publishers do.

I could have pizza once every decade or so though, which would be a far more appropriate comparison. The last Mother game was released only in the Island of Fantasy in 2006. The Mother games are so loosely connected that a new game wouldn't need to continue the story. It only needs to bring the same feel or themes back. It could be the Bioshock 3 of Mother.

What do you mean, loosely connected? Earthbound and Mother 3 are pretty heavily tied together, though saying why or how is pretty spoilery, to be honest.

What I'm saying is you could have a Mother game without any link to the previous 3. In Mother 3, you could of have an alien invasion without without it being led by that person. The main characters aren't the same from game to game, neither are most of the NPCs. You don't need to continue the story to make a new Mother sequel.

 

[Sean951]

Isn't this the same site that constantly harps on Nintendo for not coming up with new IPs? They told the story they want with the series, and they called it a day. I see no problem there, though releasing a modern version with all 3 in 1 would be pretty cool.

 

[AzrealMaximillion]

Isn't this the same site that constantly harps on Nintendo for not coming up with new IPs? They told the story they want with the series, and they called it a day. I see no problem there, though releasing a modern version with all 3 in 1 would be pretty cool.

This is the site that harps in Nintendo for not making new IPs. And the posts in this forum are saying to leave this IP alone because the creator says its over.

In my opinion, Japanese publishers need to grow a pair and localize some of their Japanese only titles. They'd be surprised how many would sell.

 

[Jennacide]

Not surprising, even for a huge Mother fan like myself. Itoi feels the story is complete, and I don't think he ever really liked making games to begin with.

True, but I still don't get the reluctance by Japanese developers to release English versions of their games when there is clearly a demand for it. Not just in regards to this, but there are many cases of games that get fan-translated versions put on the net, purely because they won't be available otherwise.

It just seems idiotic when you consider how many games fail due to a lack of support, and yet developers are quite happy to ignore making a profit from ones that do.

The worst part of the reluctance is when companies like Square-Enix have put out a lot of awful games lately, and the two games from their Japanese divisions that appeared to be pretty damn good and could help save their name were ignored. (FF: Type 0 and Bravely Default) It took Nintendo to get Bravely Default localization to start, knowing it was good enough to help sell 3DS's.

 

[immortalfrieza]

If someone wants to make an Earthbound like RPG then more power to them. But this creator has finished his creation and feels it is complete. That is his decision.
All too often today great games are turned into franchise money machines and the qualities that made the original game so engaging get watered down and washed away until you are left with something with no soul. I'm glad at least one game series is allowed to end.

It's better for a francise to get turned into "money machines" and watered down until it's crap than for a great series to just die out. Why? It's because that the fans can still get a few more great games and after it's been watered down the fans will no longer want it to continue. It's a win-win all around.

 

[Kurai Angelo]

Speaking of fan made enties, Earthbound MMO anyone?

http://www.skyon.be/

 

[Sean951]

Isn't this the same site that constantly harps on Nintendo for not coming up with new IPs? They told the story they want with the series, and they called it a day. I see no problem there, though releasing a modern version with all 3 in 1 would be pretty cool.

This is the site that harps in Nintendo for not making new IPs. And the posts in this forum are saying to leave this IP alone because the creator says its over.

In my opinion, Japanese publishers need to grow a pair and localize some of their Japanese only titles. They'd be surprised how many would sell.

It seems like half the posts are sad that there won't be a Mother 4...

If Shigesato Itoi doesn't care to continue the Mother series, that's fine, but he should hand it off to someone who does instead of just letting it languish in the back of fans' minds. Same with any other series for that matter.

Nothing's impossible. I would guess it's more like he just doesn't feel like he has the creative juices left for a new game to do the previous ones justice. I can respect a developer trying to avoid sequel stagnation despite a near guarantee of huge profits, but he could at least try making a spiritual successor series under a different name.

It's not like the story is a confinement either- the previous games were only connected by a handful of plot threads, and I bet most people didn't even know that Giygas was supposed to be the warped insane version of the 'Geigue' alien from the first game.

snip

I could have pizza once every decade or so though, which would be a far more appropriate comparison. The last Mother game was released only in the Island of Fantasy in 2006. The Mother games are so loosely connected that a new game wouldn't need to continue the story. It only needs to bring the same feel or themes back. It could be the Bioshock 3 of Mother.

What's the matter, Itoi, run out of ways to traumatize us? Because otherwise, that's quitter talk. Nut up and brutalize our collective subconscious like you know we love it.

Oh come on... Okay, in my daily rigors, I have to put up with guys who constantly tell me to do things with little to no explanation. I don't always like it, but I usually learn why I do these things. Usually.
This... This just irritates me. If you're going to tell someone that something is straight up "impossible" then you'd best have some kind of reason why. Mother 3 would make bank if it were localized, and it would make even more if Nintendo took up those amateur translators on their offer.
"Impossible", eh? I don't buy it for a second. Improbable, difficult, inefficient, maybe. Impossible? Never. In my line of work, "impossible" doesn't exist until you've given up, and even then, someone else can probably make it work. Like the fan-created Mother 4 in progress. It's going to take a long time, but I don't hear anything even close to "impossible" coming from them.

... Impossible. That word offends me, and I never even knew it.

Yup. Clearly everyone says it should be over.

 

[AzrealMaximillion]

Isn't this the same site that constantly harps on Nintendo for not coming up with new IPs? They told the story they want with the series, and they called it a day. I see no problem there, though releasing a modern version with all 3 in 1 would be pretty cool.

This is the site that harps in Nintendo for not making new IPs. And the posts in this forum are saying to leave this IP alone because the creator says its over.

In my opinion, Japanese publishers need to grow a pair and localize some of their Japanese only titles. They'd be surprised how many would sell.

It seems like half the posts are sad that there won't be a Mother 4...

If Shigesato Itoi doesn't care to continue the Mother series, that's fine, but he should hand it off to someone who does instead of just letting it languish in the back of fans' minds. Same with any other series for that matter.

Nothing's impossible. I would guess it's more like he just doesn't feel like he has the creative juices left for a new game to do the previous ones justice. I can respect a developer trying to avoid sequel stagnation despite a near guarantee of huge profits, but he could at least try making a spiritual successor series under a different name.

It's not like the story is a confinement either- the previous games were only connected by a handful of plot threads, and I bet most people didn't even know that Giygas was supposed to be the warped insane version of the 'Geigue' alien from the first game.

snip

I could have pizza once every decade or so though, which would be a far more appropriate comparison. The last Mother game was released only in the Island of Fantasy in 2006. The Mother games are so loosely connected that a new game wouldn't need to continue the story. It only needs to bring the same feel or themes back. It could be the Bioshock 3 of Mother.

What's the matter, Itoi, run out of ways to traumatize us? Because otherwise, that's quitter talk. Nut up and brutalize our collective subconscious like you know we love it.

Oh come on... Okay, in my daily rigors, I have to put up with guys who constantly tell me to do things with little to no explanation. I don't always like it, but I usually learn why I do these things. Usually.
This... This just irritates me. If you're going to tell someone that something is straight up "impossible" then you'd best have some kind of reason why. Mother 3 would make bank if it were localized, and it would make even more if Nintendo took up those amateur translators on their offer.
"Impossible", eh? I don't buy it for a second. Improbable, difficult, inefficient, maybe. Impossible? Never. In my line of work, "impossible" doesn't exist until you've given up, and even then, someone else can probably make it work. Like the fan-created Mother 4 in progress. It's going to take a long time, but I don't hear anything even close to "impossible" coming from them.

... Impossible. That word offends me, and I never even knew it.

Yup. Clearly everyone says it should be over.

Sure, you could cherry pick a few quotes, but I can do the same.
But to save space I'll just refer you to posts 6,9, 10, 11, 13, 17, 18, 19, 20, and 27.

Point is, not everyone here wants to see another Mother entry. The story is done, and video games that churn out sequels just because tend to ruin the series over time for the most part. No one wants to see that for the Mother franchise, which is why a lot of people are respecting the creator's decision to not make another.

Making a new IP based on the style of Mother would be ok, but Mother's story is finished.

 

[SirPlindington]

snip

I'd like those questions answered too, but another game just to answer it might be a bit silly. Only having an official statement would seem a bit dry, though. Like, "Hey, Mother fans, that freaky fetus cave? The one with the Devil Machine in? IT WAS A DREAM!" That wouldn't be cool.

 

[Redlin5_v1legacy]

They were interesting games. They ended on a good note.

As a fan, I am happy.