A few years back, a western release of Mother 3 was finally on the cards. Originally launched for the Game Boy Advance in 2006, the new version was being prepped for Wii U Virtual Console, timed for the game's 10th anniversary.
Mother 3 News
Nintendo Switch won't have Virtual Console at launch
eShop indie game presentation dated for next week.
Nintendo Switch will not host a Virtual Console service at launch, Nintendo has now confirmed.
Switch's eShop for purchasing digital games will open its doors on 3rd March alongside the console - once you have downloaded a system update.
But it won't host any games from older consoles - at least, not for now. "We will share more information in the future," a Nintendo press release simply states.
Mother 3 will finally get Western release - report
To mark the game's 10th anniversary.
Mother 3, the third game in Nintendo's role-playing Earthbound series, will finally launch in the West this year.
Shigesato Itoi on why Mother 4 is "totally impossible"
“I'm glad that video games are not my profession."
Earthbound creator Shigesato Itoi has explained why he won't make a fourth game in his beloved Mother series.
Fans are making an unofficial Mother 4
But will Nintendo allow it?
The Mother series of RPGs has always had a fervent fan-base. In fact, these Mother lovers went so far as to make a fan translation patch for the Japan-only GBA adventure Mother 3. Now, a different group of fans have dedicated themselves to making an entirely new Mother game.
Professional translator offers to localise Mother 3 for Nintendo pro bono
I can show you what it's like.
Back in 2008 a group of dedicated fans released an English translation patch to Mother 3, the highly acclaimed successor to Earthbound. Using the patch required first finding a ROM of the Japanese game, which is something of a legal grey area. But fans - and curious onlookers - would much prefer to play Mother 3 as it was intended - on a console, purchased from an official source.