61 Frames Per Second : mother 2

Talkin' RPGs With Itoi

Bob Mackey — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 20:05:00 GMT

Shigesato Itoi, a true Renaissance Man of Japan's entertainment world, is mostly known to us gamers as the mastermind behind the Mother RPG series. And it's his iconoclastic, "outsider" view of the video game medium that makes his projects so unique and cult-friendly; someone deeply entrenched in the world of RPG development is far more likely to make a derivative Tales of game than anything approaching the level of Itoi's imagination. With how creatively successful the Mother games have been, it's surprising that developers haven't tried bringing in more outside artists to derail the tunnel-vision quite a few franchises and genres currently suffer from.

Thanks to Itoi, I was deeply engrossed in Mother 3 over the fall and winter months of 2008, mainly because it took such a different approach than the other Mother games; rather than having a huge, worldwide scope (the usual method of most RPGs), the final entry in the Mother trilogy scaled things down to a much smaller and more detailed world that eventually changed (for the worse) over time. It was a fascinating approach that led me to care more about the game's world and inhabitants, all the way up until the heartbreaking ending.

The reason I've been thinking about Itoi lately--aside from the fact that he's so dreamy--relates to a few translated interviews with the jack of all trades posted by the equally-dreamy Tomato over at Earthbound Central. The interviews may be framed by a larger discussion of Animal Crossing, but Itoi still has a few interesting things to say about RPG game design.

Take his comments about Mother 3's small scope, for example:

That’s when I thought of an RPG in which you stay in a certain town for a long time...

The game would have character relations, and the people would all have their own lives. This way, we could do all sorts of things in the game. For example, someone who recently hung laundry out to dry would be wearing those clothes the next day. I wanted to make an RPG in which you could grow closer to the people as time went on.

Interesting stuff, though I wish there was much more of it. You can read the first part of the Mother-related interview comments HERE, and the second part HERE.

Related Links:

The Mother 3 Handbook: Better than Advertised
Mother 3's Soundtrack Disassembled
OST: Mother

Excitement Time: A New EarthBound on the Way?

Bob Mackey — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 15:00:00 GMT

We here at 61FPS looove Earthbound. And from personal experience I can tell you that being a mega-fan of the series is an extremely bi-polar experience; we have our good moments, such as the recent Mother 3 translation, but we also have our bad moments, like every time Nintendo completely ignores the possibility of us seeing any Mother games on the Wii's Virtual Console.

Now, we Mother fans are seemingly beset with more bad than good news, but a recent report from Earthbound Central may contain some of the best news we've heard in a looong time. In an article in the latest Weekly Famitsu about developer Level 5's unfortunately-named digital download service, Roid, the magazine hints at a possible new Mother game--though it doesn't drop any names. Here's what the amazing man behind EBC has to say about all of this:

The article doesn’t say anything about the screenshot in particular, except asking, “Could this be THAT RPG?!” and that really big-title names are scheduled to be released on it. It’s not clear if this screenshot is just concept art or what, though. If you know Japanese, you can do an interactive demo of how the Roid interface works here, but there are no game demos or anything of interest in relation to this image.

People didn't seem to believe Tomato's initial post, so, in Earthbound Central tradition, he overanalyzed the single, blurry picture of this mystery game to show how much of it was similar to EarthBound:

This could be an early April Fool's joke, but I doubt Tomato could ever be that cruel. And while it's unclear if Roid will ever work outside of Japan, you can bet savvy EarthBound fans will find a way if this news is really as good as we want it to be.

Related Links:

The Reason Why Mother 3 Never Came to America
Mother 3's Soundtrack Disassembled
OST: Mother

The Earthbound Legal Conundrum In-Depth

Nadia Oxford — Wed, 18 Feb 2009 04:13:00 GMT

The recent news about Earthbound never coming to the Virtual Console because of legal reasons has struck up a chorus of “But--” and “How come--”. People are understandably upset that Ness's adventure is going to remain in eBay Hell forever, and they want solid answers about why this wretched thing is happening.

There still aren't any solid answers, but the good man in charge of Mother 3's recent fan translation, Tomato, has put together an incredibly in-depth list of reasons why Nintendo is erring on the side of caution. Put in simplest terms, the Internet has made it easier than ever to conjure reasons for an IP lawsuit, and Nintendo already has numerous lawsuits hanging off it at any one time like parasitic fish on the belly of a whale. Even a company like Capcom likely doesn't see half the number of lawsuits Nintendo does, thus explaining why it shrugged off the release of Mega Man and Mega Man 2 on the Virtual Console, despite numerous musical “tributes” in both games.

As Tomato put it:

To avoid crap lawsuits, Nintendo has a team of legal people who have to go through everything Nintendo plans to release and look for anything that can cause potential lawsuits. Then these things are fixed if necessary.

The point is: they’re trying to avoid lawsuits in the first place. It doesn’t matter if they could clearly successfully win lawsuits brought against them; they’d still lose money in the process. Having this team of legal people is cheaper than putting up with every lawsuit that every crazy money-hungry company hits them with.

Remember Star Tropics, an 8-bit RPG by Nintendo? When we were kids, Mike pelted his enemies with a Yo-Yo. On the Virtual Console, his Yo-Yo became a “Star” because some Canadian company owns the rights to the Yo-Yo name. Likely said Canadians are too busy drinking and racing moose to care about an old Nintendo game, but Nintendo figures, why take the risk?

“So why is this all a problem now?” asks the Internet collective. “Why wasn't it a problem when Earthbound first came out for the SNES?”

There were copyright problems, and as Tomato notes, they were addressed. The awesomely-named “Grateful Dead Valley” became “Peaceful Rest Valley.” The Red Cross that marked in-game hospitals was removed, because sure enough the Red Cross will pitch a fit over logo copyrights otherwise. Dr Andonuts' “Sky Walker” craft became the “Sky Runner,” and the logo on the vaguely Coke-ish looking trucks was changed to something generic.

(The “Coke” logo was better off altered, anyway: the trucks in Mother 2 feature a suggestive white line under the word “Come.”)

So is this the very end, my friends? Is a VC release for Earthbound utterly hopeless? Tomato paints a pretty convincing argument, but like the UFO people often say, I want to believe. It's a funny old world out there, and it's full of just as many happy surprises as it is soul-crushing disappointments. Maybe all the lawyers in the world will simultaneously learn how to love again and Earthbound will show them the way.

Related Links:

Abandon All Hope: No Earthbound for the Virtual Console
Whatcha Listening To: The Earthbound Soundtrack
Earthbound and Back Again

My Top 10 of 2008 in No Particular Order: Mother 3

Bob Mackey — Tue, 23 Dec 2008 17:00:00 GMT

It's the end of another year, and that can only mean one thing: it's list season. Inevitably, you're going to see top ten lists by the thousands; and, as an official member of the enthusiast press, I'm afraid I can't violate my directive. But, to make things a little more interesting, I've decided to assemble my 10 favorite games of this year in non-hierarchical form because--let's face facts--it's hard to pick a favorite. And unlike other top 10 lists, this one will be doled out to you in piecemeal for--oh wait, we've reach the end of the list! Thanks for playing.

I know, I know; Mother 3 didn't come out in 2008--its Japanese release date was April of 2006. But none of that matters when you're a love-starved Earthbound fan looking for his next fix--and besides, who's writing this list, you or me? Sorry for getting a bit emotional there, but I can't help it; Mother 3 is a game worth getting emotional about. Finally getting a sequel to something you've loved for over thirteen years is a pretty monumental event, especially when said sequel doesn't pee all over what made its predecessor good in the first place. Mother 3 may be tad different than Earthbound, but in keeping with the tradition of the series, it's completely unlike any game out there--despite being built on a very old, Dragon Quest-y foundation. And thanks to the heroic efforts of Tomato and his translation team, Mother 3 might just be my favorite game of the year. I now regret never ranking my list entries.

But my love of Mother 3 shouldn't come as a shock to any of you loyal readers out there; the fact that about 50% of my output on 61FPS has been entries about all things Mother proves that I'm absolutely crazy about the series in a "this man must be institutionalized for his own safety" kind of way. When the Mother 3 translation patch hit in late October, I celebrated the event by heading over to Fan Gamer and forking over some serious cash for unofficial Earthbound merchandise. I guess we should consider ourselves lucky that a game with such a troubled development history actually turned out good; otherwise, there wouldn't be such a call for celebration or the irresponsible spending of semi-disposable income. Of course, I haven't exactly finished the game yet, but unless it somehow makes all of my limbs fall off after exploding the final boss, Mother 3 deserves its ranking at the top of my best games of 2008 list.

Thanks for following these installments of the past few weeks; I'll be back in 2009 with more baffling choices. Happy new year!

The Final List:

Audiosurf
Braid
Grand Theft Auto IV
Fable 2
Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney
Persona 3: FES
Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved 2
Dragon Quest IV: Chapters of the Chosen
Rock Band 2
Mother 3

The Mother GBA Translation: Tomato is a Crazy Mofo

Bob Mackey — Mon, 08 Dec 2008 16:00:00 GMT

No, not that Mother translation. I'm talking about the first Mother: released in Japan in 1989, translated by Nintendo of America, abandoned, discovered, and re-released by the ROM hacking community in 1998 as Earthbound Zero. Mother was also ported to the Game Boy Advance along with its sequel (AKA Earthbound) in 2003; unfortunately, this game fell victim to Nintendo's policy of Earthbound fans not having nice things. Fortunately we have dudes like Tomato, whose amazing hacking/translating skills will one day give us the privilege of playing the first Mother on the go. Here's a video of his progress so far:

Of course, this isn't quite as monumental as the Mother 3 translation--after all, an English script for this game already exists--but Tomato plans on making quite a few interesting changes this time around. And here they are, taken right from this blog post:

Some of the things you can expect from this retranslation:

* A retranslated script. The EB0 ROM has a good number of changes and mistakes/issues with plot details. The EB0 script is also very dry, because of limited resources. This retranslation can allow for a lot more text, and censoring/changes won’t need to be done.

* Expanded text boxes, allowing for more dialog text at one time, meaning the text will be nicer and easier to read.

* Expanded battle text boxes, allowing for more text than before. I still need to actually edit the text to use the new space though.

* I added an “Easy Ring” to Ninten’s basement, for those who don’t like to grind for experience and money. The item, when equipped, doubles the exp and money you get from enemies. It makes the game much less of a chore.

* Things like the status screen are a little fancier and more verbose.

* You can use the L Button in this game much like you can in EarthBound. It makes talking to things/checking things a little quicker.

* I plan to make a few changes with the font and the window borders to be more like EarthBound.

* Many of the little EarthBound / MOTHER 3 connections will be left intact in this translation, so fans of the series will surely enjoy that. The EB0 translation changed a lot of things, which broke some of these connections.

* Translations into other languages will be incredibly easy to do.

Mother isn't exactly the most modern game, but I'm considering playing through it again aftering seeing the changes Tomato plans on making. This is a project that's definitely worth keeping an eye on.

Related Links:

The Reason Why Mother 3 Never Came to America
Earthbound and Back Again
THE MOTHER 3 TRANSLATION IS OUT

OST: Mother

Bob Mackey — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 16:00:00 GMT

Everyone knows that Earthbound has some godly music, and we've all recently come to discover that Mother 3 is no slouch in this department, either. But what about the first Mother, AKA Earthbound Zero? Sadly, this is the one game in the trilogy that's almost always overlooked; it may be the least fun to play out of all three Mothers, but the soundtrack by Keiichi Suzuki and Hirokazu Tanaka helped lay the foundation for some of Earthbound's best tracks. American gamers had no idea back in 1995, but the sleepy, heartwarming music of Ness' house is a direct callback to one of the overworld themes of the first Mother; makes sense, given the connection with childhood homes and nostalgia.

The greatest--and at the same time, strangest--thing about the first Mother is without a doubt its Japan-only (duh) soundtrack. Instead of putting out the simple NES tunes on a CD, the producers went one step further by creating "complete" versions of Suzuki and Tanaka's songs with full instrumentation and lyrics. I'm not going to lie; most of these lyrics are pure Velveeta straight out of the late 80s--but at least a native English speaker is singing them. Embarrassing or not, these songs give us a peek into an alternate universe where Mother was a Disney musical instead of a Japanese 8-bit video game.

And notably, two of the OST's songs are far more sweeping and epic than any Celine Dion Titanic single could ever be. In order to show you just how mindblowingly awesome this soundtrack is, I now present "Wisdom of the World," which, along with "Eight Melodies," is one of Mother's best songs. Try not to giggle at the sexual subtext in the lyrics:

And, in case you want to hear the original 8-bit tune, here it is:

In closing, click here for a version of the song that, while beautiful, may scare the pants off of you.

Related Links:

The Reason Why Mother 3 Never Came to America
"Have You Heard the News? He's Gay!"
What I'm Playing This Weekend: Mother 3. Doi.

"Have You Heard the News? He's Gay!"

Nadia Oxford — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 00:19:00 GMT

I'm still not done with Mother 3. You could say I'm savouring it (something Mackey can surely appreciate).

I'm coming close to the end though, so I'm in an adequate position to talk about the game on message boards. This is an especially fun way to waste time because Mother's papa, Shigesato Itoi, never struck me as a convential game designer. He's a writer first, something that I think comes out clearly in his games.

For instance, I was talking with a dapper gentleman in a tophat about some of Itoi's characters in Earthbound and Mother 3. Both games feature at least one gay character. This is nothing new in Japanese-developed games and anime, where gays and transvestites serve the same function as our own laughtracks. Everyone laugh at the flamboyant man fretting over his shoes and dress! It's funny 'cause men aren't supposed to do that!

The difference with Itoi's characters is that the player is not really supposed to laugh at them. They're vital to the plot, but they just so happen to be gay.

Earthbound has Tony, a boy who boards with Jeff in the Winters' School. Even in the game's translation, it's (very surprisingly) obvious that Tony harbours a special affection for his roommate. Mother 3's translator, Tomato, posted a snippet of an interview with Itoi wherein he talks about his decision to make Tony bat for the other team:

"Well, for example, there’s a gay person in MOTHER 2. A really passionate friend who lives in an England-like place. I designed him to be a gay child. In a normal, real-life society, there are gay children, and I have many gay friends as well. So I thought it would be nice to add one in the game, too."

Needless to say, Tony is pretty young, but that's what's cute about his devotion: there's a childlike innocence to it that stays comfortably far away from sexuality. It's precisely like the crushes we had as schoolchildren, before puberty made its noxious presence known. I'm unclear about how many gay men become aware of their orientation before puberty (feel free to enlighten me), but the fact that Tony has accepted his own orientation at such a young age--and the fact that nobody seems to isolate him because of it--is nice.

Even nicer is that Itoi's writing of a gay character is miles above the Internet fangirl standard. Tony loves Jeff, but when the time comes for Jeff to leave, Tony understands and helps him get past the school's gates. There's no extended sessions of weeping and wailing, but there is a certain excitement towards adventure, even if it's an adventure he can't participate in. In other words, Tony acts like a boy who's gay. Itoi didn't just give Scarlett O'Hara a penis and say, "There, I have a gay character."

Now that I've revealed the write-by-numbers method of the yaoi fandom, I'm afraid I'll have to kill you with the Crimson Spear of the Seme.

Mother 3's portrayal of gay characters is more coomplicated and worth an entry of its own. Say, I just gave myself an idea.

Something besides "Chicken for dinner sounds good."

Related Links:

Flying Gay Men Invade Virtual Console
Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix C-C-Combo Makers
Penn and Teller to Cover Gaming Violence and I'm Not Sure How I Feel About It

Earthbound in 3D

Bob Mackey — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 20:00:00 GMT

With writer Shigesato Itoi calling it quits with the Mother franchise after Mother 3, it won't be long until we start seeing remakes--or maybe that's just wishful thinking. As charming as the original Earthbound (Mother 2) was, those 3D renders of in-games towns Onett and Fourside in Super Smash Bros. Melee were enough to make any EB fan squeal with glee. In my wildest of video game-related daydreams, I've often thought of an Earthbound remake, made completely in 3D, with the characters looking just like their little clay models did in the strategy guide.

Some men dream, while others do; like YouTube user cswavely, who has painstakingly rendered a few of Earthbound's town in glorious 3D. Even with that whole new axis, they feel completely authentic to the original game's stubby sprites; but I'll let you judge for yourself:

He also has an awesome version of Fourside:

As well as a super-creepy version of Threed, perfect for Halloween:

Maybe I'm misremembering my adolescence, but it feels like I've really been to these places. I'll have to check the family photo albums and get back to you on this.

Related Links:

Whatcha Listening To: The Earthbound Soundtrack
Earthbound and Back Again
The Reason Why Mother 3 Never Came to America

Earthbound and Back Again

Nadia Oxford — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 22:08:00 GMT

If you've never played Earthbound, known to the pure as Mother 2, I sincerely hope you'll give it a try someday, somehow. Most of America overlooked the title when it was released towards the end of the Super Nintendo's lifespan: the world was awash with Playstation-Saturn-N64 hype and nobody had any time for a (deceptively) primitive-looking Crayola adventure. Having only just recently experienced Earthbound myself, I know that the love and care put into the game's characters, atmosphere and story won't leave me for a long, long time.

Seriously, I'll be rocking on the porch of Pine Box Acres and rasping for my grandson, Ness, to bring granny her cigarettes. I'll slowly draw one out and take a large drag after three shaky attempts with the lighter, producing nothing but sparks until I finally put flint to steel. And Ness will watch me patiently with his hands behind his back while I talk about the time his namesake took down three Krakens in the Sea of Eden. And then I'll die and Ness will steal my wallet and never look back.

If you're insane like myself, you'll want to check out Earthbound and Back Again. It's a list of the Japanese enemy names used in Mother 2 compared side-by-side with their english translations from Earthbound. The list is compiled by Tomato, the gentleman in charge of the Mother 3 fan translation project. Write to your local Pope and elect him for Sainthood.

Lists like this usually exist for American fans to get angry about shoddy translations, but Tomato's list has a different motive: it points out exactly how much work went into the translation for Earthbound. The enemy names for Mother 2 are definitely amusing, but they often border on the generic. Earthbound does a fantastic job with enemies like the "New-Age Retro Hippie" (known as "Carefree Guy" in Japan) and "Ramblin' Evil Mushroom" (simply called "Walking Mushroom" in its homeland).

Check out the list and gain a new appreciation for translators. Then hope for Earthbound on the Virtual Console.

Related Links:

Mother 3 Fan Translation Nears Completion