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Yo mama so cheap, you can buy her at Play Asia for $14.90
If you caught our interview with Starmen.net's Reid Young, you already know that the chances of Nintendo of America ever bringing EarthBound's GBA sequel, Mother 3, to the states are slim to none. As depressing as that reality might be, you shouldn't let it stop you from experiencing one of the most endearing RPGs ever released.There are several walkthroughs and guides available to assist you with the game's Japanese text, and, from now until next Tuesday, import shop Play-Asia will be selling copies of Mother 3 for only $14.90, less than a third of its standard price! What more do you need to convince you to pick this one up?[Via CAG]
Itoi and Iwata continue their dinner conversation
Normally, dinner conversation doesn't translate into a multi-part feature, but most dinners don't include Nintendo president Satoru Iwata and novelist/Mother creator Shigesato Itoi. Three more segments of the "interview" have been posted on Itoi's site, called "View Things over Someone Else's Shoulder," "Something Special about Mr.Miyamoto," and "On Management: 'Enhance your Strength.'"The first two parts continue the de facto theme of the conversation, which is talking about how awesome Shigeru Miyamoto is, but the third part is most interesting to us, as it deals with Iwata's management style. Somehow, during the discussion, Iwata manages to omit any mention of his "yelling at NOA about Brain Age" tactic.
Iwata and Itoi talk shop over dinner
Perhaps inspired by our recent interview with Starmen.net's Reid Young, Shigesato Itoi, best known in video game communities for his work on EarthBound and the Mother series, posted a few English-translated notes from a conversation he had with Nintendo president Satoru Iwata six months ago over supper.Itoi and Iwata spent a great deal talking about Shigeru Miyamoto, as Japanese developers/designers are wont to do, discussing his belief of ideas being "something which solves multiple issues at once." Though the two chums didn't chat much about past projects or games, there are still ten more portions of the roundtable that Itoi promises to release over the next two weeks. We'll make sure to notify you if we hear of any megatons.
DS Fanboy interviews Starmen.net's Reid Young (part two)
If you didn't catch the first half of our two-part interview with Reid Young, co-founder of Starmen.net, an online community for all lovers of the Mother series, make sure to check it out when you have a chance. We discussed a number of topics -- what makes the series stand out from other RPGs, why EarthBound (Mother 2) failed to sell in the U.S., and how Starmen.net is building awareness on the games with its EB Siege and Earthbound Anthology campaigns. Reid also took some time to update us on what our chances are of ever receiving a western localization for Mother 3, whether or not we'll receive EarthBound on the Virtual Console soon, and the current status of the Mother 3 fan translation project. As an admirer of creative and heartfelt games, you owe it to yourself to read the rest of our interview past the post break.
DS Fanboy interviews Starmen.net's Reid Young
You can't have a proper discussion on the Mother series without bringing up the enthusiasm of its stateside fans; the two are entangled, strands wrapping around each other to make up the DNA of Starmen.net, the most devoted video game community online.Since EarthBound's (Mother 2) SNES release in 1995, Nintendo of America has, for the most part, ignored the title and its cult following. Combating Nintendo's apathy towards bringing the rest of the games to the U.S., the Starmen.net crew pooled its resources and talents together to conceive the EarthBound Anthology, a 250-plus-page collection of fan-created work and a chronicle of Mother's history.Starmen.net co-founder Reid Young sat down with us to talk about EarthBound and the anthology -- its production, ambitions, and success at catching the video game media's attention. Read on past the post break for the first in a two-part interview on Mother's past, present, and, hopefully, future.
Promotional Consideration: Underground Brain Training
Promotional Consideration is a weekly feature about the Nintendo DS advertisements you usually flip past, change the channel on, or just tune out.Those of you lucky enough to live in a city with a rapid transit system have likely seen at least one ad for a handheld game during your commutes. After all, what better audience to advertise a portable title to than people who're trapped in a high-speed steel car full of strangers while they wait to be ferried from one spot to another? In honor of Brain Age 2's release in the states last week, we'll be looking at a few ads we found for Nintendo's educational software that've appeared in transit stations in countries like Canada and France. Join us past the post break for this week's edition of Promotional Consideration.
Get Out and download this game!
Jao describes Get Out, his first homebrew release for the DS, as a "Pac-Man-like game," but it's really more stealth-based than wakka-wakka-based.Players have to escape their classrooms without being spotted by patrolling teachers. Sneaking out becomes harder with each level as the number of instructor sentries and their walking speed increases. To aid you in your noble quest, empty desks are available for you to duck into if you see one of the teachers headed for your row.Though it doesn't seem like much was put into its presentation, what with the lack of a soundtrack and the sprites being ripped from Earthbound, the simplicity and accessibility make for a very entertaining diversion. Plus, you can't argue with its price -- absolutely free! Get Out is one of over two dozen entries for Dev-FR's homebrew coding competition. Make sure to try out the many other fine applications and games that've been submitted, especially Plop Invaders!
WoW TCG Card "Lady Kath" honors mother with brain cancer
Reader Dave let us know about a moving article by Brian Kibler, one of the designers behind the World of Warcraft Trading Card Game. He writes about how his mother had supported him growing up with his passion for trading card games, believing in him every step of the way while at the same time often struggling with poor health. In 2006 though, he found out she had been diagnosed with brain cancer, and he heard her say the fateful words, "Brian... I'm going to die.""It was that day that I realized I had to do something for her," Brian writes, "It was that day that I told Danny that I didn't care what it took-we were putting a card for her into set two. It was that day that Lady Kath was born."I'm told Lady Kath is one of the most powerful cards in the game, a paladin who heals all her allies at the end of each turn -- just as in real life, Brian's mother was a nurse who "strove to help others whenever and however she could," even when she herself was in poor health. On her card is written: "Her strength and warmth touch all those who cross her path."
Virtually Overlooked Week: Jason's picks
Virtually Overlooked has taken over Wii Fanboy! All this week, members of the staff will be outlining their personal picks for future Virtual Console releases. Growing up with gaming is an interesting thing these days. Many of you are part of the first generation that was quite literally born into a household with a gaming console, as I was. In my experience, if you start off in life gaming hard, you don't stop. Therefore, in the very near future, I will able to ask a random middle-aged man if he wants to go play Guitar Hero 4, and it won't be totally weird.Who am I kidding? This isn't Japan, and that guy will probably think I am, in fact, totally weird. But man, screw those non-gamers. The hardcore, like you and I, have tons of gaming memories, and thus we frequently long for the games of yore to be released on the Virtual Console. But they have not yet appeased my feral hunger, and thus do I lay these games out in a commanding fashion for Nintendo's minions to take note.You, of course, may gaze as well.
All Mom wants for Mother's Day is a DS Lite
Chris Kohler's coverage of random stuff he sees while walking around in Japan continues with a note about Nintendo's latest DS advertising campaign. The sign says "Soon, it will be Mother's Day" next to a picture of a DS Lite playing Brain Age. We can't help but think that if this campaign works, it'll lead to a lot of disappointed moms this Sunday. We're not saying moms don't want DS's (some may not, but most people do!) The problem is that it's still pretty much impossible to get a DS in Japan, with the apparent exception of whatever store this was. Why would Nintendo even advertise the DS?
Mother 3 soundtrack on iTunes pours salt in our wound
Seeing the words "Mother 3" in the same sentence as "released" is cause for excitement. In this case, though, it's more like a kick in the stomach. The Mother 3 soundtrack has just been released on the US iTunes store. All 26 songs from MOTHER3i and the arranged album MOTHER3+ are available for $9.99 each. After almost a year of pestering Nintendo to localize the game, we get a soundtrack.A soundtrack. Are we being taunted? Is this a carrot dangling in front of our faces or a gift of mercy from the overlord? It is the first commercial release of EarthBound merchandise outside of Japan since the SNES game in 1995. And it's not like fans won't snatch it up in a heartbeat. But does it make sense to release a soundtrack for a game very few of us have played?Regardless of our bitter feelings, thank you, Nintendo. We don't mean to be demanding, but how about some graphics, a storyline, dialogue, and gameplay to go along with the music?
Japanese VC games in the US: Not entirely dismissed!
Game|Life's Chris Kohler conducted a short telephone interview with George Harrison, Nintendo of America's vice president of marketing, and he pulled out a small, offhand item that may be of some interest if it turns out to be anything: Nintendo is not totally against the idea of translating Japanese Virtual Console games for US release. This is by no means a confirmation, so don't convert your Famicom Mother cartridges into candy molds just yet. But we must admit that even a casual admission of the remote possibility of Japanese VC games has us dreaming of a future where imported and domestic Virtual Console games can live together in harmony, on our SD cards.Our ultimate dream of getting a translated (or not) US release of the PC Engine Super CD Rom version of Dracula X: Rondo of Blood is still amazingly unlikely, since we haven't seen any kind of support for old CD based games. But this note from Harrison just made it a tiny bit more likely, and that's enough to keep us going for another day. Plus, there's always the fact that if the poor little PSP can get it, anyone can.[Thanks, BPM!]
EGM Rumor Mill: RPG Heaven? [Update 1]
Hey, everyone loves rumors. You can usually grab them by the handful at sites like, say, SPOnG, but when you cry wolf as many times as they do, well, it diminishes credibility. EGM, however, have a fairly good track record with their Rumor Mill section, and the newest issue has some delectable bits. First off, Square-Enix is purportedly using the two upcoming incarnations of Dragon's Quest (DQ Joker for the DS and DQ Swords for the Wii) as a gauge to see if the next incarnation of the main series, Dragon's Quest IX, will be released exclusively on the Wii. Though it has a slightly diminished standing in North America, the DQ series is loved by millions upon millions worldwide, an RPG phenomenon second only to the Final Fantasy franchise. If this is true, it's one hell of a victory for Nintendo. We're not done with Square-Enix yet. Second rumor: SE is developing an MMORPG for the Wii based on the Mana universe. While we're not sure if the Wii even has the technical capabilites to run a true MMO (they tend to be very limited without a dedicated hard drive), we still salivate at the possibility. Finally, Nintendo is looking at releasing an Earthbound compilation for the DS. This would include Mother 1, a game never released outside of Japan, the ever-beloved Earthbound itself (a.k.a. Mother 2), and the recent Mother 3, a game well-received in the Land of the Rising Sun. Add touch-screen capabilities, and bam. Million seller. They make it look so easy... And, there you have it. While we must once again stress these are rumors, I'd eat my nonexistent hat if at least one of these three failed to come true. Your feelings, trusty readers?[Update 1: Square-Enix was not the publisher of Earthbound; corrected Rumor 3.]
Apple quietly responds to whining (of MacBook Pros)
Rickard Almqvist at MacInTouch is reporting that Apple has apparently (and finally) produced a tweaked version of the MacBook Pro logic board in response to everyone's whining - MacBook Pro whining, that is. Rickard received a letter from Apple detailing the new board and stating that it was brand new, "only a few days old". Also of note is the need for new installation DVDs that contain 10.4.6, not the 10.4.5 discs the machine originally came with. And just for all you skeptics out there, Rickard has also posted a picture of Apple's letter on his blog, so you can let your "that was Microsoft Worded" and "Photoshopped!" naysaying fly.Here's hoping MacBook Pros everywhere can finally stop whining. The one question I have is: are you going to be sending your MBP in for the new board? Or is iTunes usually blaring loud enough for you to still wonder what all this 'whine' talk is about?[via MacDailyNews]Thanks Miguel
