![\"Mother3\"\/](\"https:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/fb0d217bc2c38\/mother3.900x.jpg\")
That Mother 3 never got officially localised and released outside Japan has been a source of sadness and frustration for EarthBound fans in the West since the game launched on Game Boy Advance back in 2006. The sequel to cult classic EarthBound \u2014 the SNES entry in the Mother series which sold poorly in the US and didn’t see the light of day in Europe until a Wii U and 3DS Virtual Console release \u2014 was a very late arrival on GBA. However, backwards compatibility meant that Japanese players entering the WiiDS heydays didn’t have to dig out their old handheld to enjoy the final chapter of writer Shigesatao Itoi’s trilogy.<\/p>\n
Fervent fans have been calling for Mother 3’s official Western debut for over a decade and a half now, yet despite conversation behind the scenes, there’s no sign of it yet. We got EarthBound Beginnings on Wii U (the previously unreleased localisation of the Famicom-only first entry) and we’ve recently heard from Reggie Fils-Aim\u00e9 that ‘serious conversations’ were had about a potential release for the handheld threequel. Coincidentally, the game’s producer Shinichi Kameoka has also recently speculated that translating Itoi’s unique writing style might be a sticking point for an official Western release.<\/p>\n
We’re not sure we buy that, though \u2014 it seems far more likely that, despite a very vocal core fan base, Nintendo aren’t convinced the game would find an audience large enough to warrant investing in that ‘challenging’ localisation work. In terms of Itoi’s style and inimitable charm, it was captured beautifully in EarthBound’s localisation, so there’s no reason to think the same couldn’t be achieved again.<\/p>\n
In fact, the same already has<\/em> been achieved in a brilliant fan translation that was updated as recently as last year. Which brings us to the question: Is there any real need<\/em> for Nintendo to release Mother 3 now?<\/p>\n