Welcome to 30 Ridiculous Retro Rumors, a brand new series that will run daily between November 26 and December 25, 2015. This is a series where we debunk some of the craziest rumors and predictions of all time. Today we're talking about EarthBound. After canceling the 8-bit original and sending the Super NES sequel out to die, it looked like Nintendo had given up on making the Mother series a thing in the U.S. But Quartermann disagreed. Find out why in today's episode of 30 Ridiculous Retro Rumors.


This is a real rumor taken directly from the August 2006 issue of Electronic Gaming Monthly ...

For Nintendo's many faults, they are awfully good at fan service. While critics will blast them for relying on a few standby franchises, this is a company that isn't afraid to give twenty year old franchises another shot. This translates into a new Punch-Out, a Kid Icarus reboot and countless attempts to make Star Fox relevant again.

One of the company's biggest success stories is Smash Bros., a game built around smothering players in fan service. It offers gamers of all ages a reminder that Nintendo is more than Mario, Pokemon and the Legend of Zelda. Unfortunately, it's also a stark reminder that EarthBound got the shaft.

Known as Mother in Japan, Nintendo originally planned on bringing the original 8-bit installment to the NES. Sadly, the team abandoned the localization in favor of working on the sequel, which became EarthBound. This too was marred by a high price point and a miserable ad campaign. The cutesy, almost retro visuals were a hard sell in an era dominated by Final Fantasy VI and Chrono Trigger.

For years it felt like that's where the story ended. Japanese players got Mother 3, while everybody else waited for fan translations to hit the web. Rumors would pop up insisting that Nintendo was close to releasing a remake or compilation, but they never panned out. It was a lot of wishful thinking from people who just wanted to keep hope alive. But alas, there were no remakes and this touch screen-enabled Nintendo DS compilation does not exist.

Nearly a decade after Quartermann made this prediction, there has been a big push to bring EarthBound back to North America. Nintendo has given the quirky role-playing game a home on their Virtual Console. And that's not all, the 8-bit original has also found its way West. With this much momentum, it's only a matter of time before Nintendo gives in and localizes Mother 3. And maybe then we can all turn our attention to demanding Doshin the Giant on Nintendo NX.