… for free, of course
Nintendo recently announced that they’re releasingEarthBoundon theWii U virtual console in the U.S. and Europe. Then they debunked thetheories that it hadn’t been previously re-releasedbecausethe music sounded too much like various pop songs. That theory never made any sense to me anyway. The pop song legal army didn’t stop the game’s initial launch on the SNES from happening, and besides, if every song that ripped off another song was stopped from release due to legal concerns, we’d lose about 90% of the world’s pop music.
My guess has always been thatEarthBoundwasn’t re-released before because Nintendo figured everyone who might value the game already has it in one form or another, and that everyone else in the world just wouldn’t get it. I imagine that they’d feel the same way aboutMother 3,EarthBound‘s highly ambitious,emotionally chargedsequel. After thefan patch rocketedto stardom a few years back, I’d guessed Nintendo felt that ship had sailed.
It seems that Wii U Miiverse integration has Nintendo feeling confident that community involvement will makeEarthBoundmore marketable to both past and future fans alike. I hope they feel the same way aboutMother 3, which has a free translation up for grabs should Nintendo choose to use it. It wouldn’t be the first time afan translation was later used in a retail product, so don’t go poo-pooing the whole notion, you poo poo lovers.
While you’re at it Nintendo, there is a pretty coolfan translation ofFatal Frame 4that would work for a mighty fine Wii U digital exclusive release.
