Here's Ness. Since we used "exquisite" already, we'll have to use something else for this guy. "Delightful"? Yeah, that'll work.

Ness Figure [Tiny Cartridge]

On this day in 1989, the first MOTHER game was released in Japan, for Nintendo's Famicom (ie the NES). Very few of you will have played it. Actually, very few of you will have played any games in the series, even the second one, which was the only one ever released outside of Japan, as Earthbound for the Super Nintendo. Which is a shame! They'll hurt you they're so charming.

Which is why I'm going to point you towards Starmen's fan translation of Mother 3 for the GBA. Because it's awesome. And you should play it.

Because you can browse and download the book for free. While the luxurious book costs $20, and a hi-res .pdf file of the thing costs $6, there's a low-res version up on Fangamer's website that can be read and, if you're short on can-reading material, downloaded then printed off.

Isn't as nice as the real thing, but then, some of you are cheap bastards.

[Mother 3 Handbook, via Go Nintendo]

Art and design website Tokyo Zokei University has launched a special site to promote its Open Campus event for high school students. The page has a Mother (Earthbound in the West) vibe to it. Very cool.

Zokei University alumni include luminaries like Oscar-nominated director and current Zokei instructor Koji Yamamura (Mt. Head, Franz Kafka's A Country Doctor), mechanical designer Kunio Okawara (Gundam, Votoms, Gaogaigar), manga creator and character designer Yoshiyuki Sadamoto (Evangelion, Nadia - Secret of Blue Water, The Girl Who Leapt Through Time), Sunrise president and producer Kenji Uchida (Zeta Gundam, The Big O, Code Geass), among others.

University's Open Campus Site Includes K-On! Cameos [ANN via Japanator]

Presented as, basically, a strategy guide for the cult Nintendo title (which has never been released in the West), were this from Prima or BradyGames you'd be shocked by the quality and attention to detail. But the fact this is a labour of love, the product of a bunch of super-dedicated fans of the series and, well, it's just simply astonishing.

The book is lavishly detailed with maps, item checklists and tips, along with illustrations of each character/enemy and even shots of some luscious, hand-made Mother 3 statues.

Because it's a strategy guide, I've avoided taking shots of anything too detailed from inside the book, but for a quick taste of what the finished product is like, check out the gallery below.

Like what you see? The Mother 3 Handbook is selling for $20, and is available from Fangamer. Don't know what the hell I'm talking about and have never heard of Mother 3? This should help.

To be exact, the final amount was $1,025.01. For an unopened, store-bought copy of the 1995 classic, is that a steal? We'd say no, but then, as the headline says, Earthbound/Mother fans are crazy.

Crazy in a good way.

Unopened copy of Earthbound sells for over $1,000 on eBay [Go Nintendo]

These Mother 3 clay statues were crafted by Camille Young, the wife of Reid Young, of Starmen fame. They were made for use in Starmen's delicious Mother 3 Handbook, but really, they deserve their own time in the sun.

Mother 3 Handbook [Camille Young, via GameSetWatch]

According to the article, "A surprise, big title is also slated to appear." Below that is a picture of classic Japanese role-playing-game Mother, better known as Earthbound in the West.

Next to the picture is a capture stating that new titles are scheduled for ROID — like perhaps that RPG.

Mother first went on sale in 1989, and was created by Shigesato Itoi, who's a famed copywriter and TV personality in Japan. He also voiced Mei's father in anime My Neighbor Totoro.

In 2006, Mother 3 was released in Japan, but hasn't gotten an official English localization.

Earthbound Central last week threw up a post outlining how many of the game's tunes are catchy little homages to actual, real-world tracks by artists like The Who, Chuck Berry & The Beatles. Not exactly news, since Mother fans will already know of the existence of most, if not all of the midi tributes, but in light of Starmen's rumours it's worth pointing them out.

And remember, those are just the tip of the iceberg; there are renditions of TV show theme songs and even the US national anthem hidden in the game. But it gives you a good idea of why Nintendo may be hesitant over the whole thing. From their point of view, satiating a few thousand Mother fans with a re-release isn't worth the potential broadside of lawsuits from overbearing law firms such a release would invite.

EarthBound Music Similarities [Earthbound Central, via Offworld]

The Entertainment Software Rating Board [Official Site - Thanks Andrew!]

The man responsible for the Mother series of role playing games, known as Earthbound in the West, Shigesato Itoi, has made a handful of appearances on the TV show Iron Chef, poetically evaluating the culinary skills of master chefs from around the world. If you've ever wondered how a famous writer/game designer would judge a vicious bell pepper battle, your curiosity can easily be satisfied by clicking the play button. This clip comes courtesy of the YouTube surveying prowess of the Select Button forums.

We've almost all landed here in Tokyo in preparations for covering the big show that kicks off on in a couple of days. Last night a group of us swung by Mother to make arrangements for tonight's party. The place is funky, like home-made salsa and records of The Velvet Underground funky. We hung out for a bit arguing about Game of the Year and what we would do to Mark if he shaved his weak-sister mustache (remove one of his eyebrows) and then strolled the block or two to the other Mother bar, Mother's Ruin. The owner said that we could make use of both bars if the first one filled up. So that's a goal now.

I tried to get Ash to ask the owner why it was her ruin and who mother was, but he wouldn't. Hmmm, maybe I should shave his eyebrows.

Remember, tonight's our party. It gets started at 8 p.m. Tuesday and we'll have an open tab for a bit. Swing by to say hi and have a few drinks on us. Everyone's welcome, but remember we're in a town where the roll up the sidewalks at midnight, so get there before then.

Hit the jump for directions and to comment about how we should really be having a party in your neck of the woods and not Japan.

Mother Directions
Take the Odakyu line from Shinjuku or the Inokashira line from Shibuya and get off at Shimokitazawa. Take the south exit from the station, and go straight down the main street keeping McDonalds on your left. Walk for about 2 minutes (Mr Donuts is halfway there) until the road opens out wider. About 20 meters after that (and just before you get to Osho chinese restaurant's red sign) there is a very small intersection. Turn right and Mother is the first building on the right with the mosaic wall outside.

In this video interview, Reggie Fils-Aime gleefully teases that a number of titles are in the process of localization or evaluation, possibly including the first two games mentioned in this post.

But what about all those other successful import only games? Kanji dictionaries, Common Sense Training, Daigasso! Band Brothers, Mother—some probably will just never make the hop across the Pacific. But with Professor Layton & The Curious Village, Flash Focus and Nintendo Magic all coming to the Nintendo DS this year, it does give one hope for untested, Mario-not-playing-sports games coming to the platform.

Personally, I'll operate under the assumption the Nintendo hates America right up to the point where my Club Nintendo account is approved.

Video Exclusive: Nintendo's Reggie Fils-Aime (Part Two) — Does Nintendo Favor Japanese Gamers And Developers? [MTV]

John Brownlee, who changed both his name and his affiliations when he jumped the S.S. Kotaku for Wired.Com, has posted a frightening image of a Fathead (yes, that's really what they call deep-sea dwelling Psychrolutes) that bears an unsettling resemblance to Mr. Saturn from Mother.

As if that weren't freaky enough, Brownlee throws his particular cephalophilliac desires into the mix and mentions both former Kotaku writer Eliza and wanking. Great, not I have one more thing to fear bobbing up in my toilet just as I'm about to settle down on the Formica. Brian Crecente

You know, it's a testament to how amazing Earthbound is that even something this gleefully incompetent fills me with pining for more innocent, carefree gaming days. I think you probably have to adore Earthbound to get it though: the digging through the trash for food, the battle noises, the simplistic victory crescendo. I just can't wait to see how they handle Mr. Saturn. Florian Eckhardt

Previously: A Mother Film Years In The Making

Back in 1995, Shigesato Itoi's Mother 2 (known as "Earthbound" in the West) was released for the SNES in America. The film made a huge impact on young Robbie and Jeff Benson, who set off to make a feature film of the game. They didn't get very far. One of the Bensons adds:

We hadn't gone far before we gave up. In the last year however, we dusted off the tape and decided to continue the otherwise unsatisfying 3 minute video.

The result is fascinatingly silly and worth a view for the kids' age progression and sensibility shift alone. Plus, the battle scenes are pretty annoying, just like in the Mother/Earthbound games. Brian Ashcraft

More Here [Sodoshiraso Blog]

First, allow me an angry gibber. This website is so hideously constructed that in Firefox, the google ads overlap the text and the text runs out of the boxes, and having to actually click through the magazine and "pages" just reminds me of the bad old days when I actually had to touch paper. I am tempted to copy the entire article here, because it's good.

But for chrissake, catch the fuck up.

Anyway, this piece addresses the claim by Microsoft's Peter Moore that "...god forbid, even your mom will be [on the Xbox 360]." He turned out to be right, but perhaps only in the case of one Mrs. P, a mom who was foisted on the author's 360.

The conclusions are actually a little surprising to me. Her favorite game by far was "Condemned", which is in line with an earlier study claiming that women prefer immersive, story-given games that require problem-solving. But I would have figured the intense spookiness and violence of it would have put the lady off. I'm very pleased to read that she not only loved it, but got very good at it as well.

The biggest problem they encountered was the same as I've experienced with my own mother when introducing her to technology: she requires me to write down the steps that must be taken for every single task. She is at a loss to understand that once you've executed one program, you can execute them all. The control scheme is almost exactly the same from task to task, and opening Outlook is really the same as opening Firefox.

Mrs. P also has this problem, somehow unable to grasp that the dual analog controls for Prey were almost the same as the ones in Condemned, and had to start all over. I think this is the fault of generations of unintuitive controls being memorized by an insular game society. Perhaps the Wii will save us.

Even though the controls in Prey are similar to those found in Condemned, it was like starting all over again for her. It was difficult for her to get use to the initial movement controls, without swinging violently out of control and running off into the walls.

The final judgment was that the 360 has a long ways to go before mom would actually go out and buy one, but now I'm very tempted to run my own mother through the same gauntlet, perhaps on a different system. Hmm... Eliza Gauger

Warrior Woman [Primotech]

CNET has a bizarre little slideshow of the top-eleven vaporware titles, with the mysterious inclusion of those who are no longer vaporware (Prey is #3). I think someone is confused about the definition of "vaporware", despite the literal definition being pasted above the article itself.

Here're their complete picks:

1. Duke Nukem Forever
2. The Phantom Game Console
3. Prey
4. Starcraft Ghost
5. Sam and Max: Freelance Police (listed as cancelled...whuh?)
6. PlayStation 3 (say what?)
7. The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess (this is getting ridiculous)
8. Team Fortress 2 (jesus christ)
9. Fallout 3 (I actually hope this is true; I don't want to see Bethesda fuck my sunshine on this one)
10. Earthbound 64/Mother 3

In fact, I think the only actual vaporware items on that list are the Phantom, DNF, and maybe Fallout 3. Although the latter doesn't really count because it hasn't been cancelled or delayed; it's barely even been announced. Get the fuck out of my comic book shop, CNET. Eliza Gauger

See list here [CNET, not sure where I got this link]

Joystiq put a little skip in my step and a happy bumblebee in my tummy with the announcement that there's a fairly believable rumor floating around about Mother (aka Earthbound) and the DS:

There are three games in the Mother trilogy — Earthbound is technically Mother 2 — so the compilation could include the first two titles, the latest two titles (Mother 3 was released in Japan for GBA earlier this year), or all three titles. So far, only Earthbound has been released in the US.

And many of us have only Earthbound it on emulation, I'd venture. I was utterly charmed when I did, despite my general dislike of menu-based RPGs. I will keep a little hope alive that this rumor comes to fruition. Eliza gauger

More here [Joystiq]