Topic: Japan Wii U Virtual Console Getting Mother 3

[Shaymin]

The localization agony will be strange, funny and heart-rending

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/news/41502/japan-wii-u-virtual-console-getting-mother-3

Japan's Wii U Virtual Console will end the year with a bang.

Mother 3, the beloved 2006 GBA role playing game, will launch on the service on December 17.

The post-DS launched title has had numerous localization campaigns over the years, so it remains to be seen if Nintendo will release the game in English for Western audiences.

[Wah]

Will Europe get it?

[TOPHATANT123]

It's coming one day, Reggie will deliver.

[Wah]

reggie should be CEO of Europe and Oz as well.

[ejamer]

reggie should be CEO of Europe and Oz as well.

Award for the biggest WTF comment goes to...

[Wah]

my comments are amazing bro, what are you talking about?

[Khushrenada]

When he says OZ, he's talking about Australia where he lives. But you know that, right?

[ejamer]

When he says OZ, he's talking about Australia where he lives. But you know that, right?

Yes, I knew that.
I was referring to why anyone would want Reggie in charge.


NoA used to be the best region outside of Japan - but not long after Reggie came in things change. Now NoA is probably the second best behind the clearly superior NoE. Maybe it's not his fault, but he'd be getting the credit if things went well so...


(That said, I'm pretty sure he was joking or being sarcastic. At least I hope he was.)

[Wah]

Reggie will soon rule the WORLD! I will be the puppet master pulling the strings!

[Triforce Hermit]

I would love for this to come over, but I'm not holding my breath. Oh well, back to emulation.

[peacefulwar]

Before anyone gets all worked up, you need to ask yourself: Do you want this game in a censored form?
There's no way that N would release Mother 3 with a translation-only.  No way in hell.  There's too much "questionable" content in there for the SJWs at Nintendo treehouse to get their panties in a bunch.

[TOPHATANT123]

If it meant not having the game at all I would absolutely buy a censored version. I find the concept of censorship to be an insult to your audience and to your fans, but if in the grand scheme of things it only affects 0.1% of the game's total content who cares?

[nickmitch]

I never understood why "SJW" is a derogatory term.

Anyway, I'm not sure how much censorship the game needs.  I'd actually be interested in seeing what would need to be changed.  I'm sure Nintendo wouldn't strip it down to an E rating, if it's already sitting at a T.  The game is pretty niche, and a lower rating wouldn't bump NA sales much (or so I would think).

[Stratos]

What do you mean by SJWs?

[NWR_insanolord]

It's like the word "hipster" at this point in that it's been stripped of all real meaning and is just a generic insult against someone you don't like.

[UncleBob]

Wow.  This thread went to crap quickly.

NoA used to be the best region outside of Japan - but not long after Reggie came in things change. Now NoA is probably the second best behind the clearly superior NoE. Maybe it's not his fault, but he'd be getting the credit if things went well so...

I disagree.  Nintendo had some *GREAT* years under Reggie.  They *really* went downhill a year or two before 2013.  In 2013, Reggie was demoted and Iwata took over as CEO of NoA.

Nintendo is a Japanese Company - Nintendo of America really needs folks who understand what works in America and have the authority to make it happen.

[ejamer]

Would Mother 3 really need censoring?  I hope not. I've played the fan translation and think it should be released as is.


That said, I think it's unlikely to happen because the cost to get it translated is just too high to justify at this point.  (Unless they license the fan translation -- but that seems very un-Nintendo. Frankly, I'm still thankful that they didn't shut that extremely well-run project down.)

...

I disagree.  Nintendo had some *GREAT* years under Reggie.  They *really* went downhill a year or two before 2013.  In 2013, Reggie was demoted and Iwata took over as CEO of NoA.

Nintendo is a Japanese Company - Nintendo of America really needs folks who understand what works in America and have the authority to make it happen.

Maybe I'm mis-remembering then.


It feels to me like ever since Reggie came in that NoA went uber-safe with their decisions. That they would double-down on games that appealed to the casual majority and provide minimal support (if bringing the game over at all) for things that weren't expected to be a million+ sellers.


Focusing on maximizing profit and minimizing risk is good for profits and investors, but often meant that niche or colorful things I found interesting didn't come over. Games like Another Code R are one example - it would never be a huge seller, but not coming at all was a disappointment.


What were the *GREAT* years that you remember, that are attributable to Reggie?

[Triforce Hermit]

SJW means people who have to turn everything for a scandal for them to crusade and fix in their vision. The episode of the P.C Principal in South Park? Good satire of them.

Nintendo could essentially take the fan translation, which has been offered to them for free by the guy who did it who is a professional translator, and slap it on the E-shop. But that would hurt their pride or something.

Did they censor any part of Mother 1 or 2?


I have no good memories under Reggie except for Xenoblade which we had to pull teeth to get.

[Shaymin]

Mother 2 has Ness walking around naked in Magicant, and I shouldn't have to explain why they put pajamas on him for the localized version.

[nickmitch]

Wow.  This thread went to crap quickly.

NoA used to be the best region outside of Japan - but not long after Reggie came in things change. Now NoA is probably the second best behind the clearly superior NoE. Maybe it's not his fault, but he'd be getting the credit if things went well so...

I disagree.  Nintendo had some *GREAT* years under Reggie.  They *really* went downhill a year or two before 2013.  In 2013, Reggie was demoted and Iwata took over as CEO of NoA.

Nintendo is a Japanese Company - Nintendo of America really needs folks who understand what works in America and have the authority to make it happen.

I agree.  I keep thinking about the scarf thing.  So many people wanted that scarf, and it was only available in one place, at one time.  Just the fun giveaways have mishandled so poorly in recent years because NOA either doesn't have their finger on the pulse of their audience or can't do anything about it.  Similar to the ~new~ Nintendo 3DS XL.  The excuse for not having the regular model (market confusion) was contradictory to the naming convention.  I just don't know if Reggie is making bad decisions or if they're being made for him.

[pokepal148]

What do you mean by SJWs?

Sexy Judoon Waitresses

[UncleBob]

What were the *GREAT* years that you remember, that are attributable to Reggie?

Another Code:R just... wasn't that good.

Anywhoo - Reggie was pretty much the man in charge during the GameCube era - one where we had some of the most fun games ever released.  Granted, some of those would have came out no matter what, but Chibi Robo?  Custom Robo Arena?  Odama?  Probably wouldn't have seen the light of day in the Wii-era.

It's impossible to know what to attribute to Reggie and what not - but I get the impression he had slightly more control in the GCN-era and was blamed for the total lack of success in the US along with "allowing" Microsoft to gain such a significant marketshare in their first generation.  That's just my guess though.

[Mop it up]

Did they censor any part of Mother 1 or 2?

Yes. Mother 1 had several alterations, such as the cigarette being removed from the Smoky the Crow sprite (along with name change to Spiteful Crow), and the blood removed from the zombies, and some other stuff. The big change for Mother 2 was mentioned, and there was also stuff like the bar being changed to the cafe and such.

I think Mother 3 has even more stuff in it that wouldn't fly in NA, especially if they want the game to carry an E 10 or less rating. And I think that's part of why the game was never released here to begin with.

[peacefulwar]

Just the existence of okamas in that game (they're main characters) is more than enough for Nintendo to not bring it over to this puritan, prudish nation.  One angry letter from an overly protective parent (or hundreds, however you look at it) is something NoA seriously wants to avoid, apparently.

[nickmitch]

Yeah, but if you let the game stay at a T rating, would that much work need to be done?  It seems like much more effort would be needed to bring a game to a E rating without the related sales impact.  I mean, how much marketing would this game get?  A trailer in a Nintendo Direct? An email newsletter? Front page on the eShop?  That's all the marketing I imagine it would get, and none of those are particularly costly.