Yo! You must login or signup first!

WAKA ITARI On the Etrain back to Kyoto, WHOOOSH Shigesato Itoi It was 1987. It wasn't because I felt sad; it was because I felt powerless. was weeping. Granted, I felt that way But I never felt quite as depressed as I did several more times later on in life. then... It was two years before "MOTHER" was born. It was like the player and the character were one and the same. Like I had stepped right through the glass and into the :TV... What Oh, yeah-*MOTHER"! I played the heck out of that game! It was the first RPG that made me feel so emotlonally invested. was so great about it? Sory for the wait. One thing that made “MOTHER" stand out in 1989 and that the story wasn't set in the past, but in the present. Now that he's here, allow me to in- troduce the father of "MOTHER" our special and the man who guest, Shige- sato moved so many gamers to tears: Itoi! That The line between the TV and the real world seemed to melt dallowed players to feel a strong Keiichi Tanaka WAKA ITARI sense away. I had of NO never Felt that before! empathy with the protago- nist. Passion of Game Designers-in their earty days Pyoko Miyazaki The Famicom game I really got obsessed with was Mario There was a time when my asthma was so bad I would have coughing fits if I wasn't sitting upright, but I got through it by playing Mario. Well, it all started when I got hooked on Dragon Quest. I actually had no interest in RPGS- not at first, anyway. Can you tell me about how "MOTHER" came into being? "Super Mario Bros., released on Sept. 13th, 1985 I didn't even try playing Dragon Quest until the second one To this day, I still regard Mario as my savior. I just couldn't get into RPGS. Something about them seemed too stiff-like chess. came out. That changed once I started playing, though, and I was hooked before I knew it. I'm the kind of person who How come I'm not making games for a living, too!? Someone out there made this incredible game that I just played. Wel, there I sat in gets jealous of other amaze- ment, watch- Ing the cred- people's work. its... Well, I mean, weren't you already working as a copy- writer? Jeal- Ous in what way? Which then IF Steven Spielberg Imade an RPG, How come all RPGS have to use shields, swords, and suits of armor? Why does it always have to be about "the chosen hero"? nade what kind of me And won- der: that game would it be? got me think- ing: I've got The story would open with some sort of paranormal activity disrupting the flow of everyday life, and some average kid would end up facing off with the monster all by himself... The ideas started popping into my head. to make this happen! fervently scribbled ideas into my note- book. I was just jotting down ideas all by myself, hoping that someone would just call me up out of the blue... Nope. I didn't know which "folks to show it to. And then you showed your notes to the folks at Nintendo? Plus, I had no To put another connections in the first place. way... It's like if But there's no way that You've got potential, kid. How'd you like to play for the Giants? you practiced every day, and all of a would sudden... happen! I ended up discussing the Famicom on television. I mentioned how Mario had saved me, and I spoke very highly of games in general. Games In any case, I had no way Even as an adult, I've always been of making the game, could become the next cultural touch-/ But then, nor did I have any idea how. prone to flights of fancy. one day... stone Which meant And apparently the president of Nintendo* was watching. you were going to Nintendo! He wanted my "expert advice about an upcoming title they were developing: Miho Nakayama's Heartbeat High School. Schedule a meeting with that guy. "Hiroshi Yamauchi - Third president of Nintendo who helped bring the company to the world stage through the development of the Game & Watch and Famicom systems. Died on Sept. 191th, 2013. It's like if You've got potential, kid. How'd you like to play for the Giants? But you practiced pitching every day, and there's no way that would happen! all of a sudden... I ended up discussing the Famicom on television. I mentioned how Mario had saved me, and I spoke very highly of games in general, /Games could become the next cultural touch-// stone! In any case, I had no way Even as an adult, I've always of making the been game, But then, nor did I have prone to flights of fancy. any idea how. one day... Which And apparently the president of Nintendo* was watching. meant you were going to Nintendo! He wanted my "expert" advice about an upcoming title they were developing: Miho Nakayama's Heartbeat High School. Schedule a meeting with that guy. "Hiroshi Yamauchi - Third president of Nintendo who helped bring the company to the world stage through the development of the Game & Watch and Famicom systems. Died on Sept. 19th, 2013. Whaddya say? You gorna Exactly! join the Giants? No The wayyy! time had finally come. Brilliant! I love it! I have to make this game! I was ...or, at least, I copied some pages from my notebook and sure that's he would what ! thought. eagerly showed them to Shigeru Miyamoto*. say: BAM! So you want to tum this into a game? Um... Uh... ...Let me think about it for a v I'll call you if anything comes up. Huh. Y-yes, sir. "Shigeru Miyamoto - Creator of the Super Mario, Legend of Zelda, and Donkey Kong series. Currently working as a Creative Fellow at Nintendo. Here I was, so sure that everyone would shower me with I mean, I Wait... can un- seriously? That's all I derstand: Oh.. praise for my wonderful idea. Tharks you hadn't get? Not even a actually created a game before, right? handshake? Not Miyamoto, though: he rained all over my parade. were simply trying their best to find some way to make this dream I had Right. Looking back, I realized the folks at Nintendo into a reality. There was this overbearing weight on my shoulders that wouldn't melt away. At the time, though, I had gotten my hopes so high that I felt like a snail, and they had plopped a big clump of salt on my back. I was totally wrapped up in my despair. Disappointed, I went back to my life as a copywriter. I wept on the Days turned into weeks, and weeks into months... train ride back to Tokyo... Finally, we could set to work on the game. One <What!P( We've assem- day, I got to help create a call from Would you like Mr. to meet them? Ima- bled a team Wow! The people yOur game. at Nintendo really came through for you! nishi at Nin- ten- do: I spent many late nights at the office, and sometimes We rented out But all that an entire time spent together helped forge a apartment building in Ichikawa* commuted in the pouring rain. as our dev strong sense of unity. studio. I visited Map Design Room often, meeting with the team and having meals together. Meeting Room Staff Room "City in Chiba Prefecture The quality of items in "MOTHER" is denoted using the kind of adjectives that kids Our bonds of trust Yep! Like "Cracked Bat," or "Sand Lot Bat," 7 or "Iron Skillet," were so strong that I felt comfortable enough to propose giving the items somewhat silly names. Silly names? use. "Hiroshi Imanishi - Former Nintendo executive who headed the General Affairs Department at the time. How cool! You were like a foreign element that ended up causing an unexpected chemical reaction. he Until then, I took my knack for coming up with fun wordplay and put it to good use. really This is no dev teams en- great! had joyed hired a proper "wordsmith," so when Mr. it. Miyamoto read my work, No wonder "MOTHER" felt so fresh and new! I finally made it to the ending. Wait- what!? But... That's MY name! How did they know? I'll never forget the First time that I played through the game. And as the credits rolled... HIRSHINAMAUCHI There's a So you mean in the game where the player inputs the player forgets their real your real watched as my name ended up in the credits? After a while, name all about it until their name shows up, right rolled name. by... at the end. I wasn't When I looked at the screen, some I saw myself in that “hero"; I was just a weak little game... kid. It was the first time How did you come up with this trick of seamlessly blending the line between fiction and reality? a game ever brought me to tears. At Basically, this band performed at "Everyone in the theater raise your voices with us!" says: one point, Julie Budokan in order to defeat the aliens in their UFOS. Well, there was this movie I long time ago: "The Tigers: The World's Waiting for Us." and asks the au- dience to join And then... in. In that instant, the stage on screen and the theater blend together as one! Now get it! "This concept Well, I wouldn't say "many." I would call it less of a "big hit" and more of a "cult classic." But the "MOTH- ER" was released in 1989 and quickly earned "MOTHER" is actually an homage to that film. "seam- less people who loved it absolutely adored it. presen- tation" Re- jally? was further devel- oped in the game's sequel, MOTH- many fans. ER" 2: Giygas Strikes Back We had the latest technology, and I had the Here we were, (known outside I suppose. development But that lack of major success inspired me to work even harder on "MOTHER" I heard that developing a game for the new Super Famicom, with the current of Ja- took forever... It sounds like it was pretty rough. pan as Earth- Bound). chance to include all my ideas.I couldn't wait to get president of The Pokémon Company, Mr. Ishihara, starțed... working at our side. 2. BOD But? "Tsunekazu Ishihara - Joined Itoi's APE.Inc in 1991 to work on "MOTHER" 2. Left APE.Inc in 1995 to form Creatures Inc., then helped develop and release Pokémon Red and Pokémon Green in 1996. That makes But... sense. Even though we had a talented staff, The finest plate armor won't help Sounds right. Even if you head off to battle clad in invincible armor, it won't do a thing to save you from getting lost in a thick fog. we weren't making progress. We were at a standstill-and it was no one person's fault. you see better. I'm That's when Four years went by since we started, bringing in ya- and we realized we needed someone someone mote said: to help us to watch over us and see us through the fog. start over. That okay? The "someone" he brought in was none other than the future president of Nintendo, Satoru Iwata of HAL Laboratory, Inc. If you Mr. Itoi, if we move forward using what we already have, it will take another two think it'll work... ...of years. course that's okay. "Another bwo years". "Satoru Iwata - Joined HAL Laboratory, Inc. in 1982 and became an executive two years later, serving as president when he was called in to help with "MOTHER" 2. Started at Nintendo in 2000 as head of the corporate planning division and became president in 2002. Passed away on Jul. 11th, 2015. Cupo.. Howev- er, if we can polish it up in six Imonths, you don't mind starting over from and have it out next year. The first scratch thing Mr. Iwata did was create an internal tool. What kind? Nothing really takes shape in the first half of development. It's just programmers writing code all day. But an in-house tool gives shape to their work, allowing the other staff members to see their progress. It allows them to see which parts are finished and which aren't. One that could help visualize the team's progress. Looks but I'm gonna tackle it Gaug- like this We've stil ing the got a lot of work ahead of us, area is still incom- plete. prog- ress the Mr. Iwata head on!, didn't just write code; he improved the entire team has made helps clarify what's left to develop- ment environ- ment, too- and in such short time. He was a genius! be done. He understood the importance of making sure the dev team At the time, Mr. Iwata was the head of HAL Laboratory. hn.. stayed in high spirits. 14# "Looks like We stayed in Не and I often spent the night at Nintendo's Tokyo branch". You "I bet this'll make for a great story one day." another night President Yamauchi's were at the President Hotel." right: it IS a great story! office. We always used to say: And, just like Mr. Iwata It was fun for an amateur like me to make whatever he wanted, but I got a bit carried away. The sequel, Malnly because I'm not a How come?"MOTHER 3", said, “MOTHER 2" game designer by trade. ended up taking even more time than that. was released exactly one year later. MATHER 21 *Nintendo Kanda Building in Tokyo I feel Yes, the But I think there's an upside to that. Because you were an industry outsider, you were able to include a ton of Ideas that felt fresh and new. That's why "MOTHER" resonated with so many people. It was an artistic success. indeed. same way. It inspired me to start studying Japanese in hopes of working here someday. I recently had the chance to speak with an American girl working at the city hall in Utsunomiya. played "MOTHER" as a child, and it left such Mr. Itoi left me with this an vignette. 7 impression on me The heroes There are plenty of us who aren't big and buff-and that's okay. "MOTHER" reminded us we see in the media are all big and buff, but the people you see on the street aren't. Is "MOTHER" really that appealing to people in America? that we average folks may not be “heroes," but we're still trying our best. That's what made "MOTHER" so special. Oh, no! I had something else I wanted to say to Mr. Itoi, but I forgot! 'll just tell him in my comic. No, it's late. Wanna go back? Thank you for making "MOTHER", Mr. Itoi. I will treasure the tears I shed as long as | live. Keiichi Tanaka

+13

Shigesato Itoi interview - How MOTHER / Earthbound got made


Uploaded by Zaz Aug 29, 2021 at 07:53PM EDT

Share Pin Download More

Origin Entry: EarthBound / Mother

File type: jpg

Resolution: (575px x 13770px)

File size: 2.88 MB


What the f--- did you do?!
MOTHER TWO: ギーグ の逆襲 ハル 糸井重里研究所
00 MOTHER 240827 2 30th
View All 446 Images


More:


+ Add a Comment

Comments (0)

There are no comments currently available.

Display Comments

Add a Comment


+ Add an Image

Image Details

1,632 views (0 from today)

Uploaded Aug 29, 2021 at 07:53PM EDT

Origin Entry

EarthBound / Mother

Source

denfaminicogamer.jp

Tags

shigesato itoi, itoi, mother, earthbound, mario, dragon quest, famicom, hiroshi yamauchi, nintendo, shigeru miyamoto, miyamoto, nes, snes, tsunekazu ishihara, satoru iwata, iwata, hal laboratory, ninten, ness

Claim Authorship Edit History
Textile Embed