History Trivia / MOTHER

** ''[=EarthBound=]'' will finally see a release in Europe via the WiiU Virtual Console.

* ScrewedByTheNetwork: One of the most egregious cases in gaming. Only one third of the entire series [[NoExportForYou ever made it to American shores]], and the infamous marketing campaign ("this game stinks" was the marketing slogan) likely put a dent on sales. Even in Japan this appeared to be the case, although it was finally released for the WiiU's Virtual Console in March 2013.

!''VideoGame/{{MOTHER 1}}''

* WordOfDante: [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yQUN7QAnMp0 The live-action commercial]]'s depiction of Ninten is the basis of a vast majority of fanart of this game - adopting his neckerchief and slightly different clothing here as a way to differentiate Ninten from Ness, who is by far the more famous wearer of their standard clothing.

* BeamMeUpScotty: One of the songs most associated with Giygas (thanks in no small part to the infamous McRoll video) is [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CkwzRz4mKes Porky Means Business]], which, as the name implies, is actually ''Porky's'' battle theme. Of course, this is probably because it's the song before the actual fight with Giygas', who's theme song(s) [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JCWDR9zCTl8 barely resembles music]] [[HellIsThatNoise at all.]]

** ''Earthbound'' will finally see a release in Europe via the WiiU Virtual Console.
*** It should be noted that while for ''MOTHER'' a straight script-dump from the NES prototype to ''MOTHER 1+2'' would be possible, the same could not be said for ''EarthBound''. After the release of the ''MOTHER 1+2'' partial fan translation, in which the EarthBound half went pretty much untranslated, Tomato [[http://earthboundcentral.com/2011/04/a-look-at-the-mother-2-side/ discussed why he wasn't going to do]] the ''EarthBound'' half properly: because both are so densely and strangely programmed, in completely different ways no less, that it's pretty much impossible.
*** However, TheZunar123 is currently making a Mother 2 translation for Mother 1+2 which can be patched along with Mato's fan translation, here is the link to it:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sMWUOa46JGI&feature=plcp

* ScrewedByTheLawyers: The reason the game had issues being released in the US and Europe is due to copyrights concerning the name of an enemy (Dali's Clock) and two music tracks sounding like Chuck Berry's Johnny B. Goode (New Age Retro Hippie theme) and The Who's Won't Get Fooled Again (the Skyrunner theme). Although the first two could be replaced, Nintendo of Japan refused to let the last one be altered. It's currently unknown if any of these changes will take effect in the Virtual Console re-release.

* WhatCouldHaveBeen: As there's a DummiedOut sprite in the game's code of [[spoiler: Everdred's Ghost]], it's possible that [[spoiler: Everdred really was supposed to die in the game]].

* DevelopmentHell: The game started out as being a Super Famicom game shortly after the release of ''EarthBound'', and was then moved to the [=N64DD=], then the [=N64=], then delayed several times until finally being canceled. It was ultimately revived for the GBA.

* MarthDebutedInSmashBros: Infamously, Lucas debuted in the West in ''SuperSmashBros Brawl'' and with him brought a truckload of spoilers to casually sling around as if it doesn't matter, including [[spoiler:King P.'s identity and New Pork City]]. [[ItWasHisSled This did not amuse a large number of fans]].

** To put it in perspective, Lucas is the only playable character in SuperSmashBros. Brawl that hasn't had his/her game released outside of Japan.

* WhatCouldHaveBeen: ''MOTHER 3'' [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6pcd9VnnXSQ&playnext=1&list=PL8F7626FCA3814629&index=47 started life as a]] {{Nintendo 64}} title, which was rather widely previewed and received significant press attention both in Japan and internationally, and Nintendo of America [[HilariousInHindsight seemed pretty dead-set on giving it an international release]]. DCMC was originally supposed to have a female vocalist, and Kumatora's outfit was surprisingly more {{Stripperific}}; most of the cast's appearances and clothing were fairly different. Ness may have been set to appear in it, or perhaps Lucas was intended to look identical to him much as Ness was identical to Ninten. The N64 game was also supposed to be a lot DarkerAndEdgier - mostly due to the fact Itoi was suffering from depression at the time. This version of the game was widely called ''EarthBound 64'' by both Nintendo and gaming press, so more often than not it's still called that in discussions to differentiate it from the released GBA version.\\

** Not even the Game Boy Advance version is free of this trope. Some sprites were found with [[spoiler:Porky]] in a different machine and some of those sprites of him in that machine when put together make a glass shattering animation which looks like his defeat was different from the final version which could mean that you originally were able to kill him off before they changed it to where [[spoiler:he escapes in and traps himself in the Absolute Safety Capsule forever]].
** [[spoiler:Claus]] also had unused sprites showing [[spoiler:him getting killed, StrappedToAnOperatingTable to be [[UnwillingRoboticisation cyborgified]], and a finished version looking like a Starman]]. There's also unused boss music and backgrounds showing [[spoiler: him going through various stages of [[NightmareFace agony]], well on his way into becoming an EldritchAbomination]].

* KeepCirculatingTheTapes: One of the most infamous and bemoaned examples in gaming, [[EpilepticTrees generally attributed to]] being mired in legal issues as a result of background music with blatant samples of Music/TheBeatles, OurGang, and [[Music/TheCars Ric Ocasek]], and an enemy that was inspired by the work of Creator/SalvadorDali. As a result, even used boxless copies of the game [[CrackIsCheaper go for astronomical prices]] on eBay. ''Finally'' averted by the 2013 release for the VirtualConsole.

* ScrewedByTheLawyers: The reason the game's having issues being released in the US and Europe is due to copyrights concerning the name of an enemy (Dali's Clock) and two music tracks sounding like Chuck Berry's Johnny B. Goode (New Age Retro Hippie theme) and The Who's Won't Get Fooled Again (the Skyrunner theme). Although the first two could be replaced, Nintendo of Japan refuses to let the last one be altered, thus negating any chance of the game being released outside Japan soon.

* KeepCirculatingTheTapes: One of the most infamous and bemoaned examples in gaming, [[EpilepticTrees generally attributed to]] being mired in legal issues as a result of background music with blatant samples of Music/TheBeatles, OurGang, and [[Music/TheCars Ric Ocasek]], and an enemy that was inspired by the work of Creator/SalvadorDali. As a result, even used boxless copies of the game [[CrackIsCheaper go for astronomical prices]] on eBay.

* ScrewedByTheNetwork: One of the most egregious cases in gaming. Only one third of the entire series [[NoExportForYou ever made it to American shores]], and the infamous marketing campaign ("this game stinks" was the marketing slogan) likely put a dent on sales. Even in Japan this seems to be the case; there it's even stranger, since several Nintendo bigwigs, including president Satoru Iwata, were directly involved in the game and are still tight bros with Itoi, so it can't be that that Nintendo of Japan at least are deliberately screwing the game over.

* FanNicknameL This game is sometimes called ''[=EarthBound=] 2''.

* KeepCirculatingTheTapes: One of the most infamous and bemoaned examples in gaming, [[EpilepticTrees generally attributed to]] being mired in legal issues as a result of background music with blatant samples of Music/TheBeatles, OurGang, and [[Music/TheCars Ric Ocasek]], and an enemy that was inspired by the work of SalvadorDali. As a result, even used boxless copies of the game [[CrackIsCheaper go for astronomical prices]] on eBay.

* NoExportForYou: The NES version is a particularly interesting case - it was complete and ready to go, then it simply didn't happen, likely because it arrived at the end of the NES's lifespan. The GBA version could be because of the legal issues said to doom the franchise's western presence, but it could simply have been out of lack of perceived interest; word has it from Nsiders and Clan of the Gray Wolf that one of STARMEN.net's famous call-in campaigns made Nintendo consider localizing it, but since the campaign was only a week long and they didn't hear more about it afterward, [[InsaneTrollLogic they assumed there wasn't really an interest in localizing it and decided not to]].

* BeamMeUpScotty: One of the songs most associated with Giygas (thanks in no small part to the infamous McRoll video) is [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CkwzRz4mKes Porky Means Business]], which, as the name implies, is actually ''Porky's'' battle theme. Of course, this is probably because it's the song before the actual fight with Giygas', who's theme song [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hv87reU7PrE barely resembles a song at all.]]

* BeamMeUpScotty: One of the song's most associated with Giygas is Porky Means Business, which, as the name implies, is actually ''Porky's'' battle theme. Of course, this is probably because it's the song before the actual fight with Giygas', who's theme song barely resembles a song at all.

* FanNickname: Earthbound Zero itself is a fan nickname; the game's actual title is ''MOTHER''. Its North American release was canceled at the last minute, and the DubNameChange title, ''Earth Bound'', was later reused, albeit without the space, for [[EarthBound the SNES sequel]], known in Japan as ''MOTHER 2''. When a prototype of the game was discovered and dumped, the people who released it referred to it as "Earthbound Zero" to avoid confusion (even hacking the word "Zero" into the title screen when they disabled the CopyProtection), and the name stuck.

** The GBA compilation containing this game and its predecessor was only released in Japan, despite the fact that the original version of one game previously had a North American release while the other had a complete English translation that was only scrapped due to the age of the system it was on. As above, there was a brief
*** It should be noted that while for MOTHER a straight script-dump from the NES prototype to MOTHER 1+2 would be possible, the same could not be said for EarthBound. After the release of the MOTHER 1+2 partial fan translation, in which the EarthBound half went pretty much untranslated, Tomato [[http://earthboundcentral.com/2011/04/a-look-at-the-mother-2-side/ discussed why he wasn't going to do the EarthBound half properly]]: because both are so densely and strangely programmed, in completely different ways no less, that it's pretty much impossible.

'''Mother / [[VideoGame/{{Mother1}} Earthbound Zero]]'''

* NoExportForYou: The NES version due to it coming out near the end of that system's lifespan, the GBA re-release because the fact that it was in the same cartridge as ''EarthBound'' is likely to get them ScrewedByTheLawyers.

'''Mother 2 / VideoGame/EarthBound'''

* KeepCirculatingTheTapes: One of the most infamous examples in gaming, [[EpilepticTrees generally attributed to]] being mired in legal issues as a result of background music with blatant samples of Music/TheBeatles, OurGang, and [[Music/TheCars Ric Ocasek]], and an enemy that was inspired by the work of SalvadorDali. As a result, even used boxless copies of the game [[CrackIsCheaper go for astronomical prices]] on eBay.

** The GBA compilation containing this game and its predecessor was only released in Japan, despite the fact that the original version of one game previously had a North American release while the other had a complete English translation that was only scrapped due to the age of the system it was on.
*** Though (and this troper heard this from Clan of The Gray Wolf) according to Nsiders, Nintendo did consider localizing the GBA compilation because of a call-in campaign Starmen.net did, but since the campaign was only a week long Nintendo took that as a lack of true interest and decided not to localize the compilation due to that.

'''VideoGame/{{Mother 3}}'''

* MarthDebutedInSmashBros: Infamously, Lucas debuted in the West in ''SuperSmashBros Brawl'' and brought a truckload of spoilers with him, including [[spoiler:King P.'s identity and New Pork City]]. [[ItWasHisSled This did not amuse a large number of ''MOTHER'' fans]].

* WhatCouldHaveBeen: ''MOTHER 3'' [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6pcd9VnnXSQ&playnext=1&list=PL8F7626FCA3814629&index=47 was originally going to be an N64 game.]] For example, DCMC was originally supposed to have a female vocalist, and Kumatora's outfit was surprisingly more {{Stripperific}}. Also, either [[VideoGame/{{Earthbound}} Ness]] was set to have a major role, or at least appeared in it. It never got very far. It was stuck in DevelopmentHell for a very long time, and ShigesatoItoi was, not being very knowledgeable about computers, very ambitious with the project.
** The N64 game was also supposed to be a lot DarkerAndEdgier - mostly due to the fact Itoi was suffering from depression at the time.
** The N64 version was supposed to have a mine dungeon with just [[spoiler: Claus and Lucas. In the game, they're separated in Chapter 1 and never reunited until their duel at the finale.]]

* KeepCirculatingTheTapes: One of the most infamous examples in gaming, [[EpilepticTrees generally attributed to]] being mired in legal issues as a result of background music with blatant samples of TheBeatles, OurGang, and [[Music/TheCars Ric Ocasek]], and an enemy that was inspired by the work of SalvadorDali. As a result, even used boxless copies of the game [[CrackIsCheaper go for astronomical prices]] on eBay.

'''Mother / VideoGame/EarthboundZero'''

* WhatCouldHaveBeen: ''MOTHER 3'' [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6pcd9VnnXSQ&playnext=1&list=PL8F7626FCA3814629&index=47 was originally going to be an N64 game.]] For example, DCMC was originally supposed to have a female vocalist, and Kumatora's outfit was surprisingly more {{Stripperific}}. Also, either [[EarthBound Ness]] was set to have a major role, or at least appeared in it. It never got very far. It was stuck in DevelopmentHell for a very long time, and ShigesatoItoi was, not being very knowledgeable about computers, very ambitious with the project.

** [[spoiler:Claus]] also had unused sprites showing [[spoiler:him getting killed, StrappedToAnOperatingTable to be [[UnwillingRoboticisation cyborgified]], and a finished version looking like a Starman.]] There's also unused boss music and backgrounds showing [[spoiler: him going through various stages of [[NightmareFace agony]], well on his way into becoming an EldritchAbomination.]]

* MarthDebutedInSmashBros: Infamously, Lucas debuted in the West in ''SuperSmashBros Brawl'' and brought a truckload of spoilers with him, including [[spoiler:King P.'s identity and New Pork City]]. This did not amuse a large number of ''MOTHER'' fans.

'''Mother / EarthboundZero'''

'''Mother 2 / EarthBound'''

'''{{Mother 3}}'''

* WhatCouldHaveBeen: ''MOTHER 3'' [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6pcd9VnnXSQ&playnext=1&list=PL8F7626FCA3814629&index=47 was originally going to be an N64 game.]] For example, DCMC was originally supposed to have a female vocalist, and Kumatora's outfit was surprisingly more {{Stripperific}}. Also, either [[EarthBound Ness]] was set to have a major role, or Lucas looked more like Ness. It never got very far. It was stuck in DevelopmentHell for a very long time, and ShigesatoItoi was, not being very knowledgeable about computers, very ambitious with the project.