Earthbound Denied for US Wii Virtual Console?

"Sounding similar"? What rubbish is that?

The Big N need to just crush all opposition to total domination already.

Couldn't they just change the name to Mother and be done with it? This is pathetic.

I think you\'re missing the point there SL. It\'s the soundtrack issues. The game\'s entire soundtrack is riddled with tunes that are VERY familiar...the Beatles is included in the list EarthBound pays \'homage\' to.

For Nintendo nowadays that is just unacceptable, and as Starmen.net (the original source of this story, not GoNintendo...) says, NoA has asked for the soundtrack to be amended, but NCL simply said no. That could partially be because of Itoi-san at APE, since he holds the rights and may feel his creation would lose some of its charm. Who knows.

The full story is here, for those interested: http://starmen.net/ebvc/

( Edited 17.02.2009 18:18 by jesusraz )

I guess I misread... (a lot) but Nintendo actually want to release it on US VC? That's pretty good I guess, I always thought Nintendo were completely against localising Mother games (even if this one came out in US before).

I hope they let the soundtrack change a little. I was hoping we'd see this in Europe too.

you got your source wrong. It's Starmen.net and Earthboundcentral.com they made the full report that was later posted everywhere else.

in light of the article i dont think we'll ever see this in the west on vc. its a shame but if all is to be believed i dont blame Itoi-san.

I was hoping for a Europeon release but after reading this, I \'ll just play it on an emulator.

I tried to play it legally Nintendo, but I\'ve waited long enough.

From what I\'ve read, NoA\'s lawyers are the ones who are stopping the NA release as they want to avoid any lawsuits? They\'ve asked Nintendo Japan to change it but they\'ve said \'No, sod ya.\"

I doubt this is ever gonna be released.

( Edited 17.02.2009 18:38 by wAyNe - sTaRT )

NoA\'s lawyers don\'t want to open a massive can of worms, so asked NCL to make changes. NCL, for reasons unknown (but like I say, could be to do with Itoi at APE), said no to making any changes.

( Edited 17.02.2009 19:12 by jesusraz )

Pft, that sucks. Modern artists are ripping stuff off all the time. Oh well. I\'ve already played it. Would be nice to let other Europeans savour its awesomeness though.

( Edited 17.02.2009 20:37 by Ikana )

I was thinking that was the case also. Itoi I imagine would hate the idea of having such music removed.

I was actually hoping to buy this series on VC because it's so important and seems really great and I'd like to get into it's awesome in a legal fashion.
Looks like I'm going to have to do an emulator :/

I don't care about legal issues. The game is a legend for RPG Fans. I have been waiting for this game on VC ever since the system came out. The music was allowed in the original game, so why not the re-release?