I'll have to play the ROM then. Is VC-R going to take down the Earthbound page?

This is gonna piss people off.
Oh well I can't be too sad since I never had any nostalgic attachment to it having never played it. Maybe this was the surprise. They are saying Ha ha your're not getting Earthbound.

what exactly are the so-called song rip offs they mention that hits too close to home? this is sad news indeed if true...

I await the riot that is bound to happen here.

It's definitely a shame though that Earthbound won't be on the VC if this is true. The game has a pretty dedicated and passionate fanbase but it looks like with this and the Mother 3 situation, we may never see Earthbound (except for a cameo in a Super Smash Bros. game).

wow...

You've got to be kidding me. Those songs sound in no way like direct rip offs. They may share a similar tone or arpegio but come on. Is that really the reason why? I don't see any real case based on those examples.

Wait whats this here? NoA wanted to change the songs in favor of getting the game a VC Release?

I knew it! I knew the whole thing about NoA hating the franchise was just simply paranoia!

Ill remain blindly optimistic that things will resolve itself sometime down the road.

Not a big deal, I hate RPG's anyway.

Well, this seems like a case where downloading the ROM is justified. I'll still wait for some more news on this but otherwise they leave me with no choice.

I listened to the samples and Nintendo has reasonable doubt on their side. If Vanilla Ice can get away with the similarities in Ice Ice Baby, Nintendo shouldn't have any problems with putting out a decade old game that sort of vaguely sounds like real songs. Who would ever think to sue in a case like that? Also, what about the GBA trilogy? That's a real game that went into stores. Why couldn't the artists sue them over that? I don't buy it. Nintendo's legal department would have to be filled with a bunch of idiots, which also wouldn't fly since they dodge Wii Fit lawsuits daily.

im not buying it either.

I might sell my Wii now. Anyone know how much SNESs go for? Or maybe my rich neighbor dude will give/sell me his...

@Drake

After i saw that video the other day, i knew that the chances of EB coming were VERY slim. That kind of put the final nail in the coffin...unless the lawyers ease up...but I doubt that'll happen.

Hmmm... they would have know this before an ESRB rating. And you know NOJ made minor changes to Wave Race for its release

Edit: Boy the music is a stretch for sure. I can't hear any similarities

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Wow, total dick move by Nintendo of Japan.

At least it wasn't just NOA refusing to acknowledge the series again but still sad none the less. It makes me wonder what other games were put on the chopping block for stupid reasons like this.

Being someone who has never played EarthBound, I continually waited for news of this game to come to VC...
Sigh
I'm not buying that the music is the only hold-up, but I'm also pretty sure they'll let it stand as the excuse... Oh well...
Stop it Nintendo... I defend you time and time again, but first you tell me I'm getting Pikmin for Wii only to find out it's the original Pikmin with "new Wii controls?" Last year you release the new Wii Animal Crossing to a rabid fan-base, only to find out it's a Wii version of Wild World? And now this? Ugh...
/end vent

And In a bizarre turn of events, Nintendo begins inadvertently influencing all Wii-owning MOTHER fans to download the Homebrew Channel.

Awesome, the only game I'm waiting for on VC probably won't come out. Good bye.

@ Aardvark Soup (#10): "Well, this seems like a case where downloading the ROM is justified. I'll still wait for some more news on this but otherwise they leave me with no choice."

I agree with you. I also think this is like a free ticket to download the ROM, especially for the people in Europe...

I defend you time and time again, but first you tell me I'm getting Pikmin for Wii only to find out it's the original Pikmin with "new Wii controls?"
Pikmin 1 Wii and Pikmin 3 are seperate announcements. Besides, the Wii version doesnt sound too bad.

@yoda87960:
Um, Vanilla Ice didn't get away with ripping off Under Pressure. He had to pay a massive royalty amount, plus damages and back earnings on Ice, Ice Baby. He was also retroactively removed in the credits for the song.

Nothing to do with the transvestitism then? Are you sure NOA?

@ WarioFan63: Yeah but they already re-released the GameCube with motion controls, the least they could do is make some original games for it. I just feel like the time spent on these GCN "remakes" could be used in creating other original games for Wii
And again,
/end rant

gosh, not changing music, which are similair to others, will let em miss lot of money
people cant get it, so most people just download the rom, how stupid
if nintendo of japan thinks: it gives lot of money cuz people can play a game they never knew (who didnt download rom before)
i might download the rom, but if it gets on VC, i also might buy it
its their loss, but also those who want it on VC will be disappointed, cuz its always fun having games on tv, and with controller... too bad nintendo, this is 1 of the few times you disappointed lots of people (not counting the xbox/ps fans who never liked nintendo)

Having heard nothing but breathless adoration for it I was looking forward to finally playing Earthbound, but it looks like it'll be later rather than sooner. I'm not entirely convinced that the game is now officially dead to the west. I'm sure Nintendo are aware of the religious following Earthbound has and the subsequent flow of cash its release would produce. While the music may be an issue, I wouldn't have thought it would be such a big one. It may be that we don't know the whole story. I suppose an increased interest in Earthbound might do something to show Nintendo the way.

Wow what a shocker... This wasn't a surprise..

the least they could do is make some original games for it.

But...but they have been....and they still are.
I dont understand anything anymore....

@post 25: The Magypsies were only in MOTHER 3. Transvestitism has nothing to do with EarthBound.

@ WarioFan63... Again... :
I also went on to say "I just feel like the time spent on these GCN "remakes" could be used in creating other original games for Wii"
So come on, man, I'm just venting =P

@TO some Mod: Ooops. Didnt realize my NOO!! was that big. Sorry.

Anyway, I really hope it gets released. I never played EB, and this is the only legal way I could play it

Musical copyright infringement has to do with copying entire measures of songs exactly.

Like with ice ice baby, the bass line is exactly that of Under Pressure.

None of those Earth Bound examples display exact copies.
I'm chalking this up to INTERNET MYTH.

Pfff, Old Rumors are old.
This rumor have been lurking on Starmen forums WAY long before.
Just now got a Front Page Post.
Nothing new, and i still have some hope.

I'm remaining optimistic. Seriously though if this is the reason then the lawyers are dumber then I originally thought. >_>

What a shame.

I feel so sorry for all those EB fans. Hopefully something can be worked out soon.

Wasn't there a similar report about Mario RPG and then it appeared in Japan then Europe??? This is a real shame in the "Want lists" this comes in the top 3- 5, Nintendo haven't bothered looking at these "Want Lists" If this game is big in Japan then Why can't the big N release this as part of Hanabi. I reckon Chrono Trigger will come out for VC as there's a DS version on it's way, Is CT, (DS) out in the US yet? I'm not a big Lover of RPG's but I appreciate that it's a real big lost to VC if this doesn't appear...But any thing is possible and maybe unless there's an announcement by the makers of this game and Nintendo then it's just rumours....

If they're not going to release on the VC hopefully they'll rerelease it on the DS like Chrono Trigger was last year. Either way, this sucks. I've haven't gotten to play it yet.

Well that's a kick in the teeth...

@MaxPlastic: Yes Nintendo are re-releasing the 2 Pikmin games with added Wii controls but they are also working on Pikmin 3. This was officially announced at E3. Also, the Wii is more graphically powerful than a Gamecube.

Aside from SSB64, this was the only VC game I was planning to buy.

What a ridiculous reason to hold back a game's release. Robo's Theme from Chrono Trigger sounds similar to Rick Astley's "never gonna give you up", and they didn't get sued for THAT. And if they didn't get sued for the songs before, why would they get sued now?

I'm sure the members of Starmen.net are sharpening their pitchforks as we speak. Looks like I'll be scouring Amazon or Ebay for the real cartridge, or just use a ROM.

Less money for Nintendo, oh well. Back to pirating games.

Yup. 'All in all it's just another brick in the wall...' Bite me NOJ.
I bought the game used for cheap, but I feel like downloading the rom just to f Nintendo. It's interesting that, given the evidence in the link provided, there were actual samples of other artists music yet there hasn't been any sort of legal action. Even more interesting is that Nintendo of Japan obviously had no problem with releasing a game full of ripped off music at the time, yet is balking now at the thought of releasing the game in the era of the WWW. Hmmm. There was no You Tube, no mash ups, no DRM, etc etc when it was released on the SNES. I guess they only like to cheat when they think there's no way they'll get caught

Oh well, there's always the Japanese version.

Bugger.

@ Everyone Making A Big Deal About My Vents:
I know! I know! I was just venting and making examples!
BLEARGHGLGRHGHE!
@ Ricardo91:
lol It does now that I think about it

Kind of unreasonable still, especially when you take into consideration that Sonic 3's music is notably similar to that of Michael Jackson's work. But look - it's completely intact on VC (and maybe later XBLA and PSN) and a few compilations. And let's not even get started on the pop culture reference-laden Duke Nukem 3D, which was released on XBLA a few months ago...
#42: Oh, yeah, let's not forget Robo's Theme from Chrono Trigger. It'd explain why it's not on the VC - but wait, it's on the DS, Rick Astley-like theme intact. Nintendo's lawyers must not be very good if they're inferior to that of Square Enix, 3D Realms, or Sega.

At least we can't blame NOA anymore. The only people to blame are NCL for refusing to allow any changes to the game. Still, this doesn't really explain why even Japan hasn't got the game yet, especially since they did get the first two Mother games on the Game Boy Advance with no problems.
I thought it had something to do with the series creator (he is listed in the title as a copyright owner, after all) refusing to allow the release.

I can think of a few other Nintendo games that could also be in legal limbo: one of them being Donkey Kong 64. The K. Rool boss introduction sounds very similar to the Rocky theme, for instance, and even though Nintendo owns DK, the hidden Jetpac game belongs to Microsoft, creating conflicting rights problems there.
Another game? Tetris Attack, solely because of the Tetris brand.
Yet another one: Zombies Ate My Neighbors. The game was ESRB rated a while back, but was removed after that probably due to copyright issues with non-VC-supporter LucasArts.

So, do we have as much chance of ever getting this as we do any of Rare's titles?

If it isn't gonna be released why don't they take the ESRB rating down then?

I can still dream, right?

You're quoting Starman?!?!?!?! :sigh: Please do us a favor and don't spread any more rumors from those nimrods. You almost had me there.

****. I was so hoping I'd finally be able to play EB on the big screen, and this happens. I hate using emulators.

Well, at least it makes sense. The RIAA, or at least litigation for profit in general, is a bit of a bitch. And even if they managed 300,000, there would still be some money in the-

Wait, how much did it cost to be rated if it was a "mistake?"

Bullcrap.
I hope Nintendo gets off of whatever they are smokin' soon.

This is why people steal.

sorry to the people who were really hoping for this one, i never really saw what was so great about the game anyway but that's just me.

Dang i really wanted to play this game to see what all the hype was about.

Well, I guess it's time to Injectuwad. And I would encourage all of you to do the same. Heck, I already have months ago.

I am aware comment #42 already pointed out but I'm on a copypasta roll here:
The problem with this whole music argument is how similar are the tunes. Even the tunes which use the same baselines as other Songs might not a be a problem. Why?
Probably already discussed, but both Robo’s Theme and Never Gonna Give You Up are lifted basslines and drums from “Trapped”, an obscure ‘85 dance song.
Chrono Trigger DS didn’t have that song changed nor did anyone sue anybody.

Thing is this has probably killed a European release because NOE will be like “Hey NCL we’d like to release Earthbound in the next Hanabai Festival” to which NCL would say “We can’t allow to do that. NOA have found numerous legal problems with the game and don’t want to risk getting sued”.

The biggest issue is why isn’t it on the Japanese VC yet?

Apart from that. Oh well. Earthbound was one of the few VC games I was going to spend Wii Points on. Guess that is 900 more WiiWare points though…

And you know what the worst thing is about this? The moment anyone asks NOA PR about this their response will be “Just wait and see what happens insert PR tripe about how often and how many great games the VC has” as they don’t want to upset anyone…they should realise false promises are upsetting people…

You're quoting Starman?!?!?!?! :sigh: Please do us a favor and don't spread any more rumors from those nimrods. You almost had me there.
I'm interested, what makes you think this is fake?

Well, I guess it's time to Injectuwad. And I would encourage all of you to do the same. Heck, I already have months ago.
I'd rather Snes9x GX. There is no need to illegally use Nintendos in-house emulator over this.

Sonic 3's music is notably similar to that of Michael Jackson's work
It could very well be Michael Jackson's own work. The pseudonym seen the credits is one Michael Jackson has been associated with. Why use a pseudonym? To get round recording contracts.

Crap, I've been waiting a good decade (ever since the first Smash came out) for a chance to experience this game and now it looks like the VC is yet another dead end. I've always been very much against downloading ROMs, but now I'm starting to think it's the only way I'm ever going to play Earthbound and Mother 3.

I really want to play this game, but the cartridge costs like 80 - 100 bucks now in a used game store. This really is encouraging illegal downloading of the game. Especially since the VC's been re-hyping this one like crazy. How long have people been anticipating Earthbound? I mean, they didn't even put a sample of it in Smash Bros. Brawl, opting to instead put only games that were already available on the VC. I cry shenanigans on NOA. The music? really? that's the reason????? What the frak.

Whether or not Earthbound comes to the VC, if Nintendo had no interest at all in Mother or Earthbound, they wouldn't have had their characters and items put in Melee or Brawl.

While this rumor may be true, I wouldn't say that it's conclusive - just because Earthbound isn't out now doesn't mean it won't ever be.

Maybe Mother 1 still has a chance since it was already translated before but not released.

I call bull.

Surely if the songs sound similar to newly / not long released music, the developer of the game could sue those people? i mean, where is the logic in being sued because you thought of the tune before sombody else did? wth? another case of justice gone wrong

Never played it, don't know what I'm missing. No big deal
Feel for the rest of you though.

After taking a moment to calm down and think about it, I've come up with afew reasons why this rumor could be BS...

1.) Came from Starmen.net

2.) NoA willing to go through the trouble to painstakingly alter the music from a game that they never even bothered to rerelease on GBA due to their killer hatred of the series for losing them money.

3.) NoJ has never stopped NoA from Butchering their games before...
.
4.) Why would we get a game that NoJ hasn't even gotten the prequel of yet?

5.) Chrono Trigger got away with it, and so did Animal Crossing with Rockin' K.K.

If the songs are the case, then all 3 Animal Crossing games should have been banned. The songs in those games almost sound exactly like songs in the real world, heck, even Rockin' K.K. has the "Go, Johnny, Go, Go" part.

Thing is remember NOA are the same people that removed yo-yos from Star Tropics...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eOWf_T0jdgQ

Robo's Theme from Chrono Trigger...
Sound Familiar?

That game has been on SNES, PSone, and now DS.
And that sounds an awful lot more like Never Gonna Give You Up than New Age Retro Hippie's Theme sounds like Johnny Be Goode.

One step closer to Homebrew...
Wii is turning out to be a major disappointment for me...

Maybe they will make a Earthbound for the DS.

Haha.
Awesome.

@Blk_Mage_Ctype
Please CTRF+F Trapped in this very comments box. Its been bought up. My point was simple. The person behind Trapped has sued neither party making the point that maybe all these baseline similarities are done using public domain samples...

So why complain about the music 14 YEARS AFTER THE RELEASE!? I say this is BS.

"I might sell my Wii now."
Because a not the best RPG is not going to be released? LOL! The Virtual Console has over 200 titles and you want to sell the Wii?

What do certain posters here have against Starmen.net? I've never heard anything come from their site that was in any way untrustworthy. True, they are the hardest of the hardcore fans for ANYTHING, EVER, but that doesn't make their news false.

Regarding Michael Jackson in Sonic 3: SEGA admits (in the history of the game on their new collection) that he was GOING to compose the music for the game. I recently read elsewhere that he didn't due to scandel around the same time. But he could've used a different name to avoid the scandel affecting the game. Just a thought.

Examples listed here make me further doubt that this is a good excuse. But I don't doubt that Nintendo has the most paranoid legal team ever. Probably just a bunch of morons worrying about nothing. I do wish that Reggie had told us some of this a while back, though, before he became a scapegoat in the EB fan community. Sounds like he might not deserve all the hate after all...

Certain songs in the game resemble certain real songs far too much, which is something that wouldn't fly with lawyers.
You have GOT to be kidding me. The games resemble real songs which some were released AFTER the game itself (some of them). I think I speak for anyone here when I say COPYRIGHTS SUCK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (in this case)

@ ReZon United (#63): "if Nintendo had no interest at all in Mother or Earthbound, they wouldn't have had their characters and items put in Melee or Brawl"

This was NoJ, not NoA .

I normally would try to dismiss something like this but Starmen's evidence seems pretty good so far. And the songs don't just sound similar, it sounds like they actually have other songs inside of their songs! You can clearly hear the star-spangled banner (which I believe IS infringement for some weird reason....) and the monty python thing is pretty blatant too. Not sure why NOJ would object to changing the songs though. Just a few small tweaks would suffice from what I can see. (and if those songs in the link were the only big culprits) As for pop culture references, I don't think there's anything illegal about that is there?

@RadioShadow: exactly! it sounds stupid whether true or false. isn't there a statute of limitations on this kind of thing?!

_{also, personally, can see [sort of] why someone would be 'done' with the Wii lol [we still have some hope.. though very little.]}

@Nintendork: ©s are terrific! we just have to figure out how they are best used.

This just doesn't add up to me. I'm going to go ahead and say that this is false.

And the Monty Python theme is actually the Liberty Bell March, which isn't owned by Monty Python. And even if they did own it, they probably wouldn't care if it was used in EB.

I should have been more careful explaining the legal issues. I've updated my article, here's the part that's relevant to the discussion going on here:

You might be thinking, "sampling/references aren't enough to bring a lawsuit", and you'd be right. But it's also true that not everything in EarthBound is simply sampled/referenced, and even if the game was technically legal, that doesn't mean lawyers will be comfortable with it. They get paid to avoid lawsuits entirely, not to get sued and then say "here's why this lawsuit is stupid".

couldn't a good team also keep this out of court? couldn't they negotiate? some things will never make it to trial, just or not.

but, guess that's the problem of their 'willingness', or lack thereof.

I still say that this is false. I don't know much about starmen.net and where their sources come from, but this just doesn't make sense. Why would Nintendo be afraid of a lawsuit threat that they know they would win (if the case went to court)?

"Regarding Michael Jackson in Sonic 3: SEGA admits (in the history of the game on their new collection) that he was GOING to compose the music for the game. I recently read elsewhere that he didn't due to scandel around the same time. But he could've used a different name to avoid the scandel affecting the game. Just a thought."

Let's clear this issue up. Jackson was going to make the music for Sonic 3. Due to the scandal, Sega dropped the deal with Michael Jackson.

However, Jackson's song writers were involved with the creation of the Sonic 3 music and were even credited in the game. Just with the relationship with working with him, he allowed his song writers to base the music off some of his work (just Jackson himself wasn't credited in the game).

http://www.sonic-cult.org/dispart.php?catid=1&gameid=3&subid=2&artid=16
BEWARE OF SOME ADULT CONTENT IN THE OTHER PAGES OF THE WEBSITE!

@reidman: But why didn't Nintendo get sued in 1995? Why could they get sued for a game that is 14 years old?

Yeah, where would the richest gaming company in the F%*KING world find enough money to settle a legal dispute? I already own the game; got it for free actually. However, the VC was Earthbound's one chance to gain leverage in the states, and that's all over now. There weren't any legal disputes to speak of when the game was first released in America, but NOW there are; I don't believe it. In my 19 years of playing video games I've never played anything quite like Earthbound; it literally changed my life. Can't believe it's come to this. What a sad state of affairs.

RadioShadow (#87): "But why didn't Nintendo get sued in 1995? Why could they get sued for a game that is 14 years old?"

I think because they own the rights at the time for the release of the game 14 years ago and no longer. It is the same (license) problem with games like Duck Tales (NES). If you do not own the rights anymore you can't release the game.

"However, the VC was Earthbound's one chance to gain leverage in the states"

Based on comments I've seen here and on other VC-related boards, no one would buy it anyway, because people don't buy games they haven't played before/heard of, and as you said yourself, barely anyone has played/hear of Earthbound.

This is utter bullsh*t IMO. I don't see how snippets of music that sounds like real world music somewhat is a problem. The pop culture references could fly by easily as well. I mean Ninja Town got away with it on the DS!
Even though I already have this game for the SNES it is still sickening to see.

Also I didn't know that you had an account here reidman! Right on! Also, give thanks to Mato and everyone involved in the Mother 3 translation! It is awesome to be playing that gem of a game.

I don't know if this has been mentioned recently but the reason makes sense. In Japan, copyright laws are a little more lax than they are in the U.S. The best example I can think of is the Fire Pro Wrestling series. All the wrestlers in those games are real life wrestlers with their names changed and maybe some occasional color changes. That wouldn't fly with an indie wrestling game here in the states.

I do however, find incredibly short-sighted for Nintendo of Japan to outright refuse to alter the soundtrack for U.S. audiences. I understand artistic integrity, but dammit, this really isn't fair.

Why wasn't there some huge problem with Sonic 3 being on VC?
Like someone else said earlier the entire soundtrack was made up of Michael Jackson songs. I heard his name was later removed from the credits but the music remains unchanged. Take for example the Ice cap zone theme. It's just the song who is it played faster. Same with Carnival night zone. It's the song Jam.
The credits even sound remarkably like stranger in Moscow. I guess this one slipped by Nintendo.

Statute of limitations? I'm not a lawyer and my advice is probably not wise to take, but Nintendo should go for gold and wing it!

A li'l bit of me just died right now... I knew Mother 3 being a GBA game had no chance of being released outside of Japan, and I finally came to accept that, but I was never expecting this to happen.

It's like the grand scheme of things is constantlly working to make sure EarthBound never comes back to the USA, in any shape or form, aside from SSB references. It's getting rediculous, we can't even get the original EarthBound now?
I wouldn't be surprised if the next SSB game took out Lucus & Ness, to add further insult to injury.

(And in regards to Adamant's responce: You know, I've known lots of people who've heard of the game, especially via SSB, and want to play it, but never have. I've even run into plenty of people who like the game, who don't go to Starmen.net, but do go to other video game boards unrelated to the game.)

Hrm..... this seems a little suspect (NOA's reason for not making it happen). For those who are even slightly familiar with Japanese anime, copyrighted music is 'borrowed' all over the place. "Japan takes the best from all over and makes it her own", to 'borrow' a line from a movie.

I'm looking over at my 4 volumes of US released anime Big O right now, as I type, and some of the theme swipage in that is almost amazing (still some great great, perhaps some of the best, original themes in this and other anime, but still plenty that 'borrows' conspicuously from other sources.... Big O alone has everything from Pink Floyd to Vivaldi, and a good deal of the time where I'd swear I was watching and listening to lost episodes of Batman the Animated Series..... hah).

I'd guess that this is NOA being lazy about doing the work necessary to bring the game over, and applying the not uncommon Cover-Thy-Ass maneuver (I work at a state agency, so I've seen plenty of what such looks like) with the most enthusiastic and vocal consumers for this game becoming available on VC.

Nahp, I'm betting this is NOA bailing and using one of the cheaper excuses to do so. At least that's my impression anyway.

This blows. F*** Nintendo. Grrr.

Lets not mention anything about Sonic 3's soundtrack. The next thing you know lawyers may pull it off the VC.

Damn copyrights.

Well,I will download the ROM then. I would so download it on VC but since they don't want my money...

NoA is not the villain here...

@79. ness "This was NoJ, not NoA "

The Earthbound demo was taken out of the NA Brawl, they didn't Have to leave anything else about Earthbound/Mother in it... I'll stick by my point.

@Radioshadow
"But why didn't Nintendo get sued in 1995? Why could they get sued for a game that is 14 years old?"

Excellent point. They didn't BUY any licenses at the time. So it's not like some properties with temporary licenses that ran out or something. So then, if they could get sued now for releasing it on the VC, they should be able to be sued for doing it in the first place 14 years ago just as easily. XD

I just wonder, with all this licensing stuff. Does this happen when, say, movies get rereleased (DVD or Blu-Ray)?

But (1) they didn't worry about being sued at the time and (2) getting sued for similarities to songs made afterward is . . . well, can that even happen in the most reason-deficient parts of the world?

Such nonsense.

Interesting. I could of sworn there was some type of time-window for such lawsuits.

Not to mention the fact that if you just change some notes here and there, it can become legal. Regardless, this sounds pretty suspect to me.

^yeah, you're probably right about the time-window.

Just replace Earthbound tracks with mother 3 tracks. Problem solved.

sigh. Copyright system in the US is awful.

**buries head in hands and cries** This is retarded...Stupid people and their lawsuits.

HELLLLLLL NOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I can't belive this, I was looking forward to trying out this great looking RPG and now the freaking music may keep it from ever being released, That is BULLSH%T, I hate this. Oh well maybe the God of Video Games will give us Earthbound one day, that is Nintendo th God of Video Games.

For everyone who keeps saying the song samples in that Earth Bound Central post aren't that close, well, you're right, but even the post itself acknowledges these are the more obscure references in the game. Other tracks are more obvious.

Also, for the doubters who cite Earth Bound's absence on the Japanese VC, it has been a few years, but Mother 1 + 2 on GBA isn't that old. It could be that it just isn't a priority right now for them since it is one of the more recently re-released classics, and Nintendo does need to save some titles. Nintendo of America hasn't touched Earth Bound in much longer though, so it would not have been so unbelievable if America had gotten EB on VC sooner than Japan.

OK, now that I am done rationalizing... GAAAH THIS SUCKS.

I guess I will have to continue holding onto my SNES just for one game. Maybe I will set up a TV just for the SNES and it will be my Earth Bound shrine. Too bad I don't have one of those giant Mr. Saturn plushies to adorn it with.

You know, this cheeses me off. If it's something as little as a few songs, Nintendo needs to wake up and realize that it's a small price to pay for bringing enjoyment to hundreds of thousands, maybe millions of gamers. Not to mention the immense amount of money they'd make. And even if it didn't have the original songs, that's not necessarily a bad thing. Sonic CD had rights issues with its music and an entirely new soundtrack had to be created. And it was just as good as the original (which, in my opinion, was awesome.)

I've always wanted to try the Mother series. With VC getting more and more games, the reasons to buy an SNES are becoming less and less, and that, for me, means not spending that extra money to buy Earthbound. Plus, I can't read Japanese so importing is out of the question. This is like a knife in the heart.

I guess this game seems to be doomed to the same fate as Goldeneye, due to NCL's refusal to let NOA make non-infringing changes to EB, and their refusal to allow a release of Goldeneye on both the VC and XBLA (they only want it on VC, which basically prevents it from ever being released in any form since Activision has the Bond license now).

i neve got into EARTHBOUND because its pretty much a JAPAN only game.....if it came to the Wii VC i would totally buy it

BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!

• sigh * And this news had to come on my birthday....

That is certainly bad news, EarthBound is definitely one of my favorite games of all time. It's a shame that something so trivial is preventing the game's release.

Oh man am I pissed. I have the cartridge, but the younger gamers that weren't around, are missing out big. This is shit. If NOA would have done a better job advertising and pushing EB when it was released it would have gotten a warmer reception, and we would have gotten Mother 3. Instead they never pushed it, and it dissapeared. DAMN IT ALL TO HELL!!!!

If Kid Rock can get away with copying Metallica on the song Sad But True (listen to Kid Rock's American Bad Ass then Sad But True by Metallica), you'll see that Kid Rock can steal music and rap over it. Why can't Earthbound do the same? lol

Well damn, that sucks. I know I can tolerate ROMing Mother 3, but do I HAVE to keep doing it with Earthbound as well?

But yeah, with the high amount of pop culture references I can see all the skepticalism, though it still sounds like paranoia on NoA's part. But still, there's no wonder why Earthbound STILL doesn't get a lot of credit out here. >.>

looks like its time to star breaking the law to play this game

I can't believe it's come to this! This is getting rom'd 2day! What a load of crap. oooh man im angry. The only thing i ever stole was a cream egg when i was seven! OK LETS GO TO JAIL!

@ Cally (#101): "Excellent point. They didn't BUY any licenses at the time."

How do you know?

@ ReZon (#100): "The Earthbound demo was taken out of the NA Brawl, they didn't Have to leave anything else about Earthbound/Mother in it."

Yeah, but it was NoA who take the demo out. Why?

lol think one can see this is suspect. [.... !]
_{though, personally don't care much anymore, -- のびのびBOY will be out thursday!!}

@Captain_Konami: ♥♡♥♡♥♡♥♡BIG O!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
_{amazing music, animation, design, story.. everything! still watch it alot!
[also, have you seen the Giant Robo OVA?! designed + animated by alot of the same cast.]}

Happy Birthday, SmaMan.

I already read about this in Starmen (as Mr. Nosy*). I find odd that the songs would be permissible then and not now, when barely anyone knows the origins.

Heh. I get Japan, though. I bet they do not want to ruin a great game (and a lot of Mother fans would cry over the changes).

By the way, what about the Mother 3 song similarities (like, as a Youtuber said, "The Emperor's New School" and the Carpet Monster's battle theme)? Are those the reason why Mother 3 is not in the US?

*=Yes, from The Mr. Men Show. (I also like Guyver, though.)

Are those the reason why Mother 3 is not in the US?
Nah its simply the fact it came too late in the GBAs life cycle. NOA wanting to try and bury the thing so that the DS could be a sucess. Turns out even with no games published bar cheapo liscenced shovelware the GBA was capable of beating the then new PS3...

If you want to get more complicated you can discuss parts of the plot if you like but I think that was the underlying reason seeing as the Bit Generations (which were shown at an E3 under the name of Digiluxe) also didn't come out.

I glad I have been played and beat this game at year of 2002
as I owned this game.
I enjoyed Earthbound since I rented since 1995 until I sold my Super Nintendo in 1996 so I can't play it anymore due I wanted to play on Sega Genesis that had Sega Channel so I can't beat it. So I have to re-buying Super Nintendo was in 2000 to play it again and beat for the first time. So I don't need to play ROMs for me.
But I feel sorry for you all who want to play Earthbound and you need to beat this game; or you want to play all over again.

This is basically a result of
(A) A lack of communication between NOA and Nintendo Company Limited.
(B) Too much pride and too little finantial experts.
(C) Nintendo still doesn't know that RPGs are at the top (well almost). What have they got to lose?

I guess it's because of the no-changes-thing. Couldn't they just remove them, add some other little things and make a remake for Wiiware? Or DS? It's the most-wanted VC Title!

I can't help noticing the title of this article says Rumor. Perhaps it's not completely set in stone that Earthbound won't be coming to VC. It doesn't look good but until I see a report with the word definetely in the title I will still hold out hope.

I still think its coming.

Wasn't this game rated twice by the ESRB? Wouldn't they have taken it down if the rating was a mistake? Plus this game had no problem coming out in 1995 so there should be no problem with it coming out in 2009

@Drake,

I e-mail NoA about it and they just gave me a canned reply about how they could understand my desire to see EarthBound on VC, but they have no plans to release it yet, and that I should check back at their website periodically to see if it's announced.

When Nintendo won't even disprove a nasty rumor about their games, you know something's wrong.

Couldn't give a toss about this game.

That's all from me.

I just got through putting an SNES & GBA Emulator on my Modded Wii through Homebrew Channel.
I'll still download a legit copy if it ever comes out because I support the series, but I'm not gonna feel bad about using a ROM of a game that is entirely unavailable to me threw any other means.

Besides, I already own a legit copy of EarthBound, so I'm not doing anything illegal.

EarthBound & MOTHER 3 on Wii, here I come!

O.k.. I e-mailed Nintendo to see if they confirm it, and I got this

__________________________________________________

Hello,

I can understand your desire to see the Mother/Earthbound series released outside Japan. At this time, however, no announcements have been made regarding such an occurrence. If any new Mother/EarthBound games are announced for release in the future, or if the original Earthbound game for the Super NES is made available via the Wii’s Virtual Console feature, we’ll be sure to post the news to our website (www.nintendo.com

), so please check back from time to time.

Sincerely,

Nintendo of America Inc.
Andi Anderson

Nintendo's home page: http://www.nintendo.com/

Power Line (Automated Product Info): (425) 885-7529

Nintendo's home page: http://www.nintendo.com/

Power Line (Automated Product Info): (425) 885-7529

_________________________________________________

Well, either the rumor's not true or Nintendo's executive wasn't in the loop.

Why is nintendo liable for the music? Shouldn't it be the guy on the development team that was responsible for the music?

Heh Andi Anderson. It always amuses me when people have similar first and last names.

@Nintendork,

That's the exact same canned reply I got...
It's a meaningless reply that they give to anyone who askes anything about the EarthBound/MOTHER Series.

NINTENDO: "PLEASE STEAL OUR GAME, NO REALLY!"

@ Nintendork and everyone else trying to e-mail Nintendo.

E-mailing Nintendo doesn't work. Listen I'm a Nintendo fan boy, but let me say this. Nintendo's customer service isn't that great. Their e-mails are totally automated. Call them. That should be fun.

Well, this epically sucks. i was looking forward to Earthbound on the VC. I also just can't believe that a game was "Accidentally" rated, like that would happen with such a big game. I don't want to resort to ROMs, but it looks like i may not have a choice. I can hold out for ages though.

Well,that sucks. I can't get on VC anymore right now so I guess it dosen't matter. [Thinks about buying NES/SNES 2 in 1 console eventually. Goes back on Youtube to watch more Mario & Luigi RPG 3 videos and looks forward to seeing it in America!]

@ HeikeKagero (#130): "Plus this game had no problem coming out in 1995 so there should be no problem with it coming out in 2009"

Once again: It can be that Nintendo owned the rights at the time for the release of the game 14 years ago and no longer. It is the same (license) problem with games like Duck Tales (NES). If you do not own the rights anymore you can't release the game.

Last time I contacted Nintendo, they took 3 months to send an e-mail back. <_<

"Once again: It can be that Nintendo owned the rights at the time for the release of the game 14 years ago and no longer. It is the same (license) problem with games like Duck Tales (NES). If you do not own the rights anymore you can't release the game."

But Nintendo own the rights to the Mother series. Ness and Lucas even appeared in Smash Bros. Brawl, so it is not a licensing problem.

There has been so much hype over Earthbound, that I really want to play it. I bet it will come out someday, we just have to find patience.

I can't figure out why this copywrite buisiness wasn't a problem years ago when the game originally released. Why wouldn't they have the rights now but they did back then?

They can have crap like Kings Knight and Cruis'n USA but not EarthBound. What the hell is wrong with Nintendo?

As Comic Book Guy from Simpsons would say "Worst news ever!"

Let's see who's been getting dumber...Sega with too much sonic, or NINTENDO! because of stupid decisions! Ohhh, man...

Cryin' shame! That's pretty dumb, it's not like these are the real songs. Like what the hell. And I bet it ticked alot of people off to find out the game was rated BY MISTAKE! Rated and kept people excited for about a year, maybe more (god I don't know) and come to find out IT WAS A LIE!!!

Jesus, guys, the game isn't even that good.

@post 148:
Oh, you're going to get it, Adamant. The nerd fury shall strike you down, I predict.

Oh, and regarding the people that emailed Nintendo about this: do you really expect a straight answer? Of course they probably know if it will hit here, but they currently have no reason to let the fans know.

What's with all the Paper Mario avatars?

@The Fox

Ah, but then, perhaps, become more powerful than we can possibly comprehend? Not advisable.

But seriously, Earthbound has been extremely anticipated. How can anybody forget the weekly "WHERE'S EARTHBOUND" posts. It was that and SMRPG every single week for such a long time. And for all who bothered to pester Nintendo over the thing, thanks for the community service.

I smell a remake coming to the DS.

need to bring more N64 games to VC anyway

I finally listened to the similarities in that one site that someone posted towards the top, and, unfortunately, even using samples for a song like that is considered copyright infringement without a license. As far as the Sky Runner theme sounding like that "The Who" song, I think that's "legally different" as they say.

Now the Star Spangled Banner (in Jackie's Cafe) is public domain. And even if it wasn't, what American would sue someone for using that? I think John Phillip Sousa's Liberty Bell March (in the Character Naming theme) might be public domain... not entirely sure...

Overall, in my opinion it doesn't seem that big a deal. Heck I didn't even think of most of those similarities until I went to that page.

@121 Hal: Yep, the only real weakness in the series was it getting stopped just as things were at their most intriguing. For all my love of the holy trinity of anime (at least for my limited experience, Trigun, Cowboy Bebop, Outlaw Star), Big O hooked me faster than Trigun and Bebop, and actually gives Outlaw Star rare competition for most music in one anime that moves me (not the variety of Outlaw Star or Bebop though, unfortunately).

and @148,149, 152: ...........Adamant: Jedi Bear Poker

(And why does "Nerd Fury" remind me of the Nerd Herd? Or is Nerd Fury just Nick's geeky twin brother?)

Oh and with regard to Earthbound, let me just say this:

NOA, just another reason for me to be living in Japan.

Blah, blah, blah... Just about every single song that comes out on the radio nowadays contains samples/riffs/lyrics/etc from at least one other song from the past (usually many songs), yet we don't see the big record companies suing each other over it. Lots of indie musicians sample game tunes from Pacman to Mario to Final Fantasy, and you never hear of these relatively obscure talents ever getting sued by the video game companies. Likewise, a lot of modern video games, such as the Grand Theft Auto series and many others, use whole entire songs, new and old, in their soundtracks (albeit properly licensed). Indie bands don't get sued for doing live performances of other more famous bands' music, despite often "butchering up" the original song; how many times have you gone to a festival to hear some no-name band copying the songs of rock legends? There are even some indie bands (such as 8-Bit-Weapon) that compose real new songs using the synthesizer chips out of vintage game systems, aka "chip tunes"...

So if musicians sample musicians, musicians sample games, games sample musicians, games sample games, musicians copy other musicians, and even sometimes games copy other games, and nobody gets sued, then why in the blue **** are they making such a fuss over this???

Likewise, I remember reading some time ago on the internet, of how the original "underworld" music of Super Mario Brothers 1 (aka doom-da, doom-da, doom-da) was alledgedly copied from some obscure riff out of some funk song of the 70s. Anyways, I downloaded the Earthbound music rip from Z*****'s Domain to see what all the big fuss was about, but I haven't listened to it yet.

Jesus Christ. Some of these comments are rediculosly immature. Stop damning things to hell for once.

I'm going back to Starmen.net.

@ All who thinks that the copywrite buisiness wasn't a problem years ago:

"In fact, Nintendo DID have a problem with a lot of stuff in EarthBound back in 1995. A lot of changes had to be made before the 1995 legal squad then gave its approval."

http://earthboundcentral.com/2009/02/earthbound-legal-issues/

@ RadioShadow (#142): "But Nintendo own the rights to the Mother series."

I didn't mean the rights to the Mother series, I meant the rights to some other stuff which can be in the game.

@ pikmin95 (#151): "What's with all the Paper Mario avatars?"

That is the new default avatar which shows if readers don't upload one of their own.

@ Adamant Norway (#148): "Jesus, guys, the game isn't even that good."

Well, that's your opinion .

If you think you're going to die before you can play EarthBound go get it somewhere else. There are enough opportunities. Legal or illegal, just don't care! Everyone should have played Earthbound before dying.

Personally I'd love to get a legal VC download, but since I rented it with an US Fire-Adapter for SNES and downloaded it a couple of times for PC, Mac and Wii I'm confident that everyone can get their hands on it.

The whole music copyright thing is a forgettable discussion. All songs in Earthbound are original compositions! They might be influenced by some artists (as every piece of music is) but they do not remind of other songs!

@ Adamant

No to admit I don't like the game that much either but I know it has a really strong fanbase and I feel bad for them

@ chunky droid
Reggie himself from NOA has acknowledged the Mother 3 fan translation in an interview with MTV and sounded very much like the project did not bother him. Apparently NOA is okay with it if their president publicly admits he knows about the project and says nothing bad about it.

Also, an individual NOA employee does not necessarily have to be completely compliant with the company's goals. If you work at McDonalds and sneak a free burger to a friend, does that mean McDonalds endorses the doling out of free burgers? No, it's the act of one employee. Starmen just has a contact or two in NOA; they don't have a standing relationship with the entire company.

Considering that one or two Starmen are actually involved as translators in the video game business, why is this so hard to believe, that they would know one or two people who work at Nintendo? Their article sounds completely legit to me, and all the legal reasons are very obvious even if they didn't mention having a contact to explain this to them. Lawyers don't have more power than the president, but they are very much needed by the company, so completely disregarding their advice would be stupid, from a business perspective, at least; obviously not from an Earth Bound fan's perspective.

I find it hard to believe that Nintendo would not be willing to do what it takes to get this game released on the VC. It seems to me like it would be one of the biggest sellers that the system has seen yet, seeing that it has such a huge following.

Cheezy-san, for "The Moon," there is no such thing as "too much Sonic". (Then again, he wanted to TURN INTO Sonic!)

Big A2-san, I find odd that you complain about immature comments but use swear words in yours...

Okay...this rumor is out of hand. I think it's time to tell you all that Earthbound WILL eventually come to a Wii near you...just when is another issue.

I found the article ness linked VERY interesting. The #1 thing I learned was that copyright law is ANOTHER reason Japanese people are smarter than us! Seriously, I'm with them on generally not caring. American and/or European companies are TOO DANG UPTIGHT!

I honestly think it'll come one day, Nintendo know how much people want it. They'll work something out.

Until then, calm down. ;D

This reminds me of a short story by science fiction writer Spider Robinson called "Melancholy Elephants." If you have the time, read it. It really makes you think about this issue...
http://www.spiderrobinson.com/melancholyelephants.html

Hi,
Like someone recommended earlier (probably jokingly, though), I think seriously that somebody should call Nintendo. It would be much more direct and immediate than communication through e-mail. Ask about EarthBound, and even if legal issues are the cause of the game's delay, or if they can quell any rumors.
I recommend this, because I actually don't have the nerve myself, for whatever reason, ha-ha.

what an effing burn

How about a mother 4 or some remakes? Most nintendo fans don't even know Ness outside of Super Smash Bros. Lets change that!

I'm sure it will eventually be released.

This is crazy. Nintendo puts up Ness and other Earthbound characters on Brawl but, their not going to put up what has been known as one of the best RPG's on the SNES on the Virtual Console. Does that make any since to you?

Yes. This only concerns the American VC, and Nintendo of Japan can put whatever characters they want in their games without being concerned about where their games have/will be released.

"Big A2-san, I find odd that you complain about immature comments but use swear words in yours..."

I don't recall swearing too much in my post. Ah well, when I said immature, I meant people who where going like...

'HELLLLLLL NOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I can't belive this, I was looking forward to trying out this great looking RPG and now the freaking music may keep it from ever being released, That is BULLSH%T, I hate this. Oh well maybe the God of Video Games will give us Earthbound one day, that is Nintendo th God of Video Games.'

And that's Big A2-kun to you.

Wait a minute, before everyone blows their tops over this news, what about Mother 1 for the Famicom? That might not have the disputed copyright issue concerning its music and it was translated too for a US release but never released due to gamers moving on to SNES. So a VC release of Mother 1 might be possible and if enough people download it here, Nintendo of Japan might reconsider changing the music for Mother 2 release here on VC seeing how much money they would make.

Don, that's also true. Several things could influence the change for NoJ. I personally think that it will come out regardless in the future because once the Virtual Console's catalogue of games is dried up, they'll have to figure something out. They can't re-sell all these VC games to the people who already own a Wii (who'd want to buy them again on a NEWER version of the Wii?). So, in the end, they'll have to resort to figuring out a way to get these games out of the dustpan and into the Wii. I'm still holding out for Zombies Ate My Neighbors to be honest. If Earthbound comes out at all, it might come out as Mother II as the title.

@169 : Chunky, I got a new release you're talking about : Mario & Sonic : At The Winter Olympics is coming out. lol

@Don

Don, Mother was a Jap-only JRPG, it obviously won't be coming to the VC (outside of Japan, at least). And it's been 15+ years, I doubt they kept the translated ROM; you don't keep trash like that for that long.

@Mickeymac

I really doubt that they do that, they must have archived that somewhere.

@Don: Being the grind-a-thon that it is, Mother 1 isn't likely too sell much. So it Nintendo might see it's poor sales and consider changing the music even less.

@ Mickeymac (#182): "I doubt they kept the translated ROM; you don't keep trash like that for that long."

I wouldn't bet on that .

Oh well, I didn't really want this game anyway. The only game I wish to see on the VC now is Bomberman Hero for the N64. I've had so much fun with that game as a child...

Well. I've never played earthbound. I don't know much about it. The only things about earthbound I know of are in Super Smash Brothers. From what I heard, it sounds good, but I know nothing about it, so I shall wait and see.

While they may still have the rom, the cartridge got leaked about 10 years ago. Starmen.net can give you the whole story. And if they don't, Starmen could just give it to their contacts at NOA.

I'm convinced that the whole thing is a load of BS... Professional Companies like ESRB don't "accidentally" rate games from a company if said game was never submitted to them for review in the first place, that just isn't how it works...

NoA would have to approach ESRB and specifically ask them to Rate the game, it couldn't happen by accident.
This is just Starmen's way of rationalizing why their EB Siege & PK CALL'N Campaigns failed to persuade NoA to release the game on VC.

I think that NoA is just sitting on EarthBound and will most likely release it on VC next year on 6/01/10, EarthBound's 15th Anniversary.
If you need proof, consider Super Smash Bros 64, it was released in Japan on 1/21/99, and was released on VC 1/20/09, one day shy of it's 10 Year Anniversary. They couldn't release it on it's exact date due to the fact that Japanese VC games are always released on Fridays, but they got as close as they could. SSB64 still isn't on the American VC, which leads me to believe that it will be released on VC around 04/26/09, which would be SSB64's American 10th Anniversary.

If this theory is correct, then it will likely be the same case for EarthBound.

Guide book and game wad, both are available online, I printed out the book and spiral bound it tho no scatch and sniff, ill play the game off of the emu since its easir to save

@MrPinguy &Ness

15 YEARS! For an unreleased NES JRPG, from a series that didn't sell! I highly doubt they'd keep trash like that for 15 years!

And even if they did have it saved up somewhere (most likely locked up in a vault entitled "Mistakes We'd Rather Forget", nestled snugly between the Virtual Boy and Star Fox 2), the chances of it ever getting rereleased almost nil. Besides, even if it did get released, I still could care less about - I've played it on ROM, and I can honestly say that it's a horrible game. There really isn't any point in wasting one's hope on such bile. You're better off wasting it on a worthwhile game, like Earthbound.

Speaking of which, until Nintendo actually comes out and says "we won't release Earthbound because we will get sued"(or something of that nature), then there really isn't any point in getting all upset over some crackpot rumors, especially ones as rediculous as this.

@Mickeymac
1º The only thing that Mother and Star Fox 2 have of "Mistakes We'd Rather Forget", that they were never released (the Mother one just outside japan) and the Red Glasses of terror that THEY were released, (No offence to the creator, he's really awesome)
2º It's an NES ERA RPG! you never played one? There are even more "horrible" that as you call it RPGs on NES (you sound like that annoying FF7 fanboys that say that FF1-6 aren't important)
(But i like to hear your opinion about it, if you don't mind to share it with us)
3º Do ever gone to a TV Sation or something like that? they have suff with almost 100 years archived (even the crapiest things you would never imagine)! I belive that NOA as a company they also archive this things you know?
4º They didn't sell? dont make me laugh please, EarthBound in America isn't "the Series"

But yes i agree with you until official confirmation this crap of rumors are just crap.
...And sorry if i was agresive, it wasn't my intention

@172. VirtualConsoleGuest. You can call Nintendo if you like. You'll get whatever line the customer service reps see on their computer monitors. Probably the "can't comment on rumours" and "wait and see wink" i.e. no information. Their screens will be blinking red since you mentioned Earthbound (from all the call-ins in the past...) so if they start to sound worried then...

Thing is the press won't risk asking the questions (making the allegations of copyright) as it'll damage their reputation and risk irritating Nintendo (thats why you don't get rude questions asked in interviews; if it happens the company won't talk to you anymore).

Regarding Mother 1. There is the easy mode patch that might be worth a try but even then I can see the huge inbalances in the difficulty still making for roadblocks of progress.
http://earthboundcentral.com/2008/11/earthbound-zero-easy-patch/
Though true it probably won't help the general snails pace of the game and the scattered nature of its goals...

Music wouldn't be the reason. If it has already been released outside of VC (Which is has), then there should be no reason not to put it on VC. It, along with its music, is already out for the public to use. Somebody could easily just pick up a copy of the SNES version and listen to that so-called-similar music. Then they WOULD sue. However, no law suits have been made at all on the music of Earthbound. This rumour is false.

@Mickeymac
I work for a newspaper, and we've saved at least one copy of each issue since we started... way back in the 1910s. We also have all the HDV tapes of story footage since we started doing video. It's absolutely important that any company holds on to it's products forever. You never know when you'd need them again. For example, we may use video footage from certain stories if we're doing a follow-up or something. Or we may need to refer back to a previous issue for something that someone may have said, etc. etc.

So, I'm pretty sure that a large company like Nintendo holds on to all ROMs, released or unreleased. I remember reading a NP article about an unreleased rom of SimCity for the NES that they still have in their offices. (Interestingly, the rom sits inside of a Zelda II cart!) So no doubt, Nintendo still has this rom.

This is false. How many countless rip offs/parodies of the Bond or Mission Impossible themes are there in video games? There are only 12 notes you can play and there is plenty room for artistic license in music. Some EB songs maybe similar but are not note for note and besides what copyright lawyers would be paying attention to a 15 yr old game anyway. Plus it got cleared the first time it was released. However if there are actual samples of real audio from other sources (ie the Python theme, even though that is public domain) then that is the only way that this might be plausible.

Wait a minute...EARTHBOUND'S NOT COMING TO NORTH AMERICA!?

Im Back!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

@196. SmaMan

Correct, and even if by some odd chance Nintendo did toss the ROM for EarthBound Zero, they could easily find it again through a number of websites.

Big A2-kun, I only mentioned swearing, not over-swearing. Then again, even one ugly word (like "hell," which is only bad if you use "hell" as a throwaway word) is "too much" for me, niav ni emaN s'doG gnikat yllaicepse.
By the way, how did you know that I not only usually use "-san" in times when I do not know the gender of whom do I refer, but also occasionally use "-kun"?

And the Earthbound Zero ROM is a bit buggy, and the translation was lacking, so I highly doubt Nintendo would release it in that form even if they could. I'm all for a remake that looks like Earthbound (Mato had a pet project for that, though it'll likely never be finished), from Nintendo or otherwise. The series needs to be given another chance, one way or another.

Look, people, Nintendo is a business. By definition, if they are going to experience ANY net loss for something, they won't do it. End of story. Go ahead and keep whining and suggesting business solutions to Nintendo if it entertains you, but all we can really do until we have some evidence that we can recognize as certain is wait and see if this game will ever materialize.

You cant say that Legendo....
you have to be politically correct on this site or they will get you kicked off.... lol

WOAH! Way a minute..why is NOJ not wanting NOA to change Earthbound's music,but NOJ's just fine with NOA not releasing Super Mario Bros. 2:The Lost Levels and turns Doki Doki Panic into Super Mario Bros. 2 many years ago?
I don't get it.

I knew it,NOJ just dosen't want the Mother/Eartbound series in America they only want the Japanese playing it for some oddball reason. Why? Because NOJ and NOA are afraid that they are going to lose money from localizing and releasing the Earthbound series in NA because many people might not like an 16 bit RPG that wasn't too popular when it was released back in it's day in America. Plus,they're afraid of lawsuits because of possible music similarities.
Come on,Nintendo has finally allowed Fire Emblem [and Marth] come to America,so why not the Earthbound series?

Here's what MIGHT really happen to the Mother series. This quote is from last month:
Brownie Brown also had a hand in developing Mother 3. While it’s way too late for Nintendo of America to backtrack and release Mother 3 as a Game Boy Advance game they could port it to the Nintendo DS. “If we were asked to make one [a DS version of Mother 3], then we would definitely like for fans abroad to play the game,” Kameoka-san said.

This is just getting more and more confusing.

I can never see why Nintendo would only release part of the Mother series in the US or include Ness in the SSB series.

_but NOJ's just fine with NOA not releasing Super Mario Bros. 2:The Lost Levels and turns Doki Doki Panic into Super Mario Bros. 2 many years ago?
I don't get it._

The Doki Doki Panic characters are liscenced (Fuji Television mascots). The Lost Levels wasn't thought suitable for a US audience at the time. Since Doki Doki Panic was going to waste anyway might as well make the most out of it (the animations got imporved, running was added and a few of the enemies are mianstays in the Mairo franchise like Shy Guy).

Also Doki Doki Panic was soley Nintendo property (yeah Fuji Television came up with the idea but the game is still Nintenods), while Mother has several external people/companies who may or may not have a say in matters. When it comes to co-ownership everyone has to agreee to anything that is done.

HAL is a Nintendo second party developer, right? So that's no problem. Not sure who else was involved that could be a problem for release...

@Clayfrd

Silly Clayfrd, just ignore Littlemac & move on with live.

Meh... I didnt care for EarthBound that much anyways.

(Bring on the hate. I can take it.)

@Tweek

I can't blame you, if you can't get into Earthbound's quirky sense of humor, there's not much left to love about Earthbound. The gameplay is generic RPG affair, and even a bit archaic, and the rest of it isn't anything to write home about. It's a great game if you have the sense of humor for it, which is built into pretty much every facet of the game, but otherwise it'll come off as a purely average game.

Wow Nintendo of amrica relly hates don't they?

The first time I'd ever seen Ness was in SSB, and I was under the impression that he hunted Kirby (why, I can't say). Regardless, I hadn't heard about EarthBound until very recently (courtesy of this site, actually).

Then one afternoon, I went on Wikipedia to research some of its quirky characters. Among them, was Giygas. It described him as a cosmic being, which sounded way to good to be true (especially for a Nintendo game). Curiosity overcame me, so I decided to watch the climactic battle against him and his chunky minion, Porky (or Pokey) on YouTube.

Ever since then, I've wanted this game so badly. The actual gameplay itself is extremely dull, and the graphics are deplorable. But...I must fight Giygas! He, and probably Ganondorf, are the only awesome Nintendo villains. Everybody else is so wimpy.

So, in conclusion, I really hope they release this game! If not for the fans, then for Giygas!

I think this rumor is completely false

Okay, this rumor is complete bull****! How come Sonic the Hedgehog 3 even made it to the Virtual Console and the ****** Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles did too, but not Earthbound.

I beieve this is all false. Seriously, it'll probably be release eventually. Earthbound deserves an Virtual Console release and there are no confirmation whatsoever that Earthbound is not coming.

If the game is indeed not coming, Wii-hating lawyers will cheer and drink beer over this and focus on destroying the Virtual Console by declaring it "illegal".

We cannot stop hoping for this game to come to the Virtual Console. This game could determind the Virtual Console future.