@Dark Weres
I guess that would be different, local interpretations of what can be considered fair use. But even if that is the case, I doubt there is anything in Mother 2/Earthbound that could be considered copyright violation by western standards. There were some issues back in the day, like the red cross logo and so on, but those were all taken care of by the original localization crew as far as I know. Most of the songs that have samples from other works have either gotten their snippets from songs that would be free to use anyway, or have been so heavily remixed that it shouldn't pose a problem. Any of the songs that don't contain samples but have taken inspiration from other songs would likely be treated as paying homage to the originals, if anyone would even care to try it out in court, which I doubt. I don't think anyone would find it likely that, say, The Beatles are missing out on record sales due to a sample in a re-released SNES game from the mid-90's, and especially not if you can barely distinguish the original song from the rest of the soundtrack.

I'm not a music lawyer, but I am a musician and I know a fair bit about copyright law. And nothing I ever heard sounded like it would be at risk of getting Nintendo sued. Having generic 50s music doesn't automatically equal "using Johnny B. Goode without permission" and that Who sound alike wasn't even close to being an at-risk situation. If you change the notes or chords up slightly, you can get away with sounding similar to something that already exists. And that's exactly what Nintendo did the first time around.

I'm just worried that we're now going to get a bunch of people talking about how disappointing the game is. It's definitely not a universal classic like Final Fantasy III (VI) and Chrono Trigger, only certain people will appreciate its quirkiness. I kind of feel like it's been way over-hyped as something it isn't, and people are going to go in expecting something else.

I guess we'll see what happens.

@Mop it up

I fully agree. No way the hype can be met. I pretty much -know- I won't enjoy it "that much."

Yeah, if you don't get the humor you're not going to think the gameplay is anything special. I love the humor though, so it's one of my all-time favorites. I can't wait to play it again.

@Mr_Mustache Eh, you might. It borrows heavily from Dragon Quest, and you liked the Dragon Warrior games on the NES right?

@Mr_Mustache

If you want I can torture and brainwash you until it hurts you not to be playing it.

@Mop it up
While I personally feel the game is on par with Chrono Trigger and Final Fantasy VI, it's not got the universal appeal, as you say, and has never been for everyone. There will be plenty of people who will call Earthbound overrated and overhyped and whatever, simply because the game isn't for them. That's fine, of course, but if they can't at the very least see how the game could become so important for so many, and appreciate its worldwide release for that reason, they can all go screw themselves as far as I'm concerned. Much more important are those, perhaps relatively few, who never got to experience the game before, but will come to love it with a passion like so many others already do.

I think Earthbound really has its own thing going in the "neon-lights" style of the psychic powers they're using. If Itoi (or some other group) did a Mother 4 for the Wii U, I think they should run with that, and even refine the rhythm system of Mother 3 because I press buttons in time with the music anyway, and having the game acknowledge and let you play with that is a fantastic bonus.

Although mechanics-wise, it's a traditional RPG magic system, the style in which they implement it and the way that the non-Ness character restore and maintain their own magic reserves (or how they even interpret "magic" if you wanna include Jeff and the items that only he can use) is pretty neat.

@Dark Weres
Dude, don't even say Mother 4 without Itoi! The thought alone scares me! Not that I think it's likely to happen or anything.

Yeah I don't think that there really can be a Mother 4 without Itoi's influence. At least not a legit one.

I haven't played the Mother games, Earthbound will be my first when I get it on Wii U, but Mother 4 would be good just because it should mean Iwata will be making a game again.

@Pokefreak911
Are you sure you don't mean Itoi? Iwata was only really involved with Mother 2/Earthbound, as the lead programmer. He was credited as executive producer for Mother 3, though, but that goes for all Ninty published games.

I would love to see Iwata return to developing something at some point, though. He seems genuinly passionate about it, and I love how his face lit up when he visited Game Center CX and got to talk about Balloon Fight.

@r_hjort
I meant Iwata as him developing something would be good. I do realize however that Itoi is Mother basically.
I think it is one of the greatest shames for Iwata to be stuck as President. Sure he is a fantastic President and does wonders for the company, but he never makes anything anymore which is just a waste.

@Pokefreak911
Ah, I see. Since you said that Mother 4 should mean Iwata making a game, I got the impression that you took his return to development for granted somehow.

@r_hjort
Wasn't Itoi the one that said he wanted to see the fans make Mother 4? I think it's likely that the most influence Itoi would make in a Mother 4 is saying "Sure, I like that idea, go ahead" and leaving it alone, after such a fan-group tossed an idea his way. I get the impression that, much like John Cleese and the morons who kept asking him to do the silly-walk, he's actually sick and tired of hearing about Mother after so many years and just 3 games, and frustrated with the requests, especially from people outside of Japan that don't know about the rest of his life, to keep doing Mother after all this time of NOT doing it.

@Dark Weres
He did say he would be OK with fans making Mother 4, but the core message was far more grand than that. What he said was more expressing a desire for fans of the series to help the creative legacy live on, and while he did mention being the player rather than the director of a Mother 4, that was more an example of that desire. I think he summed it up best here:

"Like I said before, I’ve started to grow fond of people who like the MOTHER games, but to put that in a cooler way, I might say, “The very lives you’re living now are MOTHER 4.” I really feel that way."

He also said this, which further explains his take on the series' legacy, and makes him sound far from sick and tired about hearing about Mother:

"I’m sure it’s the same with any product or work of creativity – in the very end, it’s the customer or end user who finishes it for you. Even with toothpaste, for example, the product only reaches its conclusion when a customer chooses to use your particular toothpaste to brush his or her teeth. In that same way, people playing through a game you’ve made makes you feel very appreciative of them."

I might also add this quote from Iwata, on the prospects of a new Mother project.

" I don’t believe there will be any new MOTHER games made using the same production system as before."

But no matter what, I would never acknowledge a Mother 4 without Itoi. No way, never. All these fan projects and stuff may be ambitious and creative in all sorts of ways, and they may very well help certain aspects of what made Mother what it is, live on, but they will never be what the three Mother games were, and they could never speak to me the way they did.

All the quotes are from this article, btw.

http://www.nintendolife.com/news/2013/04/shigesato_itoi_says_mother_4_would_be_impossible

Looks like you'll never acknowledge a Mother 4 then.

Yeah, pretty much.

@Mop it up

Yes, I do like those. But..I dunno, even when I was into RPGs way back when, the 'look' of them in Nintendo Power made me go "..ehhhhhh."

@chrisbg99

Haha, no way! I already have enough stuff on my plate that I feel obliged to be playing. My skin is crawling!