Professional Translator, Clye Mandelin, has offered his translation of Mother 3 to Nintendo for FREE. He has even offered to edit it in any way Nintendo would require in order to get the game out. Your move Nintendo.

IGN said:

EarthBound fans have offered to give their translation of sequel Mother 3 to Nintendo for free if it will help secure a Western release.

“I’ll even retranslate everything from scratch if need be. Just whatever it takes to get an official release out.

Clyde Mandelin (known as Tomato in the community) made the offer to Nintendo this morning, explaining “I realize that localizing a game this size can cost a lot, so if it’ll help in even the slightest, I’ll gladly offer to let Nintendo use my text translation files for any use at all, completely for free. I’ll even edit the files to fit whatever new standards are necessary (content, formatting, memory size, etc.), completely for free. I’ll even retranslate everything from scratch if need be. Just whatever it takes to get an official release out.”

Mandelin has worked as a professional translator on games including Kingdom Hearts 2, One Piece: Unlimited Adventure and The Nightmare Before Christmas: The Pumpkin King, in addition to professional anime translation for Dragon Ball and Lupin the 3rd. “I definitely realize this is a silly-sounding offer and all, but I figure it’s better to make the offer and seem silly than possibly miss an opportunity entirely,” he wrote.

The EarthBound series is called Mother in Japan, with EarthBound known as Mother 2. In 2006, Mother 3 was released for Game Boy Advance in Japan but Nintendo made it clear that there were no plans to release it in the West. Later that year, fans rallied to put together a translation that was ultimately released in 2008 (and updated in 2009). Nintendo has never discussed plans to release Mother 3 outside of Japan, though main character Lucas was included in Super Smash Bros. Brawl on Wii in 2008.

“In the end, if localizing Mother 3 should ever come up in a Nintendo business meeting or whatever and someone brings up budget concerns or it costing too much, my hope is that someone will at least mention this offer too, even if it isn’t accepted,” Mandelin concluded.

Earlier this week, Nintendo announced plans to release EarthBound on Virtual Console in the West.

We've reached out to Nintendo about the offer and will update this story with any comment we receive.

Source: IGN

The news is a few days old but I hadn't seen it mentioned anywhere in the site, so I decided to share.

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Well this is something. What a nice dude. And totally puts some pressure on Nintendo to act.

Nintendo would be doing right by the fans to take his offer. Just read it and make your edits Nintendo. I don't even care about this game/series but I'm willing to given the opportunity!

Posted by

DrFinkelstein

on: 04/23/13, 05:43

This is the kind of thing that I feel like Nintendo would never go for, but it's hard to understand why. Now that GBA will be on Virtual Console they'd have a perfect way to distribute it.

PS. The title of this thread confused me, I would put it in the active voice for clarity's sake.

Posted by

Jargon

on: 04/23/13, 05:45

The problem is that more than just the text would need to be edited. The Magypsies are definitely not something NOA would want to be in the game, and probably some other content that I'm forgetting as well.

Posted by

Mop it up

on: 04/23/13, 05:47

this might be dumb of me to ask but I don't think I've ever gone to find out....what/where the hell is Mother 1 if Earthbound is Mother 2?

edit:
Nintendo of America translated and planned to release the first Mother game in North America under the title Earth Bound. Although the game's localization and translation was finished a year earlier, the game was ultimately deemed unprofitable for a fall 1991 North American release, and the planned release was canceled after the game had already been translated and all packaging and advertising was ready.
It was confirmed by former Nintendo employee Phil Sandhop that Nintendo chose not to release Earth Bound in North America because the Super Nintendo was to be released at the same time, and Nintendo thought that customers would be less likely to notice a new NES game in light of the release of the new Super NES console and its games. Furthermore, the cost of releasing the game with the extensive manual and hint book planned would have not been economical without significant sales.
All of Sandhop's changes to Mother appear in the Game Boy Advance games Mother 1+2, such as the B Button run command. The reason for these changes appearing, according to Sandhop, is that "with games produced by NCL, the development teams continued to work and tweak their projects that they knew would be localized and produced in other territories. Often they would address their own desires that were not completed due to time constraints or not completed to their satisfaction and also address issues raised by Japanese consumers as that release hits the street."

Posted by

Wellsy529

on: 04/23/13, 05:53

Edited:

04/23/13, 06:03

Wellsy529 said:

this might be dumb of me to ask but I don't think I've ever gone to find out....what/where the hell is Mother 1 if Earthbound is Mother 2?

Earthbound Zero...?

Edit: Well, what do you know? I was kidding and it turns out I was right!!!

Earthbound Zero

Posted by

sirmastersephiroth

on: 04/23/13, 05:56

Edited:

04/23/13, 05:58

yea sorry I went and looked then made the edit just now

Posted by

Wellsy529

on: 04/23/13, 06:03

@Mop it up

They also offer to help edit the text to help its release stateside...

Posted by

Tranquilo

on: 04/23/13, 06:14

@Mop it up
... Says the person with Birdo as an avatar.

The Magypsies could make it in unscathed if they gave the game a T rating. Truthfully, they aren't man OR woman, right? I'm sure if that's a problem, they can write around it.

It's too bad that Nintendo probably wouldn't take this offer because his translation is VERY, VERY good. I actually think I enjoyed Mother 3 more than EB. Depends on the day though.

Posted by

ploot

on: 04/23/13, 07:11

Edited:

04/23/13, 07:11

@ploot Nice jab, but Birdo didn't need a sprite change to go with the new translation! Though NOA's been pretty weird/inconsistent with her over the years...

In any case, I don't think the rating is the problem, content like this doesn't really exist when it comes to Nintendo games in North America, or at least not recently. For example, when they published Dragon Quest VI which got a T rating, they still removed the references to "Puff-Puff" changing it to "Patty Cake." And this is something quite a bit more obscure than the Magypsies' appearance. I also remembered something else to which NOA would probably object: the "oxygen machines."

Posted by

Mop it up

on: 04/23/13, 07:53

Mop it up said:

@ploot Nice jab, but Birdo didn't need a sprite change to go with the new translation! Though NOA's been pretty weird/inconsistent with it over the years...

Fixed.

Posted by

ludist210

on: 04/23/13, 13:29

NOA would have a problem with the Magypsies based on what? What is it that you guys seem to know about their policies that I don't?

Posted by

r_hjort

on: 04/23/13, 13:43

But didn't Dragon Quest VIII and IX have puff-puffs? Weird.

Posted by

VickiL

on: 04/23/13, 16:11

@Mop it up

Does Nintendo really still censor, though? Considering how much innuendo and rough language is in Fire Emblem Awakening--another 1st-party game--I think I can see Mother 3's content getting by with a T rating. I guess they might think that swearing is different than the super-flamboyant Magypsies/oxygen machines, but I doubt the people who'd be offended by all that would even get some niche RPG sequel on the eShop. Being a remarkably obscure series to casual gamers, I think it'd slip comfortably under the radar.

Posted by

TriforceBun

on: 04/23/13, 16:35

That is...completely generous on the translator's part. Seriously Nintendo...why not?

Posted by

Deerock69

on: 04/23/13, 16:37

I honestly have no idea why everyone is making such a big deal out of this. If there is a reason Mother 3 hasn't been localized, it sure as heck isn't because no one at Nintendo can translate Japanese to English. And this wouldn't be a time or (much) money-saving measure because no (decent) company would release a translation without an employee (who you pay) to go through it with a fine-toothed comb to check their work. Lastly, sure this guy has done professional work, but why is everyone so amazed that this offer is free? If he wanted money, it would be like those folks who clean your windshield in big cities and then ask for money. No one requested the work, so why would they have to pay for it?

Lastly, I think the translator himself understands the situation pretty well:
"“I realize that localizing a game this size can cost a lot, so if it’ll help in even the slightest," key word: slightest
"I definitely realize this is a silly-sounding offer and all, but I figure it’s better to make the offer and seem silly than possibly miss an opportunity entirely,”

~~~

So bottom line:
Can it hurt the chances of an official Western release? Hell, no.
Do I hope this game gets an official Western release? Of course I do. Not for me, really, but for the thousands of rabid fans.
But does this really change the situation? Unfortunately, I don't think.
Does it change the situation so much as to create a "your move, Nintendo!" scenario? Not even close, and even Mr. Tomato seems to know that.

Posted by

Chocobo_Rider

on: 04/23/13, 17:41

@Wellsy529 I played a bit of Mother 1 on emulator. Probably some fan crack / translation? I don't really get into emulation though so I only made it like 15 minutes into the game.

@Jargon It's hard to understand why? I think it is easy to understand why, "professional" companies have their own channels for doing business, they don't just take random offers from random people who walk in off the street. And when they do, like with Capcom and their recent Mega Man "fan-made" games, it kind of looks like laziness on the side of the professional company for having to turn to that channel instead of doing it the "professional" way.

@NinSage I think it is doing exactly what he (probably) intended it to do though, which is to get a bunch of media sources talking about it, and that does put a bit of pressure on Nintendo. I'm sure he knows that there is a snowball's chance of his translation being used, but that probably wasn't his true (or at least full) intention.

Posted by

Zero

on: 04/23/13, 18:03

Edited:

04/23/13, 18:06

@NinSage

Well at least it forces (well not forces... but I can't think of how to put it) Nintendo to respond to the situation. Any kind of awareness about a certain game is a good thing as we've all learned with Xenoblade.

Posted by

VofEscaflowne

on: 04/23/13, 18:05

I reeaaally can't think of a downside to accepting this offer--it's free, they've got the publicity w/ the long-awaited release of the game's predecessor FINALLY hitting the VC... and I kinda think it sends a positive message to indie developers, in a way, with how open and free Nintendo is, as a company, with communicating to fans and those just trying to see a game's release.


EDIT: also I just really wanna play the damn thing on my 3DS and/ or Wii U

Posted by

thefly

on: 04/23/13, 18:09

Edited:

04/23/13, 18:10

@Zero

How is it unprofessional to hire an independent contractor to work on a one-time project? Companies do it all the time. The guy is a professional translator, not just someone off the street. If they were to hire him or another professional translator and pay him to do the job, no one would question it whatsoever or even realize that it happened. I don't see how removing compensation from that perfectly standard picture would change anything in the slightest. I also think you're underestimating the good press Nintendo would get for being flexible in order to appease fans.

But let's assume that they would look unprofessional amongst the small amount of people who would even know what happened. In what way would that hurt them? Do you honestly think it would affect sales of other games or their stock price or anything tangible whatsoever? Using a real example, do you think Capcom will somehow be hurt by re-appropriating these fan-made games?

Admittedly, we know very little about what goes into Nintendo's decision making for releasing games on Virtual Console. GBA Virtual Console doesn't even exist yet so maybe they're planning on releasing it anyway, using their own translation. Perhaps they'll only do if Earthbound sells well. Whatever the case they're going to weigh the decision of whether sales of the game will justify the cost of localizing the game, testing it and distributing it online. What I'm getting at is that you can imagine a situation where Nintendo not having to use their own employees or pay an independent contractor would tip the scales towards releasing the game in the US. If that was the case, I do not understand why they would choose "looking professional" over making money.

Posted by

Jargon

on: 04/23/13, 19:21

@NinSage You know, for multiple paragraphs, that sure was an extremely vague explanation of why you think what you think.

Posted by

Xbob42

on: 04/23/13, 19:40