![]() The English translation was completed in 1990, and it looked as though Mother would see a North American release under the name Earth Bound, but it was not to be, for the impending release of the Super NES dissuaded the executives from taking a risk with it until it was canceled outright. Itoi being entirely unknown in the United States. Shortly after the success Mother found in Japan, Nintendo made efforts to localize it overseas despite Mr. To this day, Mother remains a beloved classic and regularly places in polls regarding the best games ever made. It wasn’t just kids who had good things to say about Mother either it had a cross-generational appeal which helped it become a hit with adults as well. Aside from a few balancing issues, development of Mother went smoothly, and the game was released in 1989 to a warm reception with reviewers unanimously praising its unique qualities. The first was to pay tribute to John Lennon’s song of the same name, saying that it made him cry the first time he listened to it while the second was to grant his game an atypical title to differentiate it from the numerous “quests,” “legends,” and “stories” floating around. Itoi chose “ Mother.” There was a twofold reason behind this decision. He employed a skilled visual artist and two composers, one of whom was Keiichi Suzuki, a personal friend and the leader an alternative rock band called Moonriders. Itoi spared no expense to make sure that his game would match his vision. This resulted in another phone call from Mr. However, Nintendo’s CEO, Hiroshi Yamauchi, felt games lacked innovation in recent years, and that someone with such an impressive repertoire would provide a perfect solution to the problem. Miyamoto remained skeptical, thinking that it was a case of a celebrity making a game for its own sake and rejected the idea. Itoi realized this would be his only chance to convince Nintendo to help him make his game. Itoi was interviewed by none other than Shigeru Miyamoto, the creative mind behind Super Mario Bros. ![]() Itoi took this opportunity to mention his project, and to his amazement, the correspondent of this rapidly growing company seemed interested. One day, he received a phone call from Nintendo about the ad campaign for Square’s 1987 dating simulator, Miho Nakayama’s Heartbeat High School. ![]() There was just one problem: he had no idea to whom he could propose his idea. In 1987, he had an idea for a video game, believing that the medium’s unique qualities could be used to explore new avenues of storytelling. During all of this, he noticed a trend that was becoming increasingly popular by the day: video games. He held a satirical column, and wrote songs for other artists, and co-authored a collection of short stories with Haruki Marukami, who would later pen Kafka on the Shore. Itoi wasn’t content to limit himself to a single profession, however, and often dabbled in various fields. His fame was such that he was even solicited by the famous studio, Ghibli, whereupon he helped promote the works of Hayao Miyazaki, considered by many to be one of the greatest animators in history. ![]() One of his most notable successes was his 1983 slogan for a Seibu department store advertisement, “Tasteful Life.” It broke new ground and featured Woody Allen, who was unknown to the Japanese at the time. He became known for his strange, yet concise writing style. In the eighties, a man named Shigesato Itoi rose to prominence as a prolific copywriter, a profession which encompasses a wide range of activities from coming up with catchphrases to conceiving marketing campaigns.
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