Mother Creator Shigesato Itoi Does A Master Class In Trolling

Shortly before yesterday’s Nintendo Direct, Mother creator Shigesato Itoi tweeted, causing speculation to go wild.

Itoi retweeted the Nintendo Direct tweet, adding the extra info that it might be snowing at 7 in the morning. The tweet went on to receive nearly two thousand retweets and almost thirteen thousand likes.

朝7時って、すごいな。雪が降ってるかもしれない。 https://t.co/TQk985WDqp

— 糸井 重里 (@itoi_shigesato) February 9, 2022

What could this mean? Is Mother coming to the Nintendo Switch? What about its sequel? And Mother 3? Fans took to Twitter and some game sites even articles about The Tweet.

Itoi followed up his original tweet with another, writing, “Getting lots of reaction in foreign languages from this tweet. Are people that interested in snow?”

このツイートに外国語の反響がずいぶん来ているのだけれど、そんなに雪の話題に関心があるのだろうか。 https://t.co/toRlyjfzFc

— 糸井 重里 (@itoi_shigesato) February 9, 2022

It’s not snow they’re interested in! Well played sir.

Of course, we ended up hearing that EarthBound: Beginnings and Earthbound (Mother 1 and Mother 2) are heading to the Nintendo Switch Online, making both games playable on the console for the very first time.

最高にうれしいお知らせです。『MOTHER』と『MOTHER2』がNintendo Switch Onlineで遊べるようになりました！ もう配信ははじまっています。待ちに待ったこの日に、糸井重里から『MOTHER』ファンのみなさまへごあいさつを。 pic.twitter.com/uXGwR8pstK

— ほぼ日MOTHERプロジェクト (@hobonichimother) February 9, 2022

It’s amazing how much interest and hype surrounds Mother after all these years. Cherish these beloved games, because going on what Itoi has previously said, that’s all we’re getting.

In a 2015 interview, Itoi told Game Impress Watch that making a new Mother game was “totally impossible.” Which sounds like a very firm “no” to the question if Mother 4 was going to ever happen.

“Among big-time pop stars, if they, you know, put out ten albums, around the fourth album, they can’t make very good songs,” he explained at the time. “The albums sell, but everyone at the concerts wants to hear songs from those first three albums. Everyone.”

“I’m glad that video games are not my profession,” added Itoi, who is a copywriter by trade. “If it was my job, I would’ve already made 4 and 5.”

We’ll have to settle with the first two games coming to Nintendo Switch Online. But never settle on Nintendo’s refusal to localise Mother 3!