Talk:Mother (video game series)/Archive 1

This is an archive of past discussions about Mother (video game series). Do not edit the contents of this page. If you wish to start a new discussion or revive an old one, please do so on the current talk page.

Now that Mother 1 + 2 has been released with some elements from the English prototype that were not included in the Japanese Famicom release, I think it's time to put the rumors that the English prototype was a hoax to rest. (The only example that I can think of off the top of my head involves expanded scenes in the ending; EB/Mother fansites will have more info.) Kufat 02:54, 4 March 2006 (UTC)

"EarthBound, known in Japan as Mother 2, is a role-playing game series created by Shigesato Itoi for Nintendo." It should say "EarthBound, known in Japan as MOTHER, is a role-playing game series created by Shigesato Itoi for Nintendo." —Preceding unsigned comment added by 122.107.201.24 (talk) 22:41, 29 April 2011 (UTC)

Changed it to Nintendo Official Magazine because that's what it's actually called.

This section only has one senctence, which is speculation, that isn't already in the article. I think it should be deleted entirely. Anyone else agree?XXDucky21Xx 18:18, 24 December 2006 (UTC)

Not to mention that they're not even games. There could be another header outside of the "Games" section that discusses them in more detail (and I think that that would be nice, personally), but it either needs to be that or removal until someone does. Dfsghjkgfhdg (talk) 02:56, 17 February 2008 (UTC)

I believe that the statement within the article that proclaims that the three games are "stand-alone" should be revised.

Giygas (Giegue) is the final villain in Mother 1 and 2, and Pokey Minch is in Mother 2 and 3 —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 216.212.255.30 (talk) 17:25, 11 May 2007 (UTC).

They are in three seperate worlds but they follow common themes. Think Final Fantasy. 74.194.27.245 (talk) 06:20, 25 April 2008 (UTC)

The games are definately not stand-alone. I think this should be changed. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 67.49.103.120 (talk) 17:24, 5 June 2009 (UTC)

Are we really sure we should be putting rumors about Flint possibly appearing in Smash Bros. Brawl in the article? I'm pretty sure that rumors aren't concrete information.

No Wikipedia should not have ANY speculation, so no he should NOT be said to appear in Brawl. And it says Ness will come be in Brawl, but he hasn't been confirmed, so I am deleting it.AlexanderLD 10:23, 10 August 2007 (UTC)

there were songs that had vocals should we put them i think all of them were sung by ebichiri —Preceding unsigned comment added by Sonicflames (talk • contribs) 08:20, 22 September 2007 (UTC)

EarthBound is but one game in a series of three, so I don't think it's entirely appropriate to name the series after the one game; furthermore, the series is addressed as the Mother series on the Super Smash Bros. Brawl website, so even Nintendo is addressing it as such. PeanutCheeseBar 15:30, 3 November 2007 (UTC)

I agree. They were planning on releasing Mother 1 as "Earth Bound" and Mother 3 (on the N64) as EarthBound 64, though. Shouldn't we always capitalize it as MOTHER, too? I've never seen it written as "Mother" on Japanese sites. -- Tenks (talk) 04:34, 15 December 2007 (UTC)

I also would support making it "Mother (series)". Mother is the title covering all three games. Tenks, as for all-caps, the Manual of Style says not to. See MOS:JP and MOS:CAPS. --朝彦 (Asahiko) (talk) 06:08, 15 December 2007 (UTC)

I also believe the series should be called Mother. No official sources even call it (the series, not the one game) Earthbound anymore, and the only thing that's ever officially been called Earthbound is the second game in the series, so why should it be used?206.132.133.129 (talk) 14:07, 9 January 2008 (UTC)

Image:Mother3 01.gif is being used on this article. I notice the image page specifies that the image is being used under fair use but there is no explanation or rationale as to why its use in this Wikipedia article constitutes fair use. In addition to the boilerplate fair use template, you must also write out on the image description page a specific explanation or rationale for why using this image in each article is consistent with fair use.

Please go to the image description page and edit it to include a fair use rationale. Using one of the templates at Wikipedia:Fair use rationale guideline is an easy way to insure that your image is in compliance with Wikipedia policy, but remember that you must complete the template. Do not simply insert a blank template on an image page.

If there is other fair use media, consider checking that you have specified the fair use rationale on the other images used on this page. Note that any fair use images lacking such an explanation can be deleted one week after being tagged, as described on criteria for speedy deletion. If you have any questions please ask them at the Media copyright questions page. Thank you.

BetacommandBot (talk) 04:09, 2 January 2008 (UTC)

I refer to this line at the beginning of the article:

Like the Final Fantasy series, the Mother games are not a sequential series, but rather three "stand alone" games that feature some common characters, themes, and settings.

They're not exactly standalone. The first and second games share a common boss and the last game contains a boss that is just an NPC from the previous game. So elements carry over in a canonical manner, unlike the Final Fantasy series which does not (except for FFX-2). If anything, it's more like the Legend of Zelda series which technically takes place in the same universe and timeline but with heroes and enemies that are mostly so disconnected that they seem unrelated until a closer inspection. DRaGZ (talk) 15:43, 25 February 2008 (UTC)

OK, under External Links I put Starmen.Net. That site is very professional, and the only true EarthBound fan site I can find. They have thorough information, reports, and all sorts of stuff- like the Kirby's Rainbow Resort and The Mushroom Kingdom for EarthBound's fandom.

And the link was removed and told me something a bit unreasonable. I don't get it! If you go to Starmen.Net, you'll see that it makes for a good External Link, but why was it removed then...? 76.175.116.65 (talk) 20:52, 21 July 2008 (UTC)

I have noticed that the link has been removed and restored quite a few times since it was first included - Shouldn't we take a consensus to determine the legitimacy of linking to the site? Silver Streak (talk) 21:19, 1 October 2008 (UTC)

The link should remain. The site is a very good resource for the game/series. 70.177.6.84 (talk) 05:13, 14 October 2008 (UTC) I restored it.Winfredtheforth (talk) 04:04, 13 September 2014 (UTC)

There is no such English name as Mother.

If we don't look at Japan, the series is predominantly known as EarthBound. Even Mother 3 is labeled under EarthBound because of the fact that in America, that's what we got. And when we got the Mother translation, it was referred to as EarthBound 0. The fact of the matter is that using the Japanese name just makes it confusing, and that EarthBound is the only name the majority of people would ever recognize as the name for this series. - A Link to the Past (talk) 00:04, 13 March 2008 (UTC)

There has never been a series called "Earthbound", only a single game. There is no evidence to suggest that the name "Earthbound" applies to any game except the one known as "Mother 2" in Japan. "Earthbound 0" is a fan-made name; neither Mother nor Mother 3 have ever had official English releases. To the Western audience, there is no series, only Earthbound. Axem Titanium (talk) 00:02, 14 March 2008 (UTC)

1. IGN, GameSpot, 1UP, GameSpy, and others use EarthBound to describe the series.
2. Super Smash Bros. Brawl refers to the series as EarthBound (with Mother in quotations), and puts Lucas, New Pork City, and Porky Statue under that series. SSBB was translated by Nintendo of America.
3. And, yes, there is. Mother is very well-known, and the rom that got leaked across the internet was known as EarthBound 0. This is a well-known name, as evident by the fact that IGN labels one of Mother's alternate names as EarthBound 0. It's also one of the most popular aspects of emulation, as it's an impossible-to-play (for non-Japanese speaking people) outside of this emulation, and is convenient to play in the emulation.
4. Mother 3's name on the N64 before it was cancelled was EarthBound 64, indicating Nintendo's intent to call the series EarthBound.

So, Nintendo of America considers the series to be known as EarthBound, but yet, you say that no such series exists? - A Link to the Past (talk) 01:56, 14 March 2008 (UTC)

And before you say that EarthBound 0 cannot count because it's a fan-made name, so what? If a fan-made name is shown to be notable, then it's notable. Being fan-made and being notable are two different things altogether. - A Link to the Past (talk) 01:58, 14 March 2008 (UTC)

Problem resolved --Ryu-chan (Talk | Contributions) 17:00, 14 March 2008 (UTC)

This doesn't seem like proper naming convention. -- Tenks (talk) 17:11, 14 March 2008 (UTC)

I reverted it. However, let it be known that I cleanly established that not only is EarthBound the only English name that could be applied to the series, it is also a viable English name for the series. It is foolish to say that fan-made names such as EarthBound 0 and EarthBound 2 are not worth mentioning because they were fan-made. They are clearly well-known, and even major web sites such as IGN acknowledge not their actual legitimacy, but rather their legitimacy in the eyes of those who were aware of it. Its English translation is extremely well-known amongst both the series' fan base and emulation circles, as well as major web sites and magazines. - A Link to the Past (talk) 17:39, 14 March 2008 (UTC)

IGN and GameSpot both seem to use 'Mother series' moreso than 'EarthBound series'. IGN may acknowledge the name "EarthBound 0" (even though it should be EarthBound Zero), but they still primarily use Mother. Super Smash Bros. Brawl also refers to the Kirby series as "Kirby Super Star", so I guess we should rename the Kirby series article, too. -- Tenks (talk) 19:01, 14 March 2008 (UTC)

Your logic of using Kirby Super Star banks on the notion that I used SSBB to argue for the series name here. I did not. And I may ask, where did I imply that IGN or GS used EB primarily? I do not dispute this. However, that is terribly irrelevant. We can ascertain that Mother is not an English name by the fact that it has no relevance in English regions. Because of this, we must default to the only logical choice, which becomes EarthBound. You validate my usage of IGN and GameSpot by using my evidence in an attempt to turn it against me, meaning that you acknowledge their legitimacy, meaning them using EarthBound establishes the name's ability to be used in the context of the series, and since there's no other English name, we default to EarthBound. - A Link to the Past (talk) 20:51, 14 March 2008 (UTC)

Alright, so let's move the article. FightingStreet (talk) 20:39, 17 March 2008 (UTC)

If opposition to changing the name has lost interest as they appear to have, then I'm pushing for it to be moved back to EarthBound, the one and only official name for the series. - A Link to the Past (talk) 21:43, 17 March 2008 (UTC)

Mother is the proper name for the series; it is referred to as such by Sakurai on the official Super Smash Bros. Brawl website, and the trophies and stickers obtained in the aforementioned that pertain to the Mother games are listed as being from the Mother games as well, not only from EarthBound. Given that this is coming from Nintendo itself, that's pretty clear indication that the series is Mother, not EarthBound. PeanutCheeseBar (talk) 23:14, 27 March 2008 (UTC)

Let me tell you everything terribly wrong with your argument.

1. Sakurai is not an employee of Nintendo. In any way imaginable.
2. Super Smash Bros. Brawl calls the series EarthBound, with Mother in parenthesis, which means the Dojo argument doesn't have any merit at all.
3. The stickers state which game the stickers came from, not what series they came from.
4. New Pork City and Onett are both placed under the group of "EarthBound" in the Stage Select screen. Some stages state specific games they come from (such as Bridge of Eldin from Twilight Princess and Pirate Ship from The Wind Waker), others state the series they're from. Sakurai does not to that for these stages - it gives a broad series for them, calling it EarthBound. - A Link to the Past (talk) 22:17, 28 March 2008 (UTC)

Unfortunately, you failed to consider a few things:

• Sakurai was an employee of HAL Laboratory, which did create the Mother series, and has always referred to it as such.
• Given that The Dojo is representative of Brawl and that both the site and Brawl are endorsed by Nintendo as "official", it can be safely assumed that the proper name is Mother, since the writers for the site would have localized the name from Mother to EarthBound if your argument held true.
• Given that some stages reference a specific game and some do not, you cannot hold them all to the same standard in reference to a specific game or series. New Pork City was not explicitly in EarthBound, though for the sake of simplicity they likely renamed it.

Unless Nintendo has specifically published something referring to the series as EarthBound, calling it something otherwise based off of one stage name within a game is also original research. Given that Nintendo has made no effort to correct Sakurai, it's safe to assume that this is endorsed by Nintendo. PeanutCheeseBar (talk) 16:02, 29 March 2008 (UTC)

1. APE, Inc. made EarthBound. Sakurai never worked with APE on anything.
2. Can you read? Why are web site editors more reliable than Nintendo of America translators, which put ALL EarthBound/Mother content under the series title "EarthBound (Mother)"?
3. Dude, it was in the EarthBound series. Why in the world would they group all EarthBound and Mother content under EarthBound?
4. Fun fact - Nintendo of America localized SSBB, Nintendo of America changed it to EarthBound with Mother in parenthesis (to explain the different naming). This means that Nintendo of America confirms the series to be EarthBound. Not only this, but IGN, 1UP, GameSpot, GameSpy - some of the biggest video game web sites ever made - refer to the series as the "EarthBound series". Japan and some Asian countries are the only countries that would call it Mother in the entire world. No English country refers to it as the Mother series, and since no content from the series by the name of Mother have been released, it would do nothing more than create confusion for anyone looking up content about the series. - A Link to the Past (talk) 16:37, 29 March 2008 (UTC)

For starters, making allusions to my literacy are not very nice; please stop with the personal attacks.

1. I am afraid you are wrong; check HAL_Laboratory; Hal (of which Sakurai was part of) did indeed work on the Mother series.
2. They didn't all put them under EarthBound (Mother); demonstrate in print where Nintendo officially refers to the series as such.
3. Content within the game can't really be used, since it constitutes original research.
4. A simple Google search of "IGN EarthBound series" produces results from the IGN website with the series listed as Mother/EarthBound.
5. Anybody who searches for EarthBound will have no problem finding an article on the game (the article is not named Mother 2); subsequently, anybody who knows more about the Mother series than the average EarthBound fan also knows the series is called Mother.
6. As stated several other times before in this discussion, only one game in the series is called EarthBound; using the name of one game to refer to an entire series might cause people to think there are other "EarthBound" games, such as EarthBound 2 (which there is not).

Just because you might think that it makes things easier to find for potential Mother fans does not warrant renaming the series article after one game in the series. PeanutCheeseBar (talk) 19:52, 29 March 2008 (UTC)

1. Okay, I work for McDonalds, so I am an excellent source for anything McDonalds related. If Sakurai didn't make the EB series, his say on the subject is irrelevant.
2. The trophies are under the category EarthBound (Mother). Mother is never described as the name of the series in SSBB. Like, the theory is not even applicable. If you bring up stickers, they don't USE series to label them. They use GAMES. And the only official names for Mother and Mother 3 are MOTHER and MOTHER 3. Every single instance where the EarthBound series is mentioned, it is either EarthBound, or EarthBound (Mother). It is never, ever, ever Mother or Mother (EarthBound).
3. "Third installment in Shigesato Itoi's "Mother" roleplaying game series, known in the west as EarthBound." Taken directly from Mother 3's IGN page. Fun fact: This means that IGN considers M3 to fall under the "EarthBound series".
4. Oh, right, I forgot - Wikipedia exists to be convenient for fans, rather than the one group of people who would look up this article to learn about the series.
5. Are you prepared to argue that in order for a series to have a certain name, all of the entries in that series need to be the same? That's never been a convention held up by any sane individual.
6. Just because in a Japanese-speaking country, Mother is used, doesn't change the fact that the official series title for EarthBound is the official series title for EarthBound. Mother is not an English title for the series, and I've established that not only did Nintendo of America's localization team establish the series name as EarthBound - grouping all Mother and EarthBound content under the EarthBound series title. Why is NoA not Nintendo now? Why is an official game, an official translation, from the only American Nintendo branch, why is that not good enough? Oh, right, you want to add conditions. Let me guess, has to be from Nintendo of Zimbabwe, and the series title has to say, exactly, "EarthBound, not Mother, is the series title, you got that dudes?" If you cannot explain to me where Mother is used as the official English series title by Nintendo, if you cannot explain to me why you can use the official SSBB web site to argue Mother's the official English title, but I cannot use the official SSBB video game to argue EarthBound's the official English title, then you should stop opposing the move. You haven't established that Mother is an English title for the series, and yet I've established that EarthBound not only is the official English title as per Nintendo's own decision, but is also accepted by the biggest video game web sites in the Internet's history as the English title. Why is EarthBound not the official English title? Why? - A Link to the Past (talk) 20:55, 29 March 2008 (UTC)

Unfortunately, just because you work in a certain field, does not mean you are entitled or an "expert" on something; given the anonymity of Wikipedia, such claims might be unproven or dubious in nature. Adding in that kind of information without reliable sources constitutes original research, which you already know is a no-no on this site.

As I pointed out from the previous Google search using the terms you inferred, "Mother" comes up as the first reference to the series on IGN, which is a reputable source.

I have yet to see you provide any official documentation or proof from Nintendo that the series is known as EarthBound as opposed to Mother; so far, The Dojo has been generally accepted as a reliable source on this issue, both in the discussion that originally sparked the name change, and this one. To this point, you have not provided irrefutable or sufficient proof that the series name is "EarthBound", and your argument and the points contained within are therefore suspect. You can't use analogies and such logic to try to demonstrate the series name; this is not a mathematical proof; the use of the series name as established by The Dojo stands.PeanutCheeseBar (talk) 21:20, 29 March 2008 (UTC)

What is an expert necessary for? Sakurai working for HAL doesn't make his opinion on what the official name for the series worth more than mine. Working for HAL doesn't make him an expert of games he's never made, especially not games made by APE, Inc. That's like saying the guy who made Yoshi's Island is an expert on Advance Wars, because the creators of both work for Nintendo.

Is there something that prevents you from acknowledging that IGN calls the series "EarthBound"? That I JUST QUOTED THEM SAYING THAT?

If the Dojo argument stands, you lose, because the VIDEO GAME THAT IT'S ABOUT CALLS THE SERIES EARTHBOUND (MOTHER). Why do you keep ignoring that? If you keep ignoring that, I will get administrative intervention. I'm not going to let you clog up the discussion by ignoring the one thing you JUST asked for - Nintendo calling the series EarthBound. At what point does Nintendo of America calling the series EarthBound in Smash Bros. Brawl not count? Why do you both ignore it and refuse to explain why Nintendo of America's actions don't count as an action by Nintendo of America? The Dojo is less reliable than Super Smash Bros. Brawl, which is localized by Nintendo of America. People are hired to make web sites. The guy who made the Zelda web site didn't even know the series very well. However, the people who localized the game are Nintendo employees. Employees of Nintendo are Nintendo - they localized the game. An entire localization team has established the series name, the official English series name, as EarthBound. Can you PLEASE ANSWER why Nintendo is not a good source of the official English title for the series? All you care about is dragging this out, ignoring all evidence, and hoping no one cares enough to point out that your argument is a load of crap. If you try that anymore, and continue to ignore the fact that Nintendo said EarthBound was the series title in SSBB, I will seek an RfC to end this discussion - I doubt people wouldn't look at you violating naming conventions at every moment in this discussion and decide at the drop of a hat that your argument is full of hot air. You've not established that Nintendo doesn't consider it the series title, that Nintendo never planned to use EarthBound as the series title, or that the gaming public does not consider the series to be EarthBound. So why do we ignore naming conventions in light of the fact that Mother isn't an English name, and that EarthBound has indeed been established as an official, appropriate English name? At no point is it not. You can't explain why the title isn't appropriate besides the Dojo, which is certainly not more official than Nintendo of America's localization team. - A Link to the Past (talk) 21:39, 29 March 2008 (UTC)

You seem to be getting quite upset by this; I suggest taking a Wikibreak or resuming your retirement, since this subject seems to have caused you considerable distress. Also, making threats, asserting your "superiority", and telling people "they lose" is quite uncivil; I will ask that you please refrain from doing so. As previously mentioned, you have not provided any documentation or proof that Nintendo has established "EarthBound" as the name of the series, only arguments that indirectly compare things which have no relation. Please also note that making an RfC in the beginning would have been more appropriate, and would have enhanced the discussion then; you do not use it as a last resort just to "get your way" or "win". PeanutCheeseBar (talk) 22:11, 29 March 2008 (UTC)

I suggest you stop being a troll and ignoring all guidelines and evidence provided that destroys your argument. Why do you constantly refuse to answer my question? Is SSBB not documentation all of a sudden? - A Link to the Past (talk) 22:16, 29 March 2008 (UTC)

I would note that name calling is uncivil as well, and will ask you one last time to please refrain from incivility and making changes to the article until a consensus has been reached. PeanutCheeseBar (talk) 22:40, 29 March 2008 (UTC)

I must remind you that if you do not participate in the discussion with anything worth noting, you are no longer a part of the discussion. Until you respond to my evidence provided, I do not acknowledge any merit in your opposition, as any opposition from you ignores the fact that I fulfilled your condition - I provided documentation that Nintendo of America approves EarthBound as the series name, and none of your responses to me have ever acknowledged that I ever presented that evidence. - A Link to the Past (talk) 23:27, 29 March 2008 (UTC)

ALttP, I am afraid you have not provided adequate documentation; you made the redirect simply because whatever other users did not respond in for a few days, you did not initially take the issue to RfC (only threatening to do so because you did not like the direction this discussion had gone in), and you salted the old Mother (series) page in an attempt to stop others from undoing your edits rather than keeping the page as it was initially (which is normal procedure when a controversial edit is under discussion). In addition to the above you have also violated Wikipedia:3RR. Please stop making nonconstructive edits. PeanutCheeseBar (talk) 00:05, 30 March 2008 (UTC)

I'm STILL waiting why the SSBB web site is adequate documentation, but the SSBB video game is not. If you do not explain this, then I will henceforth ignore your opposition in any further discussion about this, since you are being uncooperative and are creating unnecessary tension by ignoring people, which any logical person knows creates the tension.

And, ironically, you made an nonconstructive edit - your response - to tell me to stop speaking the truth. Oh, and by the way, you violated WP:3RR by reverting constantly. 3RR is not necessarily exceeding three reverts, it is constantly reverting something. By the fact that you advocate 3RR, you acknowledge you knew that you violated it. I reverted your redirect because you had to prove your case to do so. And let me ask, why would people be unable to oppose it after it was moved? Nothing I did or said prevented them from doing it. They clearly lost interest. They can't leave a discussion and trust that their opposition will still remain, even though the discussion can't continue without them. Once they abandoned the discussion, the discussion was over. They were never "banned" from disputing the move, but they never disputed it after that.

I reiterate, you're not allowed to call "your evidence isn't good enough" an argument. Why isn't my evidence good enough? There has to be some reason why you won't tell me. - A Link to the Past (talk) 00:16, 30 March 2008 (UTC)

You did not provide evidence, only hyperbole; also, as noted, no consensus was reached in order for you to make the move. I don't want to say that I was reverting vandalism, but given that you ignored all other arguments and even kind requests to take a break, I am afraid that is essentially what was being done. You did not reflect the change across the pages for the other Mother games, and simply took advantage of a flaw in Wikipedia to prevent anybody from reverting you. PeanutCheeseBar (talk) 00:24, 30 March 2008 (UTC)

I guess you don't care about being a quality Wikipedian by any definition of the word.

How is it hyperbole? I'm sick of you trying to win by dancing around reality. You tell me - right now - why the Hell my indisputable facts are hyperbole. You are a troll. My evidence is the SAME AS YOURS. You provided evidence from Nate Bihldorff, I provided evidence from Nate Bihldorff. You provided him calling the series Mother on the Dojo ONCE, I provided him calling the series EarthBound 100% of the time. Why is your evidence not hyperbole as well? And respond without your typical dancing around and vague descriptors of my evidence. - A Link to the Past (talk) 00:35, 30 March 2008 (UTC)

Just a comment. The Dojo is translated by Nate Bihldorff, who is an employee of NoA (and producer for Brawl). It's not less reliable than the game. And if you do decide to change the article name can you please edit the article so that it reflects the name change? Kind of pointless to change the name when everywhere else in the article is still calling it Mother. -- Tenks (talk) 22:22, 29 March 2008 (UTC)

Assuming that's true, that means that in the web site, he uses Mother, and in the game, he uses EarthBound, which is certainly more reliable than the web site. - A Link to the Past (talk) 22:25, 29 March 2008 (UTC)

Why is the game more reliable than the website? If the name of the series is actually EarthBound why did they put Mother in brackets at all? -- Tenks (talk) 00:33, 30 March 2008 (UTC)

Because the game is localized by many, many more people. It has more oversight. The web site is translated by a small, very small group of people, possibly only localized by one person. And they call it Mother as well to alleviate confusion, to explain what Mother and Mother 3 are.

If EarthBound wasn't the official series, they wouldn't have called it EarthBound. If Mother was the official title (as the argument of the Dojo implies), it would have been given priority over EarthBound - EarthBound would have been given priority. And on top of that, why did they put New Pork City under the "EarthBound series of stages", if that was not the series? They could have put it under Mother, but nope, they went with EarthBound. - A Link to the Past (talk) 00:45, 30 March 2008 (UTC)

Thanks to Kung Fu Man, I have found evidence of EarthBound being the series title by looking at this link, which refers to the two Onett songs in Brawl, as EarthBound-related, even though one of the songs is from Mother.

This, on top of Brawl using EarthBound (Mother) for trophies and EarthBound for stages, is pretty good documentation of EarthBound as an official English series. And since you support the Dojo for your argument, you automatically approve my usage of it. - A Link to the Past (talk) 02:36, 30 March 2008 (UTC)

There's this as well, Nintendo's Consolidated Financial Highlights from their own website. If you look you'll clearly see a game by the name "Earthbound 3" in there.--Kung Fu Man (talk) 03:15, 30 March 2008 (UTC)

Oh, that's a nice trump card. Bones, man. - A Link to the Past (talk) 03:25, 30 March 2008 (UTC)

It is a small request but the series template is currently titled Telplate:Mother Series. I think for consitsty sake it should be moved to Template:EarthBound Series. Could someone plase move it. --76.66.185.70 (talk) 20:46, 30 March 2008 (UTC)

They way I see it is that Nintendo has made a mistake with the naming in SSBB. Also, if you check the dojo, on the trophy list, they plainly refer the the "Mother Series". The site also makes no mention of an "EarthBound Series". The fact also remains that only one game was ever released and named EarthBound, while three games have been in the "MOTHER" series; therefore, at this point in time, no EarthBound series exists. If Nintendo decides to release MOTHER 3 in North America as "EarthBound 2", that's a different matter. By the way, there was no game called "EarthBound 3", so that's another example of a Nintendo mistake. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 72.161.202.130 (talk) 07:12, 4 May 2008 (UTC)

I think everything that supports your argument just made a mistake with calling it Mother. I win. - A Link to the Past (talk) 15:57, 4 May 2008 (UTC)

Assuming you're familiar with Zelda theorizing, you should know that the most reliable source of canon comes from the original game that was released. When Nintendo released the series, they named the games "MOTHER". They named one game "EarthBound". 72.161.205.104 (talk) 19:17, 4 May 2008 (UTC)

Um, no? In America, Mother has no relevance. Nintendo called Mother 3 EarthBound 3 (or EarthBound 2, don't recall which) on their statistics report. So is Nintendo lying to us? - A Link to the Past (talk) 23:49, 4 May 2008 (UTC)

They called it "EarthBound 3". MOTHER was going to be called "Earth Bound", but due to its cancellation, Nintendo decided to name MOTHER 2 "EarthBound". MOTHER 3 is referred to by fans as "EarthBound 2", although this is not an official Nintendo name as MOTHER 3 was never released outside Japan. In order to have an EarthBound 3, there would have to be a MOTHER 4, which there isn't, so...

And would you please tell me how it can be referred to as the "EarthBound series" when there was only one game called EarthBound? If you're still confused, I suggest you try the following link: http://www.answers.com/series&r=67 72.161.205.104 (talk) 01:52, 5 May 2008 (UTC)

Yes, the owners of the EarthBound license flat-out established that EarthBound is an applicable name to Mother 3. In order to have an EarthBound 3, Nintendo has to establish its validity. Does Nintendo having established its validity get magicked away because you say so?

And I didn't realize that Nintendo calling Mother 3 "EarthBound 3" doesn't count. I guess Nintendo is a bad source for Nintendo content now? - A Link to the Past (talk) 02:24, 5 May 2008 (UTC)

You're still ignoring my question. How it can be referred to as the "EarthBound series" when there was only one game called EarthBound? Also, could you give us a link to the article in which the EarthBound owners established that MOTHER 3 can officially be called EarthBound 2? 72.161.205.104 (talk) 02:43, 5 May 2008 (UTC)

So when I stated that Nintendo called it EarthBound 3, only EB is called EB? Yeah, sorry, I forgot logic ceased to exist. And if you actually read this discussion, you'd have seen the link. [1] - A Link to the Past (talk) 02:51, 5 May 2008 (UTC)

You're still ignoring my question. How it can be referred to as the "EarthBound series" when there was only one game called EarthBound? Okay, so if Nintendo defies logic and decides to call their series "EarthBound", then are you going to agree with them, forsaking what is, by logical reasoning, correct? 72.161.205.104 (talk) 03:00, 5 May 2008 (UTC)

Just curious, how can Nintendo defy the logic that only they themselves can define? Have they ever defined that EarthBound isn't the series title? *drum roll* No. Has Nintendo, the owner of 100% of all content EarthBound-related, called Mother 3 "EarthBound 3"? Yes. If you can't establish as calling EB the series title illogical, and the only way to do that is to have Nintendo establish such a thing, then you can't say that they "defy logic". You can't just make up your own logic, logic unsupported by any single employee of any division of Nintendo, and demand that it be followed. Am I to understand that Nintendo is unable to call Mother 3 EarthBound 3? So logically, they would be unable to call ANY game in the series EarthBound besides the SNES one, despite the fact that such a thing is, beyond any shadow of a doubt, incorrect and a laugh riot. - A Link to the Past (talk) 03:16, 5 May 2008 (UTC)

As almighty as Nintendo is, no, they cannot write logic, nor can they change the definition of the word "series". Apparently you still haven't found out what the aforementioned word means. And by the way, YOU'RE STILL IGNORING MY QUESTION. HOW CAN IT BE REFERRED TO AS THE "EARTHBOUND SERIES" WHEN THERE WAS ONLY ONE GAME CALLED EARTHBOUND? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 72.161.205.104 (talk) 03:50, 5 May 2008 (UTC)

Nintendo calling Mother 3 "EarthBound 3" is an official name. God forbid Nintendo say "okay, since gamers wouldn't recognize Mother, we'll call it EarthBound".

Why don't you ever explain why the owner of the series is unable to call the series what they want. By law, they are the ONLY people who can define the name of the series. And why do you keep asking me that question, as if I'm the one who owns EarthBound? Who knows why Nintendo did it? I have no idea. The fact is that Nintendo did do it. That's the number one reason - Nintendo recognizes it as the official English name. The reason the series is referred to as the EarthBound series is that Nintendo, who is well within their right to apply ANY word that they can legally apply to the series, applied the name EarthBound to the series. I fail to grasp why this is so hard to comprehend. The only way to make that irrelevant is to prove Nintendo as a bad source for Nintendo info. - A Link to the Past (talk) 04:01, 5 May 2008 (UTC)

Mother 3 was never called Earthbound 3. Mother 3 for the 64 was called 'Earthbound 64'. Mother (1) was going to be released under 'Earth Bound'. Although these games were never released, I think it's notable since Earthbound is not the only game under that name.

Also, just a note, from what I see, in the Earthbound/Mother community, Earthbound refers to the english version of the game and Mother to the Japanese. People discuss differences between Earth Bound (0) and Mother. In SSBB, Mother (the game) is referred to as Mother. Why? Because it's talking about the Japanese game. Not the American one. Same with mother 3 (although there really is no real egnlish name for Mother 3. I've never heard it being called Earthbound 3. That would imply that there was an Earthbound 2. Earth Bound is the name for Mother. It has a space. EarthBound is the sequel. Earthbound 2 (64?) is the sequel to the sequel. Yea. Just a stupid note). Neobinary (talk) 03:02, 6 May 2008 (UTC) Wow, four tildes.

I don't recall Nintendo ever calling it the 'EarthBound' series. In Brawl, it was listed under EarthBound (Mother). The stages within Brawl does say EarthBound and when looking at the song test, it either says Mother, EarthBound, and Mother 3. On the Onett stage, they even have a song called Mother 2 in it. As you know, wikipedia is an encyclopedia. That means no what-ifs or fan-terms. Mother isn't called EarthBound 0 and Mother 3 isn't called EarthBound 2 or 3. they're called their respective titles, Mother and Mother 3. As stated before by many, if it's only the name of one game, so it's can't be a series. And because none of the others weren't officially called EarthBound, it doesn't really count now does it? If Nintendo really does officially call it the EarthBound series, I want proof. Plus, Nintendo's been using the name Mother more and more in recent games. --Ryu-chan (Talk | Contributions) 17:04, 8 May 2008 (UTC)

I strongly suggest you read a single iota of content in this entire section before involving yourself in it. How many times must I re-link to Nintendo.com's report where they refer to Mother 3 as EarthBound 3? And how many times must I explain that no Wikipedia guideline or policy prevents fan content from being mentioned? It doesn't matter that the title is unofficial, only that it's NOTABLE. Did IGN, GameSpot, IGN, GameSpy, and all the other major sources who make reference to this title on Mother's game page suddenly become unreliable? And may I add that at this point, all you are able to establish is Mother's relevance in English? But that you are unable to further establish that it's the more common English usage of the series? Mother pretty much automatically fails by not being the most common official English title. - A Link to the Past (talk) 17:28, 8 May 2008 (UTC)

And um, yeah, that stuff I mentioned. You know, how Mother 1's english name was going to be Earth Bound. This is OFFICIAL, people. It's not even fan-made. No one can argue that there is only one game in the series named EarthBound - Earthbound 0 is officially Earth Bound. The early Mother 3 was Earthbound 64. They are facts. Neobinary (talk) 02:06, 13 May 2008 (UTC)

True, although, the NES Earthbound (Mother) was never officialy released in America. So, that doesn't really count, does it? Cabbage-Sama (talk) 19:20, 18 May 2008

Nintendo of America lists the games "Mother", "EarthBound", and "Mother 3" as part of the "EarthBound (Mother) series". Nintendo.com's report is the ONLY instance of "EarthBound 3", and it makes no sence since they haven't copyrighted that name so why would they use that name just that once. They only copyrighted "Mother", "Mother 1+2" and "EarthBound". According to Nintendo of America, the series is the "EarthBound (Mother) series" otherwise they wouldn't have said so in Super Smash Brothers Brawl. Although they really don't seem to care very much about the series, so I wouldn't take what they say as official. People have brought up the fact that Mother 3 was going to be called "EarthBound 64", but back then NoA used names like "Ryuka" and "Klaus", but luckily got "Tazmily" correct. And now they're using "Lucas" and "Claus" (they almost used Klaus though), but are incorrectly using "Tazulili". So they're confusing and iconsistant, but their choise to just call it the "EarthBound (Mother) series" makes sence. Unless you ignore the title "EarthBound" and just call it "Mother 2", you can't call it the "Mother series". Also, unless you're going to be stupid and say "Mother" is Japanese (which it is not; it's English) and say "Mother" and "Mother 3" are not well known and are known more often as "EarthBound Zero" and "EarthBound 2/EarthBound 3", then you can't call it the "EarthBound series". Since the title "Mother" IS official (from THE most official source; Shigesato Itoi), it does make sence to call it the "Mother series", but then you would have to ignore the fact that NoA still calls Mother 2 "EarthBound". Why are people arguing so much anyways. What's wrong with compromising with the "official" (if you believe everything NoA says as official) series name; the "EarthBound (Mother) series".Linkdude20002001 (talk) 01:58, 19 May 2008 (UTC)

Since when is one "most reliable source possible on the subject" insufficient? They called it Mother and Mother 3 in SSBB because SSBB doesn't take the practice of renaming titles. The only one was the original FE, and that is being released on the DS, and is in a series that has become more powerful in the US than in Japan. Mother is NOT an official US name. EarthBound (Mother) series' only purpose, at all, is to alleviate confusion as to the different names for the Japan-only games. So you're saying NoA considers it the official name, even though they put EB for the stages?

The fact remains that Mother was OFFICIALLY called EarthBound. Nintendo has given every game in the series they intended to localize the name EarthBound. I don't remember any games called "EarthBound (Mother)", but I do remember Nintendo calling Mother EarthBound, the official translation of the game, one of the most popular translations in the history of translations, featuring the name EarthBound Zero (with the biggest websites on the Internet for the subject acknowledging the title's notability). Nintendo verifiably called the second game EarthBound. Nintendo verifiably called Mother 64 "EarthBound 64". Nintendo verifiably called Mother 3 "EarthBound 3". Nintendo verifiably established that EarthBound is the name of the series. The fact that Nintendo put all EB stages under the name EarthBound proves that EarthBound (Mother) is not the series name, merely to alleviate confusion. 100% of the time Nintendo has ever referred to the series by name, it's the EarthBound series. Mother cannot say the same thing now, can it?

Here's the thing - I have sources. I have sources that establish every single title in the history of the series, save for Mother 1 + 2, having Nintendo officially refer to it as EarthBound. I have sources that Nintendo of America, Europe, and Australia have never once called the series Mother, and if they did, it played backseat to EarthBound. All you have is speculation. "Mother's an English name", "the official name is EarthBound (Mother) because in one instance in time, Nintendo called it that, compared to every other instance where they never mentioned Mother at all", etc. Mother is Japanese. It is the Japanese title. It is not the English title. It is a Japanese title which uses English text. - A Link to the Past (talk) 02:18, 19 May 2008 (UTC)

Actually, in all versions of the Dojo it is specifically called the "Mother series", so there are instances of it being referred to as Mother in Europe.--Tenks (talk) 02:39, 19 May 2008 (UTC)

A translation made by one man, which is cancelled out by the fact that it's never used in the game. - A Link to the Past (talk) 03:00, 19 May 2008 (UTC)

I doubt one man translates it into five different languages. -- Tenks (talk) 03:02, 19 May 2008 (UTC)

I'm PRETTY sure English Wiki doesn't cover anything other than English. The only ones that matter are the UK and NA ones, which use the same basic translation with the exception of different writings (ie color and colour). The fact of the matter is that because SSBB never calls it the "Mother series", it's not an official English name. No English game is called "Mother", while all games except for Mother 1 + 2 (whose English versions are called EarthBound), and I can actually provide sources for this. Wikipedia is all about sources, not truth. If NoA considers the series to be Mother, then why can't anyone establish this? I can establish that they consider EarthBound an appropriate name for ALL games in the series, and have sources to back me up. The one with the most strength to his argument wins.

This discussion has been over for a long, long time. Why can't you get over it? We established that EarthBound (Mother) goes against MoS, because it is not one series name, it is TWO series names, one in parenthesis. We established that Mother (series) is not appropriate, because even if it is an official English name, no one has established that it's more common, and conversely, more helpful to English readers. - A Link to the Past (talk) 03:15, 19 May 2008 (UTC)

Since the release of SSBB, people DO know about the "Mother series". Probably as much as the "EarthBound series". And NoA DID copyright the name "Mother 1+2" AND "Mother", but not "Mother 2" so they probably would have released "Mother 1+2" as "Mother 1+2". They wouldn't have copyrighted it if they weren't going to use it. You seem to think Mother 1+2 doesn't count. Also, in SSBB, it wouldn't work very well if they tried to use both the "Mother" and "EarthBound" logos for the stage. And why is it that a site by NoA like Smash Bros. Dojo should not be taken as official, but a game by NoA should? And what about Nintendo Power? NP ONLY calls "Mother 2" "EarthBound". They use "Mother", "Mother 1+2" and probably "Mother 3". For example, their recent virtual console poll and their little bit of info about "Mother" in a "released in Japan only" section a while ago.Linkdude20002001 (talk) 14:51, 21 May 2008 (UTC)

The fact of the matter is that people who support Mother (series) are demanding that their less convincing argument be used over ours. We give more sources, you give less, and you demand that they be used? - A Link to the Past (talk) 17:22, 21 May 2008 (UTC)

(unindent) While I do think it may be misleading to call it the Earthbound "series", we might not really have much choice. From what I gather, the series as a whole is not called "Earthbound" nor "Mother" and arguments vary between the number of games to the number of sources. As a result, I am more inclined to think that per WP:MOSNAME we should try and find out which name appropriately labels all the games as a whole. I feel that because there's a source which suggests Nintendo calls it "Earthbound", we should use that one. I would also put in a note about how the series doesn't have a name although that sounds very WP:OR-ish. x42bn6 Talk Mess 17:33, 21 May 2008 (UTC)

Sources for NoA using "Mother": 1, NoA copyrighted "Mother"; 2, NoA copyrighted "Mother 1+2" (They also copyrighted Mother 1+2's Japanese text and packaging. Which makes sense considering NoA was almost going to release it in the U.S... probably as "Mother 1+2".); 3, Nintendo Power's preview of Mother 1+2; 4, Nintendo.com had a page for Mother 1+2 (further evidence suggesting NoA was going to release the game as well as keep the title) but it has been removed since then because it wasn't released; 5, Smash Bros Dojo; 6, I'm not sure if this is NP or not.

Sources for NoA using "EarthBound": 1, NoA's financial report; 2, Smash Bros Dojo (only this once though); 3, SSBB using "EarthBound" as the series for the New Pork City stage. Are there any more?

You forgot the fact that Mother was to be called EarthBound. Each game in the series can be legitimately called EarthBound, and absolutely nothing in your Mother sources establishes them as official English games. All we see are that Nintendo of America copyrighted a Nintendo name, that a Japan-only game has been called by its literal name (and that's not evidence that they were going to call it that - they were referring to the Japanese release, not the nonexistent English release), the Dojo is a near-direct translation made by one man. The fact of the matter is that not one source you provided states that Mother is an English name, or that Mother is an English series. - A Link to the Past (talk) 02:21, 22 May 2008 (UTC)

NoA didn't copyright "Mother 2", but instead they copyrighted "EarthBound". If they were just copyrighting games released in Japan, then why not Mother 2 or Mother 3? And If they were going to call Mother 1+2 "EarthBound 1+2" (or something like it), they would have copyrighted that not "Mother 1+2" (on their site at least). Yes Mother was going to be called EarthBound, but apparently it was also at one point going to be "Mother" before changing their minds. And how is NP not official? Plus, NP is not done by only one person. And Nintendo's website had a page for Mother 1+2, but is that not official enough either? They have ALWAYS called it "Mother 1+2", so therefore NoA has also referred to all three games as "Mother". Each game in the series can be legitimately called "Mother".Linkdude20002001 (talk) 05:21, 22 May 2008 (UTC)

Let's say that every single source you provided establishes that Mother is an English name for the series. Can you also establish that there's a single reason to believe calling it Mother is helpful in any way to English readers? EarthBound is being released on the Virtual Console as EarthBound, not Mother 2. There's only one game out in the US, so the average reader would only have that one game to give them an idea of what the series would be called. - A Link to the Past (talk) 06:17, 22 May 2008 (UTC)

Well, I think most people probably know about the series through SSBB because of its popularity. Anyone who has the game should know about "Mother", "EarthBound", and "Mother 3". And just so you know, not everyone actually notices the "EarthBound" logo in stage select. The average reader who knows about EarthBound will also know about Mother. There can't be a tremendous amount of people who know about EarthBound, but not Mother. In fact, it's got to be pretty even. For all we know, more people know about the "Mother series" simply because of Lucas being in SSBB. Lucas is from "Mother 3" and he's a pretty popular character. I've talked to people at school about the game and they know about "Mother 3", not "EarthBound 2" (or 3). I have a friend who has never played EarthBound, but loves Lucas from "Mother 3". He doesn't own SSBB (he played it at his friend's house) so he only knows that Lucas is from Mother 3 and the Mother series. He had never even heard of EarthBound till I told him about the Mother series and how Mother 2 was released as EarthBound in the U.S. Also, just because EarthBound has been rated by ESRB, it isn't proof that it will be released for the virtual console; other games have been rated and have yet to come out. I am hoping for its release though.Linkdude20002001 (talk) 00:48, 23 May 2008 (UTC)

I never said it was being released on the VC. But registering it for a VC release costs money. All games that have been registered will be, in all likelihood, released on it unless they retcon it. If they weren't intending on EB to be called EB in the VC release, they would've called it Mother 2.

And no speculation, please. I said sources. - A Link to the Past (talk) 04:44, 23 May 2008 (UTC)

I agree. NoA isn't going to change the title of the game for it's virtual console release. It is possible but very unlikely. You did say "EarthBound is being released on the Virtual Console as EarthBound, not Mother 2.". I don't really care if it's called the "EarthBound" series. I'd rather it said "Mother series" or "EarthBound (Mother) series", but whatever.Linkdude20002001 (talk) 03:22, 26 May 2008 (UTC)

Is it alright to say "EarthBound (Mother) series" at all? Like, just the first time it's stated in an article so people aren't confused. And is it alright to say "EarthBound (Mother 2)" at all, either? On the article for Mother, it said "The game was later re-released in a compilation with its sequel, EarthBound (Mother 2), on the Game Boy Advance as Mother 1 + 2", the "Mother 2" part has since been removed. I'm think it may confuse readers if it doesn't explain that EarthBound is Mother 2. I mean, Mother plus EarthBound equals Mother 1+2? I think it should be explained.

It's already said in the article: "EarthBound, known in Japan as Mother (MOTHER, Mazā)". (It was "EarthBound (MOTHER, Mazā)" before I edited it for clarity, but it was okay too.) Kariteh (talk) 08:06, 4 June 2008 (UTC)

I meant for the "Mother" article, not "EarthBound (series)" article.Linkdude20002001 (talk) 22:10, 4 June 2008 (UTC)

I think it could mention something like "Earthbound (known in Japan as Mother 2)". Simply putting "Earthbound (Mother 2)" would not be very clear. Kariteh (talk) 22:30, 4 June 2008 (UTC)

That will work. But is it alright to say "EarthBound (Mother) series" in an article? I though the argument was over the title of the "EarthBound (series)" page.Linkdude20002001 (talk) 23:04, 5 June 2008 (UTC)

It would not be very clear. Kariteh (talk) 07:38, 6 June 2008 (UTC)

Should we at least call it "EarthBound (Mother)" in the series template? There's absolutely no explanation there. --(trogga) 13:13, 6 June 2008 (UTC)

Dunno... there was some opposition the last time someone tried. You might want to ask on the VG project talk page to seek a broader consensus. Kariteh (talk) 13:21, 6 June 2008 (UTC)

Oh, and I forgot to mention that SSBB does in fact call it the Mother series, in the trophy for Ness's PK Starstorm. --(trogga) 13:37, 6 June 2008 (UTC)

Why do people say this as if it mattered? Like, I guess all of a sudden being used a whole one time cancels out the fact that being used once isn't exactly IMPORTANT.

Will this debate ever end? Is there some strange reason why people refuse to accept that because they can't establish any reason why "Mother" helps the average reader, the article should not be at this target? - A Link to the Past (talk) 15:46, 6 June 2008 (UTC)

"EarthBound 3" has only been used one time and yet you used it as proof the series is the "EarthBound series" in the U.S. And how about something like "EarthBound series (Mother series is Japan)"? Just saying Mother is part of the EarthBound series makes no sense.Linkdude20002001 (talk) 20:46, 6 June 2008 (UTC)

Linkdude, I think you should really take the time to read the whole discussion that's right above here, before claiming that the resulting consensus makes "no sense". Kariteh (talk) 20:52, 6 June 2008 (UTC)

Can someone just request comments for this so we can end it? I'm not familiar with the process. -- Tenks (talk) 20:52, 6 June 2008 (UTC)

Link to the Past, I'm not really on any side of the issue; I just felt like pointing it out. --(trogga) 22:36, 6 June 2008 (UTC)

Okay, but all that can be said is that the discussion has been over the for the longest time. The side in support of EarthBound has established enough cause to call the series EarthBound, and notwithstanding any game in English being called Mother, it is the only official English name for the series. - A Link to the Past (talk) 22:46, 6 June 2008 (UTC)

Kariteh, I meant that a person who reads the Mother article might become confused if they see something like "Mother, the first game in the EarthBound series" or "Mother was releaed together with EarthBound for the GameBoy Advance game Mother 1+2". I think it should be explain that EarthBound was originally released as Mother 2 in Japan and that the EarthBound series is known the Mother series in Japan so it doesn't confuse readers.Linkdude20002001 (talk) 21:52, 7 June 2008 (UTC)

It's only logical that we change it back to Mother (series) or EarthBound (Mother) series. Because Mother 1 was going to be called "Earth Bound", it shows no relevence because it was never released. It could be considered a what-if scenerio. Plus, there's no source for that. Officially, EarthBound is only on name while Mother is three. The article calling Mother 3, EarthBound 3 was obviously either a mistake or translation error. And both EarthBound 0 and EarthBound 2 are both fan names and unofficialm showing no relevence. So it should go as one of the above. --Ryu-chan (Talk | Contributions) 01:58, 13 June 2008 (UTC)

Have fun proving that Nintendo is wrong. You say that only EB has officially been called EB, Nintendo says all of them have. Do you have any evidence that Nintendo mistakenly called it EarthBound 3? Likely not. Nintendo has officially called each game "EarthBound". Even if they called one of the other games EarthBound, that's enough for a series.

And, from a source at the Mother (video game) article, "On January 15, 1998, an unassuming "for sale" message was posted to the newsgroup rec.games.video.classic. The item offered for sale was a prototype cartridge of the game EarthBound for the Nintendo Entertainment System." Honestly, just get over this. This is the en.wiki. - A Link to the Past (talk) 02:05, 13 June 2008 (UTC)

Though Nintendo of America refers to it as the EarthBound series, usually they put Mother in parentheses. 76.175.116.65 (talk) 16:32, 26 July 2008 (UTC)

Add * Support EarthBound if you agree the article should remain EarthBound (series). Add * Support Mother if you agree the article should be moved to Mother (series). Your vote will not be counted of you don't provide a brief explanation. Also, please sign your name. --Ryu-chan (Talk | Contributions) 15:56, 7 June 2008 (UTC)

• Support Mother

I think it is necessary to rename this to "Mother Series", since only one game was ever released with the name "earthbound". Wyatt8740 (talk) 17:36, 17 March 2013 (UTC)

Just to chip in my thoughts: I hope I can help here. Could anyone answer my questions?

1. Is there any official name of the series that Nintendo or other use? "Mother series", "Earthbound series", etc.?
2. If no, which name is the most common (not official)?

Per WP:MOSNAME, the most common rather than official name should be used. But common not in the sense that X is used more than Y so X should be used.

And also remember that this is the English Wikipedia so if Earthbound is the official name of the English series, then Earthbound should be used unless there's a good reason to do otherwise.

Thanks. x42bn6 Talk Mess 02:19, 13 May 2008 (UTC)

The image Image:Mother battle.png is used in this article under a claim of fair use, but it does not have an adequate explanation for why it meets the requirements for such images when used here. In particular, for each page the image is used on, it must have an explanation linking to that page which explains why it needs to be used on that page. Please check

• That there is a non-free use rationale on the image's description page for the use in this article.
• That this article is linked to from the image description page.

This is an automated notice by FairuseBot. For assistance on the image use policy, see Wikipedia:Media copyright questions. --22:57, 21 September 2008 (UTC)

I disagree with Fairusebot's statement. Seeing if I can edit image summary to prevent bot from adding another postSpitfire19 03:05, 24 October 2008 (UTC)

Sorry if it's been brought up, but considering that only one game in the series has been officially released in English as EarthBound, shouldn't it be called Mother (series)? If there is already a debate with consensus about this, please direct me to it. Thank you. Belasted (talk) 23:43, 30 March 2009 (UTC)

This has been discussed, and it has been determined that EarthBound is appropriate because each game in the series can be referred to as a member of the EarthBound series. Its header is "EarthBound". - The New Age Retro Hippie used Ruler! Now, he can figure out the length of things easily. 05:59, 31 March 2009 (UTC)

Agreeded, the series has never been called Mother in any English speaking country so it should remain at the current title. --76.71.211.229 (talk) 03:14, 9 April 2009 (UTC)

along the same lines here, why is Mother (Series) its own seprate articel, its about all the same games and mentions pretty much the same things. shouldn't these be combined. I really don't see that many differences this mentions how it did in Japan as well as America so does the other one, yet they are separate articles. So yeah, I don't know if that's an oversight or what. (24.22.195.180 (talk) 07:51, 25 June 2009 (UTC))

Same reason why EarthBound and Mother 3 have their own articles. The descriptions on the series page (this one) could be shortened a bit, though. 174.111.82.239 (talk) 06:16, 30 May 2010 (UTC)

If the article is called EarthBound, then Porky needs to be changed to Pokey, just to be consistent. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 67.49.103.120 (talk) 17:28, 5 June 2009 (UTC)

It's the series. The Pokey name was changed to Porky. - The New Age Retro Hippie used Ruler! Now, he can figure out the length of things easily. 21:36, 5 June 2009 (UTC)

Don't you mean it's the other way around (Porky -> Pokey)? —Jeremy ^{(v^_^v Stop... at a WHAMMY!!)} 21:14, 6 January 2010 (UTC)

No; the kana for the character's name in Mother 2 is ポーキー (po^ki^). It was changed to Porky in Mother 3; probably to emphasize the "pig" part, also for comparison to his younger brother, Picky. 174.111.82.239 (talk) 07:09, 30 May 2010 (UTC)

I've noticed some problems: 1. Not enough verifications 2. Not in an encyclopedic tone 3. Filled with Fan Bias, opinions labeled as fact

I think we should stop arguing about the title and fix the actual article. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.105.23.94 (talk) 06:33, 15 June 2009 (UTC)

http://www.destructoid.com/hollywood-working-on-an-earthbound-movie-159552.phtml

Is this for real? - Smashman202 (talk) 21:08, 6 January 2010 (UTC)

From the looks of it, the movie is completely unrelated to any of the Mother games and thus wouldn't be relevant on this article. —Jeremy ^{(v^_^v Stop... at a WHAMMY!!)} 21:13, 6 January 2010 (UTC)

Consensus check to add as external link for this article as well as the individual game articles? People seem to want it, it's a good source for info, and there's nothing that says it cannot not be added. 174.111.82.239 (talk) 07:12, 30 May 2010 (UTC)

You have it labelled as a "fansite", which (by definition) has little or no encyclopedic value. Please remove your spam-link.  -- WikHead (talk) 21:01, 13 April 2011 (UTC)

I read through the prior three threads. Per WP:TITLECHANGES, I'll keep this brief. This article has seen much less activity since that heated debate and there's valid reason to let sleeping dogs lie, but it's clear to me as an outsider to this dialogue that a single editor was passionate enough about a controversial change to outlast >10 challenges and I'd like to respectfully clear the air. By WP:COMMONSENSE, a quick comparison search between "mother series" and "earthbound series" shows the former as the clear common name with three times the results. All RS hits use the former (Kotaku, Gamespy, IGN, etc.), as well as the series' go-to non-RS (EB Wikia, Starmen.net). Again, the game is clearly EB in America, but my case is that, objectively, "Mother series" (no disambiguation) is still the common/popular English term, and common (second ¶) presides in notability over official. Look, I'm really not interested in a war, but I'd like to civilly revisit this issue now that we've given it some space. czar · · 00:00, 21 October 2012 (UTC)

I didn't want to create yet another new section so I'm replying here two years later. I just read through this entire page and now, more than ever, I think it's time to revisit this. Going by popular usage, the series is mentioned by its Japanese name far more even in the West. Reggie Fils-Aime even referred to Mother 3 with its original name, and going by the release record there has only been one game in the entire series of four games (plus the localized Mother 2) that has ever used the term "Earthbound". Earthbound is a game, not a series. It doesn't matter what was planned, cancelled or thought up of. Going by pure release record the only games that have been published officially are Mother, Mother 2, Earthbound and Mother 3. That's three instances of Mother and one instance of Earthbound, and that's not even counting the Mother 1+2 compilation. Toasty (talk) 07:41, 4 August 2014 (UTC)

I was planning to bring this back up once I finished working on the topic. I've been collecting sites that mention the series one way or the other, which would be the best case for proving its common name. czar ♔ 13:17, 5 August 2014 (UTC)

Are you working on it currently? I'll aid in the search if you need me to. Toasty (talk) 11:41, 7 August 2014 (UTC)

It's ongoing (I have several concurrent projects). Feel free to work on it if it so moves you czar ♔ 13:13, 8 August 2014 (UTC)

Have some stuff that doesn't quite fit in the current structure—mostly weak coverage that could eventually accrete into something worth its own paragraph. I'll leave it here for now <ref name="nlife: Princess">{{cite web |url=http://www.nintendolife.com/news/2014/02/princess_in_another_castle_launches_first_trailer_and_indiegogo_campaign |accessdate=November 16, 2014 |title=Princess in Another Castle Launches First Trailer and Indiegogo Campaign |last1=Whitehead |first1=Thomas |date=February 26, 2014 |work=Nintendo Life |archiveurl=http://www.webcitation.org/6U8Akxrsw |archivedate=November 16, 2014 |deadurl=no }}</ref> czar ♔ 16:02, 16 November 2014 (UTC)

{{Did you know nominations/Mother (video game series)}} czar ⨹ 09:08, 2 January 2015 (UTC)

We seriously need a place in the article where it is specified how "Giygas" is pronounced. Mother 2 translator Marcus Lindblom confirmed it is pronounced like GEE-gus, but we have no good sources on this. Any suggestions? –– ♫ Mara/Freya ♫ 08:24, 29 July 2015 (UTC)

• http://legendsoflocalization.com/earthbound/giygas/

http://earthboundcentral.com/2013/03/marcus-lindblom-spills-some-earthbound-secrets/ – czar 08:32, 29 July 2015 (UTC)

Would you make up your mind? Some months ago I added the IPA, but you removed it ([8]). There needs to be IPA for the name, I don't even understand how this article got promoted to a good article. –– ♫ Mara/Freya ♫ 08:51, 29 July 2015 (UTC)

It only "needs" to be included if multiple sources consider it important. I stand by that previous revert as an awkward insertion. If Giygas has its own paragraph and it begins with the name and would have the pronunciation in parenthesis following the name, then it makes sense, but if just incorporating the pronunciation at the name's first mention, it's better off as a footnote. – czar 16:58, 29 July 2015 (UTC)

I think it would be nice to have an article covering plot-central characters from Mother 1, 2, and 3 in the same vein of one like "List of Fire Emblem: The Binding Blade characters". Ness' profile, artwork image, and appearances in other media would be covered there, so it'd have to be split from the EarthBound article.

(Also, I don't think each game should have a separate characters article. If it were to be made, it'd be condensed into just one.) 2602:304:CE75:6250:56A:8428:EC38:544B (talk) 21:53, 17 December 2015 (UTC)

There isn't enough coverage to warrant its own article, and there isn't character continuity between each entry of the series besides the main antagonists, who are both adequately covered in the current article. czar 21:56, 17 December 2015 (UTC)

I would be interested in seeing reliable sources talking about Jeff, Paula, and other such characters. I have a hard time imagining secondary characters from Mother 1 and 3 getting much coverage on their own. I definitely agree with Czar. ~Mable (chat) 06:34, 18 December 2015 (UTC)

Currently, Porky's name is called "Pokey/Porky" and Pokey when mentioning Earthbound, I feel like that the last part of Recurring Elements should be changed to "Porky" over all. Right now it implies that Porky had a name change, but It was the same overall and Pokey was just a direct translation of how it Sounded in Japanese (Poki) AFAIK Porky's name wasn't changed from EB/M2 to M3, so it'll make more sense.

Also Porky should be considered the true spelling when referring to the character in general, as that's how it was spelled in Super Smash Bros. Brawl/Wii U. You might thing that this doesn't count because "Not Canon" believe it does as why would Nintendo use a different spelling for a game mostly about Nintendo?. (Also I haven't confirmed this but I believe MOTHER 2 figures also spell it as Poeky)Mpo9 (talk) 19:06, 12 January 2016 (UTC)

That's a whole lot of original research, especially the "true spelling" claim. We use the names that the reliable sources use (WP:VG/RS). If it's Pokey for one and Porky for another, so be it. I don't think it's confusing as written. czar 18:12, 13 January 2016 (UTC)

I check pages listed in Category:Pages with incorrect ref formatting to try to fix reference errors. One of the things I do is look for content for orphaned references in wikilinked articles. I have found content for some of Mother (video game series)'s orphans, the problem is that I found more than one version. I can't determine which (if any) is correct for this article, so I am asking for a sentient editor to look it over and copy the correct ref content into this article.

Reference named "Kotaku":

• From Gamasutra: "GamePro And GameSetWatch Close Their Doors". Kotaku. Retrieved 2012-03-27.
• From Wii U: "New Nintendo Console Debuting At E3 This June, Launching In 2012, More Powerful Than Xbox 360 and PS3". Kotaku. April 14, 2011. Retrieved April 18, 2011.
• From Cabbage (video game): Plunkett, Luke (2015-05-25). "The Dream Nintendo Game That Was Never Released". Kotaku. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
• From Nintendogs: Ashcraft, Brian. Famitsu Gives Metal Gear Solid 4 Perfect Score. Kotaku.com. Retrieved 06-04-2008.

I apologize if any of the above are effectively identical; I am just a simple computer program, so I can't determine whether minor differences are significant or not. AnomieBOT⚡ 17:03, 20 June 2016 (UTC)

This was caused by someone moving the quotes around the reference name "Kotaku: so great", which AnomieBot then tried to repair to just "Kotaku". I believe its back the way it should be now. -- ferret (talk) 17:27, 20 June 2016 (UTC)

Mother 4 exists and has been released for free http://www.mother4game.com/ — Preceding unsigned comment added by 73.143.107.224 (talk) 23:51, 7 February 2017 (UTC)

An unofficial fanmade game doesn't belong here as if it's an official entry. -- ferret (talk) 00:07, 8 February 2017 (UTC)

Moreover, the game has not yet been released. I am sure it will get quite a lot of media attention when it does, so I hope we'll be able to create an article on it when it does. Of course, the "unofficial" status should be very clear in regardless. I'm not sure yet how much space it would "deserve" in this article. Of course, that would for large part depend on how reliable sources handle the title. ~Mable (chat) 19:55, 8 February 2017 (UTC)

Hello fellow Wikipedians,

I have just modified 12 external links on Mother (series). Please take a moment to review my edit. If you have any questions, or need the bot to ignore the links, or the page altogether, please visit this simple FaQ for additional information. I made the following changes:

• Corrected formatting/usage for http://www.1up.com/features/posthumous-cult-favorites-games-endure?pager.offset=1
• Corrected formatting/usage for http://www.1up.com/do/feature?pager.offset=1&cId=3154276
• Corrected formatting/usage for http://www.actionbutton.net/?p=422
• Added archive https://www.webcitation.org/6SFkvB6z7?url=http://www.nindori.com/interview/m3/m3int_02.html to http://www.nindori.com/interview/m3/m3int_02.html
• Added archive https://www.webcitation.org/6SFkzANUj?url=http://www.nindori.com/interview/m3/m3int_07.html to http://www.nindori.com/interview/m3/m3int_07.html
• Added archive https://www.webcitation.org/6SFl0RZgH?url=http://www.nindori.com/interview/m3/m3int_10.html to http://www.nindori.com/interview/m3/m3int_10.html
• Added archive https://www.webcitation.org/6SQP9HFAE?url=http://www.edge-online.com/features/week-japan-8/3/ to http://www.edge-online.com/features/week-japan-8/3/
• Corrected formatting/usage for http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/mother-3-review?page=2
• Corrected formatting/usage for http://www.famitsu.com/cominy/?m=pc&a=page_h_title&title_id=195
• Corrected formatting/usage for http://www.famitsu.com/cominy/?m=pc&a=page_h_title&title_id=196
• Corrected formatting/usage for http://www.gamasutra.com/view/feature/3581/a_japanese_rpg_primer_the_.php?page=10
• Corrected formatting/usage for http://www.officialnintendomagazine.co.uk/41762/smash-bros-characters-who-need-to-be-dropped-for-wii-u-and-3ds/?page=3

When you have finished reviewing my changes, you may follow the instructions on the template below to fix any issues with the URLs.

This message was posted before February 2018. After February 2018, "External links modified" talk page sections are no longer generated or monitored by InternetArchiveBot. No special action is required regarding these talk page notices, other than regular verification using the archive tool instructions below. Editors have permission to delete these "External links modified" talk page sections if they want to de-clutter talk pages, but see the RfC before doing mass systematic removals. This message is updated dynamically through the template {{source check}} (last update: 5 June 2024).

• If you have discovered URLs which were erroneously considered dead by the bot, you can report them with this tool.
• If you found an error with any archives or the URLs themselves, you can fix them with this tool.

Cheers.—InternetArchiveBot (Report bug) 09:23, 6 February 2018 (UTC)

On the official website of Itoi’s company, a special interview/discussion with GameCenter CX was posted, about EarthBound (in order to celebrate the 30th anniversary of the series. Here is the link. 195.178.177.170 (talk) 07:19, 23 October 2019 (UTC)

The following Wikimedia Commons file used on this page or its Wikidata item has been nominated for deletion:

• Mother series logo.png

Participate in the deletion discussion at the nomination page. —Community Tech bot (talk) 01:29, 25 February 2021 (UTC)

The following Wikimedia Commons file used on this page or its Wikidata item has been nominated for deletion:

• Mother series logo.png

Participate in the deletion discussion at the nomination page. —Community Tech bot (talk) 04:33, 21 October 2021 (UTC)

Hello @Mikeblas, thanks for fixing what I couldn't do with that note. I thought I should say that I didn't have anything to do with adding any references, they were just there when I made my edits and as a passerby I was unsure of what else to do. Have a good day! Carlinal (talk) 18:47, 17 September 2023 (UTC)

Happy to help! -- Mikeblas (talk) 18:50, 17 September 2023 (UTC)