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I said it needed to happen, and it did! The unthinkable has finally happened: EarthBound is getting a Western release on the Wii U Virtual Console by the end of 2013.
Shigesato Itoi hinted at something about the Mother series in late 2012, and it seems that this was it. Since 1995, there has not been any legitimate way to play EarthBound in North America without dropping hundreds of dollars on a SNES cartridge. European fans will also be able to experience the game, as this is the first time EarthBound will hit the PAL territories.
This is big news, people. If EarthBound does well enough, Mother 3 is sure to follow. A new generation of fans will finally be able to experience the incredible journey of Ness and his friends. Hopefully, this announcement will also cause the price of SNES carts to decrease, so even more people can enjoy Itoi’s masterpiece.
But that’s not all the Virtual Console news that came out of this morning’s Nintendo Direct!
The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Seasons and Oracle of Ages are coming to the Nintendo 3DS Virtual Console on May 30. The pair of games came out 12 years ago, and they still stand as great 2D Zelda games today. If you haven’t played them before, this summer would be a great chance to experience both games.
Iwata also hinted at the future of the Wii U and 3DS Virtual Console. While nothing specific was revealed, Iwata declared Nintendo’s intent to bring Game Boy Advance and Nintendo 64 games to both platform’s respective Virtual Consoles.
Source: Nintendo Direct
Keep it up Nintendo. Get out a few more fan franchises like this.
Fantastic! I can’t believe this is actually going to be released in Europe too – I’ve literally waited my entire lifetime for this and I can finally buy it legitimately.
I’m happy for the people who were denied the chance to play this great game.
I have to admit I never got to play EarthBound myself the first time around, so I’m really looking forward to seeing what all the fuss is about. :P
Hopefully decrease the value of my cart!? I beg to differ! Who my kidding though, I’ll never sell it. I think the big question is what content, if any, is altered or removed prior to release. It was long rumored to not have come out yet due to various copyright infringements. If that indeed is the case and things are changed, my cart will still be worth the big $$ :)