Mother 3 fan translator offers free script to Nintendo

EarthBound sequel Mother 3 never saw release outside Japan. So five years ago, a group of fans released a free translation patch for the game, allowing English-speaking audiences to play it for the first time. In light of Nintendo‘s recent announcement that it will be bringing EarthBound to the Wii U Virtual Console, that same group is offering Nintendo their Mother 3 translation, free of charge. 

“When we released the Mother 3 fan translation patch in 2008, it was because it was clear that Nintendo had no interest in releasing an official translation of the game,” said group translator Clyde Mandelin, who is also a translator for FUNimation Entertainment, on the Mother 3 Fan Translation blog. “Still, there’s always the hope that the game might be re-released someday on some new platform, at which time us fans will clamor for an official translation yet again.”

“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 notes that while it seems unlikely for a company to use a fan translation, it’s happened before with XSEED’s localization of Ys: The Oath in Felghana. And the fact that he’s a professional translator with many years of experience might lend him some credibility.