What did Reggie Fils-Aimé say about Mother 3?

Reggie Fils-Aimé, president of Nintendo of America from 2006 to 2019, addressed Mother 3 at length during the 2022 tour for his book Disrupting the Game. His account: localizing the game 'just didn't make business sense.' The Game Boy Advance was at the end of its life, Nintendo of America was focused on the Nintendo DS, and the weak American sales of EarthBound in 1995 weighed against the investment. He also notes the core decision predated his arrival at the company's presidency in May 2006.

He was explicit about what the reason was not. Asked about the game's provocative content, he answered that content was 'not at all the issue': the decision 'was all based on the business needs and the business situation at the time.' That statement stands against a 2019 allegation by a Game Informer editor that Nintendo had planned and then cancelled a localization over concerns about bereavement, drugs and animal cruelty themes; the allegation remains unconfirmed, and the two accounts cannot both be the whole story.

Fils-Aimé also revealed the road not taken: he discussed releasing Mother 3 on the Wii U eShop with Satoru Iwata, a path he believes might have opened had Iwata not died in 2015 and had the Wii U performed better. Producer Shinichi Kameoka, for his part, has said the greatest challenge would be translating Itoi's writing itself, its charm and nuance, and that he would love to see the game released in the West.

Itoi's own position, given in the EarthBound, USA documentary, completes the triangle: he would love American fans to play it, he has talked with Nintendo, and Nintendo told him accepting the fans' finished translation 'wasn't quite as simple as that.' The Library keeps the summary verdict on its why-was-Mother-3-never-released page; this page keeps the testimony.