For today’s scan release, I have one excerpt of an interview with Itoi from May 2000. In this part of the interview, he discusses two things: Cabbage (his second N64DD project) and a port of the first MOTHER to the Game Boy.

We’ll be continuing our scan releases for the next few weeks with a little something from every MOTHER game! This all leads up to our 2022 Mother Direct very soon. Follow our Twitter or join our Discord to stay posted!

The following is a scan and translation of an interview with Shigesato Itoi from the May 2000 issue of the 64 Dream. The scan and its translation are by Kody NOKOLO. Please credit Mother Forever and Kody NOKOLO if you report or repost this scan and translation.

64 Dream, May 2000

“Releasing the Famicom MOTHER on the Game Boy”

Interviewer:
“Have you received a lot of postcards asking for a Game Boy release?”

Itoi:
“I have. If there’s anyone that can make it, I’ll leave it to you to find out. There are so many people who want to play MOTHER 1!”

“Wanting an Explosive Idea: Cabbage”

Itoi on Cabbage:

“Sorry, when it comes to Cabbage, I can’t say anything about it. 

To sum it up, it’s a game that involves raising something…

Or, I guess it’s more like a relationship game. I don’t think that theme will change.

Cabbage is a sudden idea I’ve been thinking about. I’ve been frustrated now, I keep trying to think about it, but I have a feeling it’s not going to go off with a bang. Eventually, when those elements are added, I think I’ll be able to race to the finish saying ‘woah, it can work!!’ This kind of thing might not be able to work as a game mechanic.

I want it to be a cool game. I don’t think it would be cool like an anime though. We’ve had artistic traditions for a long time. When I saw Donkey Kong 64 for example, I thought its graphic design was so different. It’s strange – it’s like someone who’s really good at drawing a picture. That’s what I’d like for Cabbage, something comparable to that. ‘Painting already exists’ – I want to do something different in terms of how images are expressed.

The programmer for it is Iwata-san. Miyamoto-san is also looking forward to this game, so I’d like him to do something with it early on.”

Itoi on Cabbage‘s title:
“Yeah, I just said something random and it stuck.”

Itoi on HAL Laboratory:
“I’m an officer at HALKEN, and when I tell people that, they’re like ‘oh, that’s right’ (laughs). But I made an impact on the company.”

Itoi on HAL’s logo, Inutamago:
“It’s been warming eggs for 20 years. I’ve been waiting for a company that would fit its image.”