SHIGESATO ITOI’S SHOCKING CONFESSION

This is the world of MOTHER 3!!!

Nae Yuki, a regular contributor to our magazine, interviews Shigesato Itoi directly about “MOTHER 3”! Mr. Itoi’s own image of “MOTHER 3” is brought out perfectly in this interview!

First, before starting the interview, we asked the two of them to watch the video of “MOTHER 3” that was aired at Space World ‘97. It was the first time that Mr. Itoi watched the video properly.

What kind of world is “MOTHER3”?

Yuki: What kind of world is the world of “3” this time? If you compare it to cooking?

Itoi: Cooking, huh? Hmmm…

Yuki: Kid’s lunch?

Itoi: …I think it’s a cuisine with no nationality… But this time, it’s a story that will make you cry. It’s not a matter of how many times I can make you laugh, but how many times I can make you cry.

Yuki: Is that a reflection of the creator’s life?

Itoi: Recently, I realized that crying is something to look forward to. So when I have a little time to watch videos, I look for ones that can make me cry. But that kind of thing is inconvenient, isn’t it? I wanted to make a story that makes you cry because I thought it would be nice to have a place to go to cry, just like going to a comedy parlor for a laugh.

What is the story this time?

Yuki: What are you talking about, like a popular play?

Itoi: That won’t make you cry. It would be too much like a comedy.

Yuki: Then, how can you make us cry?

Itoi: The main character in this story goes through a terrible time. He gets hurt so badly that I say, “I’m sorry.” I think, “I’m so bad, I wrote the torturer’s lines myself”, and I often find myself saying things like “Why are you saying that?”

Yuki: Like when you go to your friend’s house to play and your mother shuts the gate on you?

Itoi: It’s not that sweet, is it?

Yuki: Is it more harsh?

Itoi: Yes, it’s harsh. This time, my dream is that people who want to play games happily in the middle of the night are saying, “It’s hard….” Because the situation in the world this time is very rough.

Yuki: Speaking of that, what is this (pointing to the photo on the left) in the video?

Itoi: I like this one. Claymen. Poor people…

Yuki: So they are people. Poor people…

It’s all about how many times you can make them cry.

BGM ALREADY DONE!

Do you have a theme song or something you can play?

Yuki: A sad story is so different from what I imagined for the series!

Itoi: It’s totally different from the past, isn’t it? For example, the music is not of the familiar type. This was a discovery for me, too, but when something different comes in and clashes with something else, sometimes something new is born from the place where you wonder what to create. That’s how the music for this project came about, and it must have been very exciting for the creators as well.

Yuki: Do you already have a theme song or something?

Itoi: (Turning to Mr. Hongo of Nintendo, who is watching the interview from the corner of the room) Mr. Hongo, I think there’s probably a tape of the music over there. Shall I play it for you? I want to surprise you in as short a time as possible.

Hongo: Ah, that’s right.

Mr. Itoi arranged for us to hear the music from “3”! A boom box and tape arrived a short time later. The song started playing immediately. I can’t tell you what kind of music it was, but it was clearly different from anything I had heard before. What surprised me more than anything was the extremely high degree of perfection. Perhaps the background music was already completed?

(While listening to the music)

Yuki: Can this be made into a game with the sound quality as it is?

Itoi: It will be better than this

Yuki: What kind of scene is this music going to play in?

Itoi: It’s a live performance scene by a band called D.C.M.C.

Yuki: I see, it’s different, now. So there won’t be a boy wearing a cap or something?

Itoi: We lost that whole world!

Yuki: Why did you lose it! I liked it so much!

Itoi: Customers always say things like that. If I listen to all the demands, I have to make the same thing. So, this time, I took away all of that in order to make something newer. For example, “MOTHER” until now has always been a cup full of hot water. It if were hot water, pouring water into it would only make it lukewarm. The theme of “3” is to drink cold water after emptying the glass.

Let’s hear some tunes!

Are there any elements carried over from the series?

Yuki: I understand that “3” will be something new, but are there any elements from the series that will appear?

Itoi: Not so much, but yes. There are some elements that we can’t miss, such as dialogues.

Can I enter a favorite food or name?

Yuki: In “MOTHER,” you enter the names of the main character and his friends, as well as his favorite food, at the beginning. Is that the same thing in this game?

Itoi: Yes, there is. We have names and favorite foods.

Yuki: Until now, favorite foods have not been visualized, but this time?

Itoi: If we don’t have a visual, even foods without names can be entered, which is interesting…

Yuki: But if there were 99 kinds of food and fish were actually served, it would be worth going home, wouldn’t it?

Itoi: If we were told that there were 99 different kinds of food, that would be something, too. If you put a mosaic on the food, you can use any name you want.

Yuki: Maybe there is steam or something?

Itoi: Hmmm, I will consider how to use mosaic for a while.

Will any familiar characters make an appearance?

Yuki: Even if the boy in the cap doesn’t appear, what about the mother? Will the mother appear?

Itoi: Mothers are hard! I don’t want to talk about my mother right now! It’s not that I’m hiding it, it’s just… I can’t… I can’t tell you!

Yuki: It hasn’t been done yet.

Itoi: That’s not true! But it’s hard work for a mother, really!

Yuki: Since you have gone that far, did you set up a positive characterization of your mother and so on?

Itoi: That was very important. It was all about what to do with the mother.

Yuki: A reasonable mother?

Itoi: The mother in “2” is more reasonable. I like that kind of mother.

Yuki: When the child comes home, she serves his favorite food, right?

Itoi: Yes, She does what he has to do, but she seems to be dismissive of her children. She is not without love, but she lives her life as an individual. That is the kind of mother I wanted to portray.

Yuki: There was also a father, wasn’t there?

Itoi: The father has been more irresponsible than the mother, until now.

Yuki: He would just say, “I’ve transferred the money to your account,” and that was it.

Itoi: This time the father is going to do it!

Yuki: So you still don’t go home, but money is transferred to the bank on a regular basis?

Itoi: Yes, he has money. I guess there is an adventure story about the father that we can’t see.

Yuki: Will there be a dog in the story?

Itoi: Yes, they do appear. There is even a theme song for dogs.

Yuki: The idea is like something you would find in America? The kind of dog that comes into his owner’s bedroom after washing his body and romping around?

Itoi: Also, it is that type of dog. But this time, it’s a dog that makes you cry.

Yuki: In “2,” the dog was really just a dog.

Itoi: He’s a bad dog. But this time the dog does it when he has to, and he makes you cry!

Yuki: Will there be any companionship or friendship between the main characters?

Itoi: The girls are quite important this time, too. However, rather than being the main character, she is in a “I’m glad she’s here” kind of position.

Yuki: Is “Mr. Saturn” going to appear this time?

Itoi: Yes. I like “Mr. Saturn” myself. Basically, I will show what I like.

Yuki: When I talk to him, he says, “boing!” I don’t know what they are saying, but they really have no malice towards me.

Itoi: Yes, yes.

Yuki: Even though Mr. Saturn is polygonal, he is still like a two-dimensional creature, isn’t he?

Itoi: That’s right. He was created from my doodles.

I’ll include whatever I like.

What will the battle be like this time?

He is being snatched up by a very huge monster with a crunch. How could anyone fight such a huge thing?

Once again, we review the video from Space World. It shows a scene where a player character is running away from a monster at high speed and getting hit in the buttocks.

(While watching the chase between the character and the monster)

Yuki: What kind of scene is this?

Itoi: It is the interaction with the monster before entering the scene.

Yuki: So, there is a distinctive way of entering the battle scene.

Itoi: Yes, there is.

Yuki: Doesn’t the screen change when you encounter an enemy?

Itoi: Yes. It was the same in “2,” the battle took place after you made contact with the enemy, wasn’t it?

Yuki: That’s right. I could have just run away.

Itoi: This time, we will make it more prominent. I don’t want it to be like an action game, but I would like to make it so that there are advantages and disadvantages depending on how contact is made. Especially on the N64, it should be fun to play.

Yuki: I see, 3D!

Itoi: Like when you go around the back of the car.

Yuki: That sounds interesting.

Itoi: The scene of the exchange before the battle is already interesting in the experimental stage, but I’m sure it will become even more interesting.

(pointing to the screen shot on the right)

Yuki: What kind of scene is this?

Itoi: This is the battle scene, and this is the one where the dragon is looking at us with its head turned all the way down. It’s still hard to explain the battle scene, but it’s amazing. Basically, most RPG battles are an exchange of additions and subtractions, but I want to do something more than that, something that comes from the heart.

Yuki: A monster who is really strong may be feeling a little sick today, or he may be feeling weak (laughs).

Itoi: The most important thing in creating RPG battles is to make them not feel like numbers. That’s what I want to do.

Yuki: Can you use psychic powers in battle?

Itoi: Yes, you can. It’s more like supernatural powers, or some kind of mysterious power.

Will any familiar characters make an appearance?

Yuki: I know there are a lot of monsters, but are there any monsters that become your friends?

Itoi: Yeah….

Yuki: Yes, there are.

Itoi: I just saw a scene in the video where you are riding astride this thing, but there are ways to use it as a friend.

Yuki: So it can be captured and used as a vehicle. There were other vehicles in the video, weren’t there?

Itoi: That one was called “Pork Bean,” which is a vehicle that flies through the air.

Yuki: I was wondering what the back of the dragon looks like.

Itoi: I don’t know that either.

Yuki: Is the back of the dragon a pilot’s seat?

What is possible with the N64?

Yuki: Is there anything you were able to achieve that you couldn’t do before?

Itoi: I think it was the fact that I was able to give all the characters their own personalities. All the characters have different faces and names!

What are the advantages of being polygonal?

Yuki: These days, no matter what you do, the games are polygonal, aren’t they?

Itoi: Customers ask if it’s not polygonal.

Yuki: Even Mr. Taijiri of “Pokemon” fame said that! Even the old guy at the bar said “Aren’t those polygons?” (laughs).

Itoi: The other thing is how to make it unique with the pictures.

Yuki: Certainly, I think that children would no longer be satisfied with the inclusion of ordinary animations.

Itoi: For the creations, it is good that there are more things they can do.

Yuki: What are you able to do with “MOTHER” by making it polygonal?

Itoi: I feel that the use of polygons made it possible to create more of a “sandbox” game. In other words, once you create a character, no matter where you put the doll, it remains that doll. If you wanted to bring the doll here, you can suddenly bring that doll and put it anywhere. This allows for a great deal of freedom when creating a story. From my standpoint as a scenario writer, I was really happy about this.

Yuki: Polygons seem to be more graphically beautiful and difficult to work with, but on the contrary, you have had more trouble with them up until now, is that correct?

Itoi: In another sense, yes, in the case of the Super Famicom, it was the same as moving a lot of picture storyboards. But with polygons, it’s just a puppet animation, so you just had to put them in place.

All the characters have their own personalities.

Why is the story 12 chapters?

Yuki: Why did you choose to structure the story as a total of 12 chapters?

Itoi: I wonder why. I already had a story in mind. Then I thought it would be boring if I didn’t divide it into chapters. I wanted to make various people the main characters.

Yuki: How do you do that?

Itoi: For example, I wondered what would happen if they were in the same story from the standpoint of the weaker person, or if they were together at the same time in the story from the standpoint of an old man, and so on. In this way, the main characters of each chapter cross paths, and what was done by Mr. A in that scene in chapter 1, when done by Mr. B would look like this.

Yuki: How many main characters are there in the story this time?

Itoi: If you want to call them main characters…. If you mean characters that can be moved, then there are quite a few.

Yuki: More? More than three?

Itoi: More than three. I gave them a bonus.

Yuki: Is the main character a child?

Itoi: He is a child, but he becomes a young man.

Yuki: Is he about 15 years old?

Itoi: He must be at least 15 years old. I think he will be a teenager.

Yuki: You say that there are many characters that can be moved around, but do they have their own quirks or differences?

Itoi: We have seen this before. There was a boy who was good with machines.

Itoi: Yes, that’s right. We are going to use that approach again this time.

The characters that players can control are currently known to be Flint, in the center of the screen above, and the three plus one on the left. Based on Mr. Itoi’s “more than three” and “bonus,” these are the most likely members of the playable characters. Furthermore, if the main character is a “young man”, the main character would be Duster.

What made you want to make it?

Yuki: I would like to ask you about the concept and dream behind the creation of the “MOTHER” game.

Itoi: I wanted to create an exciting RPG in a more familiar world, not one with magic and swords.

Did you have any difficulties from the beginning?

Yuki: I like games, and I am also interested in people who make games….

Itoi: Why don’t you just make them?

Yuki: What? I can’t even make a website….

Itoi: No, that’s not what I mean. I have only touched a computer recently.

Yuki: But there must have been people around who could make one.

Itoi: That’s just as a connection. I do it by myself. If you try it and it is a boring proposal, why don’t you just say, “Oh, I can’t do this.” That’s how you get hit by the cold wind, by the dying of the trees. I cried…. I went to see Mr. Miyamoto (Shigeru Miyamoto of Nintendo) with a proposal for “MOTHER”. I went to show it to him and said “That is what I came up with!” I went to show it to him. But Mr. Miyamoto didn’t say, “That’s wonderful!” I gently said something simply like, “It’s how you create it that counts, isn’t it?” I thought it was a bad idea because he didn’t praise me at all…. On the bullet train on the way back home, I started to cry. That’s the kind of experience I had.

Yuki: Why me? I’ll do my best in my day job…. (laughs). (laughs) But people who play games also feel cold. “Why did I buy this game?”

Itoi: That kind of sadness as a consumer should just be crushed and thrown away!

Yuki: Oh, no! Oh my God….

Itoi: Because everyone is doing it. It’s as cold as 14℃ when you buy a game and play three or so rounds of it!

Yuki: I won’t freeze to death.

Itoi: First, I had to get to about single digits. And then it was below zero, Then I would get up and say, “I’m not cold, I’m not cold! I’m not cold!” I wiped my tears at Tokyo Station and thought, “Then what am I going to do? Oh, that Miyamoto and I are friends now!”, but at that time I was really angry! He didn’t mean it, but I felt I had nowhere else to go, and that made me sad!

Yuki: I have to think about it.

Itoi: Without that, you can only do the same thing. Someone who loves games as much as you do should really get into the deep end. You are still young now.

Yuki: I am not young. 

Itoi: No, you are young. 30 is before adulthood, so that’s when you start working in that field.

Yuki: That’s a good story. Coming of age at 30.

Itoi: From there, a completely different kind of joy and suffering begins, like in an RPG. When the person you saved betrays you.

Yuki: What? Now the atmosphere around here has suddenly become heavy (laughs).

What does “MOTHER” mean to you, Mr. Itoi?

For me, “MOTHER” is a job.

Yuki: “MOTHER” is one of the games that really hooked me. But what does “MOTHER” mean to you Mr. Itoi?

Itoi: It’s my job.

Yuki: Work, huh?

Itoi: Yes, it is, after all. I wanted to make games for “fun,” so I jumped into the world of game making. Even if you think you are playing grass baseball, if the customers are waiting for you, it will turn into a professional baseball game. So when a game has people who buy and play it, it can’t just be a game. Unlike advertising, this is a job where the customer is definitely waiting for you (laughs).

FOR THREE PEOPLE, ITOI AND YUKI’S AUTOGRAPHS WILL BE PRESENTED!

Source to original interview

Thank you Jade for writing these translations!