t1z4l

Nintendo has announced that it will hold multiple Mother 2 campaigns in Lawson outlets accross Japan in late 2024. The collaboration will consist of giveaways, lotteries, and sales of items branded with the Japanese version of Earthbound.

This campaign will introduce a vanilla-flavored Country Ma'am snack package with an additional Mother 2 brand. Nintendo will also put up 12-month subscription cards for the Japanese Nintendo Switch Online with a pixel sprite of Mr Saturn. s who have a Japanese Switch Online subscription between November 25, 2024 and December 9, 2024, can also obtain Mother 2 avatar icons if they haven't previously.

In addition, the company will also hold a raffle using any available Japanese 12-month cards, where 40 people can win a cushion blanket or a set of six glass mug cups.

Nintendo will also set up the My Nintendo mobile app so that people who perform a GPS check-in at a Lawson outlet within the event duration can receive a Mother 2 smartphone wallpaper, which features Mr Saturn.

Lawson will not be the only company Nintendo cooperates with for this campaign. It is also working with Bandai Spirits to launch an Ichiban Kuji lottery on November 30, 2024. Other than the cushion blankets and the mug cups from the Switch Online raffle, the lottery will feature a Mr Saturn-shaped savings box as the highest A-tier prize.

Mother 2 / Earthbound will the list of titles that Nintendo has used in Lawson collaboration campaigns. The companies previously worked together on promoting The Legend of Zelda titles Tears of the Kingdom in May 2023 and Echoes of Wisdom in August-October 2024.

The Mother 2 merchandise campaigns in Lawson outlets across Japan will run from Monday, November 25, 2024, until December 29, 2024.

The post Mother 2 Merchandise Will Appear in Lawson Japan Outlets appeared first on Siliconera.

Hobonichi revealed a new soft vinyl toy modeled after the Earthbound protagonist Ness. The company will sell this new toy via a lottery that it will hold in August 2024.

The toy will be available in a standard size of around 22 cm (~8.66 inches) tall. The head, arms, and legs will be fully posable. The set will also come with a baseball bat and PK/PSI Flash effect that the owner can place on Ness' right and left hands, respectively.

Here are the sample images showing multiple poses that the soft vinyl toy will be able to take:

This soft vinyl toy will appear as one of the numerous merchandise that Hobonichi will produce to celebrate the 30th anniversary of Earthbound, which is also originally known in Japan as Mother 2. Shigesato Itoi's company had also previously revealed a real-world version of the Cup of Lifenoodles that it will release in August 2024.

Hobonichi will hold the lottery for the right to purchase the Earthbound Ness soft vinyl toy on August 1-19, 2024. People who win the lottery will be able to buy the toy for 29,700 yen (~$190) between late August 2024 and mid-September 2024.

The post Earthbound Ness Soft Vinyl Toy Will Appear via Lottery appeared first on Siliconera.

Hobonichi has revealed that it will release the Cup of Lifenoodles from the Earthbound series in the real world. People will be able to actually taste the food used to fully revive unconscious characters in the game series in August 2024.

The Cup of Lifenoodles appeared in Earthbound and Mother 3 as an item that players mainly use to revive fallen characters to full health, though it can also recover any other status ailments. The item's original Japanese name is "Inochi no Udon" (Udon of Life), so Udon will be the noodle type used for this product. Hobonichi will source the noodles from Japan's Gunma prefecture.

Hobonichi has yet to provide more details on the noodles' availability, including its pricing and whether it will be shippable worldwide like the 30th Anniversary concert merchandise. However, its announcement tweet did reveal the package's content. The set will contain two udon noodle packages and a coaster mat.

Hobonichi's Japanese tweet is also available to view right below:

The real-world version of Cup of Lifenoodles from the Earthbound series will be available in August 2024. The product will be based on the item that appeared in Earthbound and Mother 3. The entire Earthbound series is available to play on Nintendo Switch via its Online subscription, although Mother 3 remains exclusive to Japan due to its lack of localization.

The post Earthbound Cup of Lifenoodles Will Appear in the Real World appeared first on Siliconera.

Hobonichi revealed a new collection of Earthbound merchandise that will appear to help celebrate "The Music of Mother" live concert. The concert's English webpage confirms that people from all around the world will be able to place pre-orders on Hobonichi's web store, and the store s global shipping via FedEx.

A total of four item types are revealed, with one of them having two separate versions. The first one is a pair of plushes featuring Gorgeous and Lucky, the two front of the Runaway Five group. People can get both plushes encased in a bus-shaped packaging for 6,600 yen (~$42).

The second highlighted item is a tin container with Jim Dunlop guitar picks that cost 3,300 yen (~$21). This set will be heavily inspired by the preferences of the Earthbound series composer Keiichi Suzuki. The musician prefers to use pink teardrop picks for electric guitars and orange medium picks for the acoustic versions.

Other than those two, Hobonichi will also sell T-shirts at 4,950 yen (~$31.50) apiece and towels at 2,200 yen (~$14) each. The T-shirt will feature the complete Runaway Five lineup with the group's Japanese name Tonzura Brothers. It will be available in four sizes from S to LL (XL). Meanwhile, the towels will appear in two different designs: one with the Mother logo, and the other with the iconic word "SMAAAASH!!"

Here are the sample images for each of the items mentioned above:

The Earthbound-themed merchandise from "The Music of Mother" live concert will be available for sale worldwide on June 4, 2024, at 11 AM JST (June 3, 2024, at 10 PM ET).

The post Earthbound Live Concert Merchandise Will Ship Worldwide appeared first on Siliconera.

Hobonichi announced that it will hold a "The Music of Mother" concert on June 22, 2024, as part of celebrations for the 30th anniversary of Earthbound. The company will hold the concert exclusively online via streaming, but people in select countries and territories outside Japan will also be able to watch it.

The concert will run for approximately two hours from 8 PM to 10 PM JST (7 AM - 9 AM ET). The first part will have Hirokazu "Chip" Tanaka play remixes of tracks from the Earthbound/Mother series. In the middle part, Shigesato Itoi will discuss the series' music with Tanaka and Keiichi Suzuki on a Japanese talk show. Suzuki will return in the third and last part to perform with the Tonzura Mother Band.

The regular streaming tickets will be available for 3,300 yen (~$21). The sales period will open on Stagecrowd from June 4, 2024, until July 7, 2024—before Stagecrowd takes down the stream archive at midnight JST on July 8, 2024.

Hobonichi will also sell a bonus set that comes with a paper ticket, a satin backstage , and a ticket holder. The bundle will cost 4,950 yen (~$32), and its sales will end earlier on June 17, 2024. People residing outside Japan will also be able to purchase this bundle, but Hobonichi will apply a separate shipping fee.

The stream is technically watchable worldwide as long as s can access the viewing test page without any issues. However, Stagecrowd will only legally payments from the following countries and territories:

• Americas: United States, Canada, Mexico, Brazil, Peru
• Europe: United Kingdom, , , Italy, Spain
• Asia: Japan, South Korea, Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore
• Oceania: Australia, New Zealand

The Earthbound 30th anniversary live concert "The Music of Mother" will run on Saturday, June 22, 2024, at 8 PM JST (7 AM ET). Sales for the streaming tickets will be available from June 4, 2024.

The post Earthbound 30th Anniversary Concert Will Appear Worldwide appeared first on Siliconera.

In a recent conversation with Hobonichi’s Shigesato Itoi, Shigeru Miyamoto said that he feels like he “couldn’t do anything anymore” when working in games and recalled the process which led him to him becoming a producer at Nintendo.

When Itoi asked Miyamoto for the tentative title of this talk, Miyamoto submitted the title of "I couldn't do anything, so I became a producer." Both Itoi and Miyamoto recalled their work days during the Famicom and Super Famicom era, when developing games required fewer people and smaller teams.

The developer said that it was during his late 30s and early 40s that he felt like he was unable to do any game work without a team anymore, and at the age of 60 he became a producer. However, since projects require high-level experts nowadays, Miyamoto feels like he can’t replace or provide at the same level, even as a producer. Miyamoto said his way of leaving his mark on a project is to help and make people think “I’m glad he was there” or “I’d like to work with him next time.”

The developer mentions that his position as producer requires him to provide whatever might be missing in a team, and that he wouldn’t know which role he’d need to fill until the team starts to work on a project. Miyamoto clarified that the best teams to produce for would be those that didn’t need his input, and that if a team needed his help that would mean the team had problems that needed solving.

Shigeru Miyamoto is a renowned game developer and producer behind the creation of the Mario, The Legend of Zelda, and Pikmin series, among others. The recent conversation appeared in the second of a series of talks between Itoi and Miyamoto. There are 12 conversations scheduled to appear daily between January 1-12, 2024 on the Hobonichi website.

The post Shigeru Miyamoto Said He ‘Couldn’t Do Anything,’ so He Became a Producer appeared first on Siliconera.

2024 marks the 30th anniversary of Earthbound and there will be several campaigns, some involving exclusive limited-time merchandise, available throughout the year as celebration.

You can keep track of the Earthbound 30th Anniversary campaigns via the official website or on Twitter (X). As of the time of writing, the website is a page with the logo for the anniversary, as well as the same text as the press release. To summarize it, there will be commemorative merchandise, events that Nintendo and Hobonichi have never done before for Earthbound, and collaboration events. The team doesn’t know all the details just yet, in the sense that they’re still coming out with new ideas. They’ve finished planning out some, whereas they’ve only just secured permissions for others. So they cannot say anything for sure just yet.

Earthbound (or Mother 2 in Japan) first came out in 1994 on the NES. It plays like a standard or traditional Dragon Quest-like RPG but set in a modern (for the 1990’s) USA parody. The plot of the story revolves around a boy named Ness who, with his friends, discover that the Gigyas, an alien race, have filled the world with hatred. They travel through many strange lands and meet new allies to defeat the Gigyas and save the world.

Earthbound and Earthbound Beginnings are available on the Nintendo Switch if you have Nintendo Switch Online.

The post 2024 Marks the 30th Anniversary of Earthbound appeared first on Siliconera.

An Earthbound/Mother pop-up store with merchandise will appear around Japan throughout August and September 2023. This pop-up shop first appeared in Shibuya earlier this year. It’s free to enter, which means you can also go inside and check out the themed items or decor. It’s unknown whether or not you’ll be allowed to take pictures. [Thanks, PR Times!]

The dates and cities for the Earthbound/Mother pop-up store tour are as follows:

• Nagoya - Sakae Loft
  August 4 - August 28, 2023
• Ikebukuro - Parco
  September 1 - September 25, 2023
• Sendai - JR Sendai Station
  September 4 - September 15, 2023
• Toyama - Sogawa Base
  September 17 - September 30, 2023
• Umeda - Umeda Loft
  September 29 - October 22, 2023
• Shibuya - Shibuya 109
  September 29 - October 15, 2023
• Sapporo - Sapporo Parco
  October 16 - November 5, 2023
• Hiroshima - Hiroshima Parco
  November 1 - November 13, 2023

As for the Mother merchandise that you’ll be able to buy, most of the items are apparel. For example, you can get a T-shirt with the Earthbound 2 logo on it for 4950 JPY. There are also hats for sale. As for more unique items, you can get:

• Skateboard deck: 16,500 JPY
• Paula’s Toy: 4620 JPY
• Ness’s Yo-Yo: 2200 JPY

[gallery columns="1" ids="974792" link="file"]

Paula’s toy is a red teddy bear. As for the skateboard decks, there appears to be three designs. You can get one that looks like the in-game map, one that has the Mother logo, and one of four silhouettes.

The Earthbound/Mother Street pop-up store with merchandise will start in appearing in Japan in August 2023, with the first store opening up for a limited time in Nagoya.

The post Earthbound Pop-up Store Will Tour Japan appeared first on Siliconera.

Hobonichi announced a new collaboration with hats and apparel company New Era and the Earthbound game series (or Mother in Japan). This is the second collaboration with New Era, as part of the Hobonichi Mother Project. Three new designs will be available, and they feature iconic sprites and visual effects from the Earthbound/Mother series. Each hat will cost 6,600 JPY (or roughly $50 USD). [Thanks, Game Watch!]

The new Earthbound hats will only be available at Mother Street, a section in the Seikatsu no Tanoshimi 2023 Exhibition that will be held from April 29, 2023 until May 5, 2023 in Shinjuku, Tokyo.

The hats are based on the New Era 9THIRTY model. The three new models available are the Teleport Crash model, the SMAAAASH!! model, and the Skywalker model. You can take a better look at the hats in the gallery below.

[gallery link="file" ids="959100,959099,959098"]

The teleport crash sprite is the result of a failed attempt at using the PSI Teleport in Earthbound, while the SMAAAASH!! graphic is a result of dealing a successful critical hit. Meanwhile, the Skywalker model is based after the Sky Walker, the UFO-looking flying saucer that Jeff uses in the game to travel from Winters to Threed. In the English localization, the Sky Walker is known as the Sky Runner.

The Hobonichi x New Era Earthbound collaboration hats cost 6,600 JPY (~$50 USD), and they will be exclusive to the Mother Street section of the Seikatsu no Tanoshimi 2023 Exhibition, which will be held from April 29, 2023 until May 5, 2023 in Shinjuku, Tokyo.

The post 3 More Earthbound New Era Hats Will Come Out Soon appeared first on Siliconera.

At Hobonichi’s “Lifestyle Enjoyment Exhibition 2022,” a free “Earthbound Department Store will open and sell merchandise like Ness dolls. While the event will begin on April 29, 2022, pre-orders for its items will start on April 11, 2022. The products will appear at a later date via the Hobonichi Earthbound Project site. [Thanks, Game Watch!]

The full list of Earthbound merchandise will include:

• Capless Fountain Pen: 22,000 JPY
• Carry Bag (3 colors): 2,750 JPY
• Clayman Doll: 3,850 JPY
• Dog-like Person (Boney) Doll: 8,800 JPY
• Franklin Badge: 3,850 JPY
• Earthbound Cotton Tote Bag: 1,980 JPY
• Stacking Mug (Fourside): 1,100 JPY
• Me and My Friends Dolls: 11,000 JPY
• Mr. Saturn Headband: 2,420 JPY
• Mr. Saturn’s Words: 2,970 JPY
• YOJO Tape: 660 JPY

[gallery columns="9" link="file" ids="923509,923510,923511,923512,923513,923517,923516,923526"]

While these products will appear in the online store, the Replica Screen Series Moonside picture and a Mr. Saturn plush will be available only at the Department Store event.

[gallery columns="2" link="file" ids="923507,923508"]

It has been three years since the last Lifestyle Enjoyment Exhibition. In 2022, over sixty stores will attendance. The Earthbound Department Store section, it will look like Fourside. According to the article, the event will try not to have any blackouts like in the game.

The Earthbound Department Store will be open from April 29, 2022 until May 4, 2022. Earthbound and Earthbound Beginnings are immediately available on the Switch for Nintendo Switch Online.

The post Earthbound Department Store Merchandise Will Include Ness Dolls appeared first on Siliconera.

Shigesato Itoi and Hobonichi will produce and sell framed art based on EarthBound pixel maps in Japan. The company will open pre-orders for a limited time in March 2022.

The framed art of EarthBound maps will be available in five different models. Each of them will depict a distinct featured location in EarthBound, including Onett, Winters, Fourside, Moonside, and the Cave of the Past.

People residing in Japan will be able to order the framed art in two different sizes: Small at ¥16,500 (~$144) and Large at ¥37,400 (~$325). They can also choose one of the three available frames, including black, red, and natural wood grain.

[gallery columns="5" link="file" ids="918351,918352,918353,918354,918355"]

EarthBound originally came out for the SNES in 1995 in North America and 1994 in Japan, where it is known as Mother 2. In February 2022, Nintendo made the game — along with its predecessor, EarthBound Beginnings — available on Nintendo Switch. s who have subscribed to Nintendo Switch Online can access the classic games immediately.

Hobonichi has been releasing assorted merchandise related to the EarthBound franchise in Japan. In October 2021, it released the Pollyanna 2 manga compilation that includes a comic made by Undertale creator Toby Fox. The company also released various items ranging from jackets to plushes in 2020.

Pre-orders for the framed art of EarthBound maps will be available in Japan from March 8 to March 31, 2022. Hobonichi will deliver the finished products around late May 2022.

The post EarthBound Maps Will Appear as Framed Art in Japan appeared first on Siliconera.

Shigesato Itoi will publish a new book containing a compilation of quotes by Mr Saturn from Earthbound and Mother 3 in Japan. Mr. Saturn's Quotes will be available in December 2021 with a price tag of 2,970 yen (~$26). It will contain every line uttered by all characters of the species along with the in-game screenshots.

The book will comprise a large part of the package. Inside the Mr. Saturn-filled cover, the set will also include an embroidered badge, a smaller miniature book, and an additional cover for the tiny book.

Mr. Saturn refers to a species of characters that debuted in Earthbound, the second game in the Mother series. They are well-known for their unique body shapes and speeches. Shigesato Itoi also notably used different fonts for their quotes in both the Japanese and English releases.

Itoi's company Hobonichi had previously published Mother: The Complete Scripts in December 2020. It compiled every line available in all three series titles released to date. It also released a lot of merchandise related to the series, such as hotel keychains and plushes of Mr. Saturn and Master Belch.

Mr. Saturn's Quotes book will be available in Japan on December 21, 2021. Hobonichi's stores will start selling the book one week earlier, on December 14, 2021.

The post Mother Mr Saturn Quotes Book Will Appear in December appeared first on Siliconera.

Hobonichi revealed Earthbound collaboration hats made with New Era Cap, and one of the hat designs will be inspired by the game's protagonist Ness. The hats will be available on July 1, 2021, with a price tag of 7,700 yen (~$70). [Thanks, 4Gamer!]

The hats will come in two variations. The first one is colored red and blue with a white top, just like the one worn by Ness in EarthBound. The other variation will instead have a full black color with the word "SMAAAASH!!" embroidered at the front. Both hats will be based on the 9FIFTY model, which has a back snap letting the wearer adjust the size.

Hobonichi will start selling the New Era EarthBound hats on its own online store from July 1, 2021. It can ship the items internationally with FedEx. It will also sell the hats physically in Japan at its stores in Tokyo and Kyoto.

Headed by Shigesato Itoi, the creator of EarthBound and the Mother series, Hobonichi has been constantly releasing new merchandise based on the series. The items range from keychains based on the game's hotels, plushes of Mr. Saturn and Master Belch, and a compilation of script books from all three Mother titles released to date.

These hats are based on EarthBound, the second title in the Mother series released first on SNES. It is also available through Virtual Console on the New Nintendo 3DS and Wii U.

The post EarthBound New Era Hat Will Let You Dress Like Ness appeared first on Siliconera.

Hobonichi MOTHER Project revealed new anniversary artwork created in collaboration with MOTHER 3 art director Nobuhiro Imagawa. The pixel-graphic images were created to celebrate the 15th anniversary of MOTHER 3's release. Additionally, the Hobonichi MOTHER Project also unveiled two new hand towel designs featuring characters from MOTHER 3.

The artwork was posted via the Hobonichi MOTHER Project Twitter , split into three individual posts. Each illustration was created with the concept of what MOTHER 3 would look like if it was a movie. A total of nine images, along with their respective titles were posted, featuring iconic characters and scenes from the game.

Imagawa himself retweeted the post, stating, "I feel truly blessed that I was involved in MOTHER 3, which is loved by many people even today...I still have many scenes that I would like to draw...☺︎"

One image reimagines the battle screen as if it was filmed in a studio, complete with greenscreens and a hanging Firefly. Another image shows a team of Pigmasks with their helmets off, relaxing in a dressing room behind the scenes. Other notable mentions include a gathering of Save Frogs, and a pleasant barbeque featuring Lucas and his family.

You can check out the MOTHER 3 Anniversary Art by Hobonichi below:

[gallery link="file" ids="880417,880418,880419,880420,880421,880425,880422,880423,880424"]

Finally, Hobonichi also announced that it is planning on selling two new MOTHER 3-themed hand towels. The towels will go on sale from June 2021. The hand towels feature pixel art of Lucas, Claus and Boney, as well as Kumatora, Duster, and Salsa. Back in October 2020, Mr. Saturn and Master Belch plushies also released. Hobonichi was also in charge of editing the Ask Iwata book, which was translated into English by Viz Media.

The post Hobonichi Celebrates MOTHER 3 Anniversary With Behind The Scenes Art appeared first on Siliconera.