Tiny Cartridge

Let’s watch some Earthbound There are two new and awesome Earthbound/Mother 2 playthroughs you can watch this weekend: Shinya Arino plays through Mother 2 in this Game Center CX episode subtitled by Last Continue GCCX - you can download it or stream it Series creator Shigesato Itoi recently played through Mother 2 too — watch the 4+ hour broadcast here Shout outs to Maple Leaf for the Mother 3 GIF. BUY Retro Game Challenge, Retro Game Master DVD set

Let’s watch some Earthbound

There are two new and awesome Earthbound/Mother 2 playthroughs you can watch this weekend:

Shout outs to Maple Leaf for the Mother 3 GIF.

BUY Retro Game Challenge, Retro Game Master DVD set
Shigesato Itoi + Satoru Iwata I know that a number of you have crushes on these middle-aged Japanese men, so I’m sure you’re squealing over this photo of them together, thumbs barely touching, two hearts becoming one. Mother 2 releases on Japan’s Wii U Virtual Console this week, which means we get this great photo of Nintendo’s boss and Mother’s creator introducing a conversation between the two today (hoping for a translation soon). Wii U’s Miiverse has also kicked off a special Mother 2 community that’s filled with Western fans begging for a Virtual Console release outside of Japan, and endearing comments from Itoi like these: “Ahh Ahh Can you hear me? This is Shigesato Itoi. Please give me something. Please give me Test Test” “I’m about to eat a banana that’s been sitting in 50 degree celsius water for 15 minutes straight. ….Yum! Mother 2 is nice, but so is this banana.” On a related note, awesome Japanese design site PingMag is back — here’s a great interview they had with Itoi about advertising and t-shirts from seven years ago. BUY Mother 3/Earthbound, Hobonichi Techo 2013

Shigesato Itoi + Satoru Iwata

I know that a number of you have crushes on these middle-aged Japanese men, so I’m sure you’re squealing over this photo of them together, thumbs barely touching, two hearts becoming one.

Mother 2 releases on Japan’s Wii U Virtual Console this week, which means we get this great photo of Nintendo’s boss and Mother’s creator introducing a conversation between the two today (hoping for a translation soon).

Wii U’s Miiverse has also kicked off a special Mother 2 community that’s filled with Western fans begging for a Virtual Console release outside of Japan, and endearing comments from Itoi like these:

“Ahh Ahh Can you hear me? This is Shigesato Itoi. Please give me something. Please give me Test Test”

“I’m about to eat a banana that’s been sitting in 50 degree celsius water for 15 minutes straight. ….Yum! Mother 2 is nice, but so is this banana.”

On a related note, awesome Japanese design site PingMag is back — here’s a great interview they had with Itoi about advertising and t-shirts from seven years ago.

BUY Mother 3/Earthbound, Hobonichi Techo 2013
This is one of many lovely quotes from Earthbound/Mother creator Shigesato Itoi featured in his company’s Hobonichi Techo 2013 planner, which we published a praising review for earlier this week. Also published online earlier this week: a translated interview between Itoi and Sonya Park of Arts & Science, the company charged with localizing the popular planner. It not only provides insight on some design decisions behind the English edition, but also goes into the Techo’s origins and early challenges, as well as Itoi’s career switch from advertising to making/writing all the wonderful stuff he puts out now. BUY Mother 3/Earthbound, Hobonichi Techo 2013

This is one of many lovely quotes from Earthbound/Mother creator Shigesato Itoi featured in his company’s Hobonichi Techo 2013 planner, which we published a praising review for earlier this week.

Also published online earlier this week: a translated interview between Itoi and Sonya Park of Arts & Science, the company charged with localizing the popular planner. It not only provides insight on some design decisions behind the English edition, but also goes into the Techo’s origins and early challenges, as well as Itoi’s career switch from advertising to making/writing all the wonderful stuff he puts out now.

BUY Mother 3/Earthbound, Hobonichi Techo 2013
Tiny Review: Hobonichi Techo 2013 It might seem odd for Tiny Cartridge to review a daily planner, but I’m always curious about anything Mother/Earthbound creator Shigesato Itoi is involved in, whether it’s his copywriting work, his appearances on Iron Chef as a judge, or even his free DSiWare app for tracking your health. Plus, when I shared the news last month that Itoi’s company Hobonichi released its popular Japanese planner in English for the first time this year, many of you showed interest in importing a copy. Hobonichi was kind enough to send a Techo (planner) over for us to review, so now you get to hear why you should (or shouldn’t) buy the planner. Four things that are fab: 1. The creativity it encourages - The Techo can be used as a traditional organizer to schedule your life and plot out appointments, but the design of its daily pages, each outlined with a charcoal gray grid, allow for and encourage much more. You can use it as a diary, comic journal, scrapbook, sketchbook, school notebook, budget tracker, etc. Fill it with illustrations of cats or Animal Crossing’s K.K. Slider if that’s what you’re into; this isn’t a planner you have to take seriously. Having no artistic ability, I’m using mine as a chronicle for a mishmash of things, recording my work-out progress, new food I’ve tried with short reviews, moments/jokes I enjoyed with my wife, tweets from @therealjuicyj I want to remember, whatever I watched or listened to that day, etc. I’m trying to live that examined life. 2. The quotes - Plenty of calendars and planners are filled with inspiring daily words, but being from Itoi and his company, the Techo offers eccentric quotes taken from his interviews and articles posted on Hobo Nikkan Itoi Shinbun, much of them never published in English. Take these words from Itoi printed on the the very first days of the year for instance: The idea of ‘just another day’ is really quite curious.You could say it’s just like every other day,or you could say there’s no other day like it.Someone is born; some people break up.Those are some of the things that take place on ‘just another day.’ And because Itoi’s worked closely with them over the years, you’ll find quotes from Nintendo’s Satoru Iwata and Shigeru Miyamoto in there, too. It’s a treat to turn the pages every other day, and read the next quote. 3. The accessories - Something about the Techo makes you want to go out and buy accessories to enhance your experience with it, and Hobonichi is more than happy to sell you a wide range of “tools and toys” through its site: stickers, stencils, pens (I bought a multi-color Muji pen to keep clipped to my planner case), tiny scissors, mini post-its, small Polaroid cameras that print photo stickers, and other items to decorate your pages with. Hobonichi provided me with one of its classy leather cases, which are way pricy at $158 apiece but definitely feel/look expensive. People might mistake you for a professional who’s on top of things and making bank when you pull one of these out at work, even if your Techo is nothing more than a collection of drawings you’ve made of butts. Seeing the dozens of other cases Hobonichi sells, I want to pick up another one with more pockets, as they can double as wallets or pouches that hold things you want handy. For those seeking a personal touch, there are clear jackets that you can slide your own designs into — or you can create a cover like Birdie’s Mother-embroidered case pictured above. 4. The community - There’s already a growing group of Techo fans in the West, partly due to the Mother fans who’ve picked one up, and also due to the efforts of Lindsay Nelson, who helped localize the planner. Lindsay has not only created a site that shows you how to buy and get the most out of your planner; she’s created a Tumblr where people can post Techo photos to show their love. Marveling over the creative ways others are using their Techos has given me plenty of ideas for how to enjoy my planner. It’s like the physical planner equivalent to downloading updates that introduce new features to a journaling app, or seeing others post hacks/mods for their Techos. Three things that are butt: 1. We live in a digital age - Tumblr, Facebook, Google Calendar/iCal, or apps like Evernote can do almost everything the Techo can as far as traditional planner tasks go, short of delivering you quotes from Itoi. For many, the physical planner just lacks the power features digital solutions provide: sharing with friends and contacts, commenting and reblogging, tagging and searching, easy importing and exporting, etc. And copying and pasting is so much more convenient when it’s a couple of keystrokes, not a minute spent cutting out and gluing whatever you want to save. There are still special joys you can only get with a physical journal like the Techo, however, like searching for the perfect pen to pair with your planner, or getting to mark in the margins that a sports team you follow won, or using a butt-based scoring system to rate your day, or affixing colorful cat stickers next to your appointments, or writing out the name of your lover or crush over and over during your daydreams, or making quick sketches of your meals, or slowly building a row of books on your shelf to create a multi-volume chronicle of your life (it helps that the simple jackets  and their spines look so attractive). 2. It’s already mid-February - You might feel wasteful, buying a planner that spans December 2012 - December 2013. Or you can do what I did, and pick something you’ve been meaning to record, and fill the blank pages for those months you missed — recipes, the first chapters of that book you’ve been meaning to start writing, lyrics to Hall and Oates songs for quick reference, portraits of people in your life, unsent love letters to Tiny and/or our Lizard, etc. Or you could use those blank pages to stash footnotes from your daily entries. 3. It’s more expensive than most planners - A Techo alone, without a cover, will cost you $29 before you even pay shipping and handling from Japan. You could get a discounted 3DS game for that amount!  Score: I’m actually using my Techo - I couldn’t tell you how many times I’ve purchased planners or received them from others, starting from my early teen years.  Without fail, I abandoned them within weeks, if not days. I’ve found the Techo so much fun to use, though, thanks to the community around it and how personalized mine feels. I expect to fill this planner’s pages until the end of the year, and pick up a new one for 2014. I know some people who are interested in buying one are waiting for the 2014 edition, but I don’t see the point of having a couple extra months’ worth of pages, versus having something now that can help you organize your days/thoughts, and examine your life. Why put that off? If you decide to buy a Techo, make sure to read Lindsay’s instructions and bookmark this useful page. BUY Mother 3/Earthbound, Hobonichi Techo 2013IMAGES VIA Mochigram

Tiny Review: Hobonichi Techo 2013

It might seem odd for Tiny Cartridge to review a daily planner, but I’m always curious about anything Mother/Earthbound creator Shigesato Itoi is involved in, whether it’s his copywriting work, his appearances on Iron Chef as a judge, or even his free DSiWare app for tracking your health.

Plus, when I shared the news last month that Itoi’s company Hobonichi released its popular Japanese planner in English for the first time this year, many of you showed interest in importing a copy. Hobonichi was kind enough to send a Techo (planner) over for us to review, so now you get to hear why you should (or shouldn’t) buy the planner.

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Need this: Planners from Itoi’s company

This is going to be the year, right? This is going to be the year when you finally get your shit together, when you get your life organized and make a mark on this world. This is your breakout year.

All you need are some GTD tools to make it happen, you tell yourself. And it just so happens that Hobonichi, the Japanese company headed by Mother/Earthbound series creator Shigesato Itoi produces a popular planner, and it’s now available in English.

The Hobonichi Planners are like a combination schedule book, diary, notebook, and scrapbook, and they are filled with eclectic quotes and “fun items of interest about Japan and countries around the world.” And come December 31, you can pop the book on your shelf, and pick up the next year’s planner, creating a multi-volume chronicle of your life.

The planners run for around $29, but the fancy leather covers cost $168 — that’s how they get ya. Shipping will set you back another $14 to $17, too. There are also fancy limited edition covers on the Japanese site, and some of them even let you slip in a custom design like the official Mother 3 jacket.

Lindsay Nelson, who helped translate the English edition, has put up some handy instructions for the ordering process.

BUY Mother 3, Earthbound
  • Source earthboundcentral.com

“The ‘Mother republication’ thing I mentioned briefly before is making progress.

It’s not Mother 4, though! This has to do with making Mother playable. I can’t give out any details just yet, but I do at least need to say that it isn’t 4.”

Cryptic tweets from Mother/Earthbound creator Shigesato Itoi about a new project he’s working on for the series. Earthbound Central, which translated and posted the tweets, warns fans not to get too hopeful, but I think it’s pretty clear that an enhanced port of Mother 3 is finally releasing in the West through the eShop.

There’s also an update for the fanmade Mother 3 GBA English patch on the way, though it may see a delay depending on whatever Itoi’s working on (Mother 3 on U.S. eShop).

BUY Mother 3, Earthbound

  • Source twitter.com

Earthbound creator releasing free DSiWare app next week (don’t get too excited)

Who knew that Shigesato Itoi — renowned novelist, Mother/Earthbound creator, and insightful Iron Chef guest judge — had another game in him? Unfortunately, it’s not another poignant RPG like the previous titles he’s worked on, but it’s still an intriguing project.

Releasing next week in Japan via DSiWare, Hobonichi Health Notebook is a useful app that helps you track your daily health, registering your weight, height, blood pressure, allergies, vaccinations, and even, uh, bowel movements (I think? This is in the booklet version — more on that below.). You can keep a detailed medical history and note symptoms you’d like to bring up at future doctor’s appointments, too.

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Ness resin figure by Camille Young.

If you haven’t seen Camille’s Mother/Earthbound sculptures before, you should get familiar — they’re fab.

On a related note (literally, hur hur hur), her husband Reid Young, of Starmen.net and Fangamer fame, once told me about an old Iron Chef episode that featured Mother creator Shigesato Itoi as a guest judge. I finally watched that “Battle Bell Pepper” episode this morning:

I know most people consider the dubbed voices cheesy, but I love them! JC tells me that some of Iron Chef’s voice actors lent their talents to Shenmue, which I find brilliant.

See also: The exhausted Barrier Trio

[Via Camille Young, Select Button]

A scene from Mother 3: “The exhausted Barrier Trio struck one final Barrier Pose… It was spectacular.” See also: Download the Mother 3 fan translation [Via Ryeblog]

A scene from Mother 3: “The exhausted Barrier Trio struck one final Barrier Pose… It was spectacular.”

See also: Download the Mother 3 fan translation

[Via Ryeblog]

On possibly losing Itoi’s words with the Mother 3 fan translation patch

Please forgive this long excerpt taken from Tim Rogers’ Mother 3 review, but I thought it relevant to the imminent release of the GBA game’s English translation patch.

Though I expect that the fan translation’s script will be satisfactory and as close to the original as possible — I very much respect the translation team’s talents and project lead Tomato’s experience working with Funimation — it’s still worth reflecting on what might have been lost with this localization:

“Words are very important to Mother 3. Words are at its core; words are its pride and joy. Translating it would, according to a dictionary, involve changing all of the words to another language.

There’s a chance the words could be wonderful in English; after all, English is the language of Shakespeare, and the Bible (according to Henry Higgins). However, in the realm of games, where there are very often text-compression issues when translating from Japanese into English, what are the chances a translation of Mother 3 could be as free-wheeling and humorous as the Japanese version, while still retaining the dramatic weight where it counts?

Mother 3 is as meticulously balanced as a narrative as it is as a videogame … It’s a snapshot of a brainstorm. Translating it would be like making a painting of a photocopy of that brainstorm. You’re bound to lose something, and if it loses something, it’s not perfect.

For example, have you ever read Japanese or Chinese poetry in English translation? Line lengths all distorted all over the place; it’s not worth it, jack. It’s really not. In Japanese or Chinese, that stuff is perfect. There’s a reason they call it poetry.”

For those of you who’re afraid to load Rogers’ review on your browser, unsure if the full text will exceed your cable company’s monthly bandwidth cap, you can take comfort in that he gave Mother 3 a perfect score, ranking it #4 of Action Button’s 25 Best Games of All-Time.