Feelings of MOTHER 3

Shigesato Itoi Interview

(2006)

Hello, this is Nagata from Hobo Nikkan Itoi Shinbun. Three years after the production of MOTHER 3 was restarted, I interviewed MOTHER 3 creator Shigesato Itoi. This wasn’t a conventional interview, with a third party lobbing questions, because I accompanied Itoi on most of his visits to the team during development. As a result I feel that we were able to set aside the usual pleasantries and atmosphere-building and reach the genuine core of the matter without embellishment. Consider these the liner notes for a new work, released after a twelve-year hiatus.

This article is available in Japanese, English. ＞ Japanese（日本語）

Last Part

Shigesato Itoi and Games

When you made the first MOTHER game, you weren’t actually a professional game creator.

Itoi: Not even close.

Your approach to making games hasn’t changed, but now you’re acknowledged as a game creator.

Itoi: Probably because I already made two games.

I’m sure.

Itoi: Whether I’m considered a game creator doesn’t really matter to me. At some point, I stopped thinking about what my main job title was. Even if it’s a job where I’m producing something but not working on it directly, or if I’m an assistant for something, the thing I’m doing at the time is my main job. Heck, you could even say at times that pooping is my main job.

(Laughs)

Itoi: So that’s how I feel about it. If I go to Hawaii for vacation, I don’t think of my vacation as having started when I board the plane. When I set foot outside my house, I’m on a trip to Hawaii. To take it a step further, you could say that a Hawaiian vacation involves packing suitcases and buying books. Similarly, I’m not thinking about whether something is technically my main job or not.

I see.

Itoi: So whether it’s about the way I make games, or my feelings or attitude towards it, I don’t think anything has changed since I made the first MOTHER game.

Totally.

Itoi: I don’t think there are that many ways for me to make a game, though. If someone in my position were to be serious about making one, I can’t think of many other ways to do it beyond how I have already. It might seem peculiar in the game industry now, but that’s how I feel after having made three of them.

Are you going to make any more games?

Itoi: (Laughs)

(Laughs)

Itoi: There’s no MOTHER 4. But now that the Nintendo DS is out, it looks like the ways to make and play games are changing.

And I’m sure they’ll continue to change.

Itoi: The scale of projects and the production process will become simpler and lighter. If that continues, I’d think about what we (rather than just “I”) can do. Maybe Hobonichi can make a game, or something. Or at least something to play with, if not a game.

Yeah.

Itoi: If we can create something that's exciting—something that blurs the line between work and play—then of course I'd love to make it. And I wouldn’t ask if we could make it, I’d just say “We’re making it!” So if we make something, let’s give our best presentation.

Okay. (Laughs)

Itoi: It’s not like games are the only medium out there. I want us to feel like we’re boldly branching out when we look for what we should do next, almost like we’re skinny-dipping. If we want to make something, and it seems like a game would be the best fit, then that’d be great.

Yes. (Laughs) Good work on the game. You did good.

Itoi: Thank you.