[1989: p. 45]
[2003: p. 49]
DIMENSIONAL SLIP 1
In My Take on MOTHER, the Protagonist is the Inari Sushi-loving Kenshiro¹, and his Girlfriend is Takako Doi.²
橋本治
Author
I think of Famicom games as novels. Though a manga would do, too. Be it novel or manga, I've read them all the way I play a Famicom game — by transporting myself into the story. That's why things like novels or manga I can't get a Famicom experience out of are boring, no matter how sophisticated they may seem.
Last summer, Mr. Itoi asked me: "Wanna try a Famicom game?" To which I said: "Yeah, there's one game I'd like to try, you know?" To tell the truth, it'd be just like me if it were something with a Harlequin or a melodrama theme (oh, and by "try", we meant "make"). You see, I wondered: would it be better if maybe, through the Famicom, we built up experience simulating this thing we call "romance" before we've tried it — or hey, even after we've dipped our toes into it? After all, modern-day life is ready-made from the get-go, so we gain the kinds of experiences that don't do us much good, and you can forget about opportunities for simulated experiences, those that turn into the building blocks for us to start our own lives from.
I think romance translates perfectly to the Famicom, because there are set "rules". Problem is, when you make a game like that, I think people will get super depressed after playing it. If you want something where even getting depressed is in the rules, look no further than romance. But my eyes are crazy tired at the moment, and at the end of the day I believe a novelist should do heavy stuff in novels, so I guess I won't make that kind of Famicom game.
I mean, if Mr. Itoi is making games, I was sure that was the way things were. After all, you do get an attack where "your pride is wounded by the dirty words!"
You know, there aren't a lot of people out there thinking: "I'm going to let others have necessary experiences!" Yet all of Shigesato Itoi's non-copywriting jobs share that trait, don't they? He'll experience a variety of things before others do, then from somewhere among the things he's experienced, you can bet he's thinking, "This one is definitely necessary... this one is definitely good... now this one, everyday people wouldn't be able to relate to this sort of thing, so it would make for a dull experience. Whatever the case is, I know I've been there, so it's bound to be true! There is without a doubt such a thing as a necessary simulated experience, so I have to find a way to provide it. It's my responsibility." He's thinking, "If this kind of thing isn't universal, it's just not interesting at all." And: "How could I do it without it becoming pushy or educational or even religious?" I think the side that takes that into consideration is Shigesato Itoi for you. I'd already figured it was a no-brainer that he would go to the Famicom. That's what the Famicom is all about; that's what games are all about. When he made MOTHER and I heard him say "you'll be moved by the ending", I thought, "Well, of course!" Maybe I'm not the only one he convinced, but it is what it is. Oh well.
MOTHER English-translated Poster
Art Director: Katsumi Asaba 浅葉克己
Designer: Masaharu Takata³ 高田正治
Catch Copy: Hiroshi Ichikura 一倉宏
Translation: Manabu Ookubo 大久保学
(N) Kenshiro
(L) Saiki
(A) Takako Doi
(T) Raoh⁴
(F) Inari Sushi
¹ Kenshiro = The protagonist of Fist of the North Star
² Takako Doi = A politician, the leader of the Japan Socialist Party
³ Click the link above to be taken to an interview in which Mr. Takata talks about the creation of the MOTHER logo (and the English-translated poster).
⁴ Raoh = Another character from Fist of the North Star.
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