There are countless stories in the gaming world that need to be told, with many going untold due to the way the game industry often treats archival efforts. When efforts to tell this history arise, it piques my interest. Mother to Earth is a documentary telling the story of the discovery of an Earthbound Beginnings copy almost a decade before the game was officially released by Nintendo and the passion of those enamored with the short-lived RPG series of games.
One of the main reasons we even have gotten to play the two Mother games that weren’t released outside of Japan is emulation, the ability to play games on systems they weren’t originally intended to run on. I’ve been using emulators for many, many years. This coupled with the obsessive nature of collectors wanting to know everything about their hobbies is likely what led to such an incredible discovery.
Mother to Earth tries to discuss these backdoor dealings that are responsible for this game seeing any light that border on illegal. Truthfully its these shady deals and the passion of the fan-base that keeps the Earthbound series in the minds of millions. Of course, Nintendo did eventually release Earthbound Beginnings on the Wii U virtual console, but many players were able to experience this origin story almost a decade earlier.
This film details out this underground world of video game culture, while also celebrating the Earthbound series. Just as the games are quirky and a bit weird, the people who love these games and those that create them are just as colorful. Mother to Earth also dives into how Earthbound even came about in a journey that has many facets to the point that even the producers get caught up in all the twists and turns.
With a few years of research of work already put into the project, Josh Bone-Christian and his team have clearly put as much energy into this documentary as they have excitement for the entire Earthbound series. The film is slated for a December 2018 release.
For more information, check out the 2016 Kickstarter page. Also be sure to follow their official Twitter and Facebook pages.
