Trivia / EarthBound Beginnings

• Dummied Out:
  • Poison Needle and Stone of Origin were items that poisoned and petrified the enemy respectively, but in the final game they are just enemy attacks.
  • There is an unused item called the IC-Chip, internally flagged as only usable by Lloyd. It may or may not be related to the Memory Chip item which was added to MOTHER 1+2, which is obtained after EVE gets wrecked. The item is similar in function to the Onyx Hook, except that instead of Magicant, it transports you to EVE's wreckage. The IC-Chip is still in the GBA version, where it remains Dummied Out.
  • The item "Time Machine" was in the original Family Computer version of the game but Dummied Out of later versions. Just like the Real Rocket, which remained in later versions, it was an item for sale in the elementary school, but buying it triggered a humorous cutscene in which it is accidentally used to temporarily blow up the room.
• Fan Translation: At the time of the discovery of the English prototype, a group of fans had been working on their own fan translation; eventually, they were the ones who obtained the prototype and released the ROM to the general public, and for a while there were those who saw that as somewhat suspicious. Full story here.
  • There was also a Fan Translation of the MOTHER 1 portion of the Game Boy Advance Compilation Re-release MOTHER 1+2 made by famed fan translator Tomato (the same who headed the translation of MOTHER 3) that brings the text more in line with the original Japanese version, such as making all the towns named after holidays, as well as renaming Giegue to his name in the sequel, "Giygas" in order to tie it in with its sequel better. This translation also contains several rewrites in order to recreate the brand of humor that EarthBound has, and adds in an "Easy Ring" item that doubles the amount of experience and money earned from battles, significantly cutting down the amount of grinding required to complete the game. Tomato has, however, disowned the fan translation following the official Virtual Console release of the English prototype, keeping in line with how his fan translations are only intended to hold people off until an official English release surfaces. The fan-polishing Game Mod for the original NES game, MOTHER 25th Anniversary Edition, also uses this translation (albeit retaining the name "Giegue", though a fork exists for those who prefer "Giygas"), adapted to the NES.
• Late Export for You: The NES version is a particularly interesting case— it was complete and ready to go, then it simply didn't happen, likely because of both difficult marketing, the end of the NES lifespan, the fact that EarthBound began production right around the time of localization and was expected to be released early in the SNES' life (as opposed to spending an unprecedented four years in Development Hell) and the fact that the ambitiously expanded ROM size and packaging plans would've made production unnecessarily expensive; thus, from its unearthing in 1998 to its Virtual Console release in 2015, the only way to play the game was through emulation and reproduction cartridges. The GBA version could be because of rumored legal issues said to doom the franchise's Western presence, but it could simply have been out of lack of perceived interest, as EarthBound already tanked in America 8 years prior (though this is often attributed nowadays to bad marketing). On June 14th, 2015 the game got a Wii U Virtual Console release under the title EarthBound Beginnings.
• Market-Based Title: EarthBound Beginnings in the long-overdue English release.
• Milestone Celebration: The release of EarthBound: Beginnings on the Wii U coincides with the 20th anniversary of the EarthBound SNES game in North America.
• Newbie Boom: When the game hit Wii U Virtual Console localized, fans that either hadn't heard of the game or didn't want to deal with the legal grayness of downloading a ROM of a No Export for You game were able to play it.
• Reality Subtext: The removal of the Crow and the B. B. Gang Member enemies' cigarettes in the unreleased NES localisation was carried into all future releases on Itoi's specific request, after he quit smoking himself.
• The Shelf of Movie Languishment: The game was actually localized for the NES, but it wasn't released due to how late it would have come out in the console's lifespan. Nintendo eventually used the localization for the international release on the Wii U in 2015.
• Throw It In!: The running feature in the English version was originally added in for debugging purposes, but localization director and English script writer Phil Sandhop convinced the development team to leave it in the final game. Not only was the run button retained in the Mother side of MOTHER 1+2, but Mother 3 would go on to flesh it out into a full-fledged game mechanic.
• Word of Dante: Although Giygas officially never changed names between the two games until the official English release of Earthbound Beginnings (his Japanese name remained consistent) many Western fans refer to his original form as Giegue after the prototype translation and his form in EarthBound as Giygas, with him changing names upon transformation. This is in order to play up the differences between the two appearances in a similar fashion to Ganondorf and Ganon.
• Word of Saint Paul: The live-action commercial's depiction of Ninten is the basis of a vast majority of fanart of this game — adopting his neckerchief and (less frequently) slightly different clothing here as a way to differentiate Ninten from Ness, who is by far the more famous wearer of their standard clothing.
• Write What You Know: In a 2019 interview with Retro Game Master host Arino Kacho, Shigesato Itoi revealed that he has asthma, which often made sleeping difficult for him in the past because lying down would trigger breathing problems. Accordingly, Ninten also has asthma, which is easily set off if he gets hit by smoke; Itoi even stated that this was one of the first traits he devised for the character.

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