Earthbound creator says new series installment is 'impossible'

Shigesato Itoi, creator of the Mother series (known as EarthBound in the West), won't be making another game in the classic franchise, according to a tweet from the game designer.

In response to a fan question asking him to consider making a Mother 4, Itoi responded simply responded, "Impossible."

無理。@whirluigi 糸井さんにMOTHER4を作らせる方法を教えて下さい。

— 糸井 重里 (@itoi_shigesato) April 29, 2013

Itoi, an influential essayist and copywriter, is probably best known for his contribution to Nintendo's Mother games. The titles take place in settings reminiscent of the modern U.S. and arm players with common objects like frying pans against a strange array of enemies, including inanimate objects and aliens.

In January Nintendo announced Mother 2, known as the original EarthBound outside of Japan, would launch on the Wii U Virtual Console in March as part of the service's Trial Campaign, which offered a new Nintendo Entertainment System game at a discount each month.

In a Nintendo Direct presentation last month, the company announced EarthBound would be released for Wii U Virtual Console in North America and Europe later this year. The decision to release the classic role-playing game was due to popular fan demand via the Miiverse networking service. Shortly after, the creators of a popular fan translation for Mother 3 publicly stated they would "gladly" offer Nintendo their script should the company choose to localize the title.