Additional evidence that Shigesato Itoi is an awesome guy

The main pieces of evidence that Shigesato Itoi is an awesome guy, of course, can be found in the trio of quirky-yet-poignant RPGs he made for Nintendo systems between 1989 and 2006 known as Mother, Mother 2 (aka EarthBound) and Mother 3.

Another such morsel of proof just popped into my conscience, though, thanks to the stellar Yomuka! blog--with that morsel being that Itoi and his colleagues at Hobo Nikkan Itoi Shinbun (Almost Daily Itoi News) have a tradition of "celebrating the release of every Animal Crossing game by turning office-wide gameplay into an actual work project."



Not only that, but pretty much every employee at "Hobo Nichi," as Itoi's company is called, maintains a blog about their experiences. Check them out by visiting 1101.com and then clicking on the heads of each staffer (scroll down to the bottom of the page). If you only want to see Itoi's Animal Crossing: New Leaf blog, go here.

(Via yomuka.wordpress.com)

Remember that interview in which Shigesato Itoi mentioned a Mr. Saturn spin-off game?

Unless you're Japanese and you're old enough to have read the November 1996 issue of The 64DREAM magazine, you're probably shaking your head in the negative right now.

No worries. Lindsey over at the Yomuka! blog has you covered. She recently translated into English the above-mentioned interview--in which Shigesato Itoi not only chatted (briefly) about a Mr. Saturn spin-off (an action-puzzle game, to be more specific), but also discussed his original intent to make Mother 3 two-dimensional (back when it was still a Nintendo 64 game), his role in naming the Nintendo 64 and more.

Is it strange that I drooled over this screenshot as a teen?

Despite its age, the translated interview--which can be found here--is well worth a read if you're any kind of Mother/EarthBound fan (and, really, what self-respecting gamer isn't?).

See also: Other Mother-related posts