5 ms·

Iwata was apparently a legendary programmer. We've learned bits and pieces of his prowess in translated interviews over the years. Iwata was a lead programmer

Iwata was apparently a legendary programmer. We've learned bits and pieces of his prowess in translated interviews over the years. Iwata was a lead programmer on Earthbound/Mother 2 (my favourite game of all time). The game went through a troubled development and if you trust the impressions of Itoi, the lead designer, Iwata's incredible skills saved the game from cancellation. An Earthbound fan translated a Famitsu interview from Mother 2's initial release where he talks about programming a bit. https://yomuka.wordpress.com/2011/12/24/weekly-famitsu-september-9-1994-2/ https://yomuka.wordpress.com/2011/12/24/weekly-famitsu-septe... EDIT: More here: http://earthboundcentral.com/2013/03/itoi-iwata-discuss-mother-2-before-virtual-console-release/ http://earthboundcentral.com/2013/03/itoi-iwata-discuss-moth... Incredibly, Iwata was still doing some programming work during the Gamecube era in the 2000s. http://nintendoeverything.com/iwata-on-his-super-programmer-days-helped-get-smash-bros-melee-out-on-time/ http://nintendoeverything.com/iwata-on-his-super-programmer-...

agumonkey 11y ago
First time I take a look at Earthbound. Fine pixel art.
- Natsu 11y ago
  I remember waiting for it to come out after reading everything about it in Nintendo Power for months (even to the point of asking them why the Octopus Eraser turned into a Pencil Eraser). It was a great and funny game. I'm glad he saved it, because a lot of us have enjoyed it over the years. That game really rewards exploration. There are hilarious jokes hidden everywhere... even on the back of billboards :)
- david-given 11y ago
  Earthbound's amazing. Don't let the cutesy pixel art fool you --- there's a lot more to it than first appears. And the end game boss is, like, one of the most disturbing ever. My only complaint is that it is a bit long. It'd be nice to have some cheats that would let you level up more quickly, in order to get through the story a bit more briskly. But even so it's totally worth playing, and has a killed soundtrack.
  - DiabloD3 11y ago
    First time I played it as a kid, it took me about 4-5 days to play it start to finish. Now that I've played through it at least a dozen times since then, I can do it in about 2. This is about normal for a SNES-era RPG. The end boss is maybe one of the best end bosses I've ever seen in a game, the music is absolutely amazing, and the characters are wonderful. I don't want to say anything more because not only will it be a spoiler, but it may not even make sense out of context... and once you play Earthbound, you will know exactly what I mean.
    - Scuds 11y ago
      > The end boss is maybe one of the best end bosses I've ever seen in a game, the music is absolutely amazing 8-bit chiptune throwback before throwbacks were chic = jawdropping for 1995
  - agumonkey 11y ago
    I got that it was a special game from the comments, but so far I only have screenshot to judge. I might pop an emulator to try it though.
  - JonnieCache 11y ago
    I still haven't played earthbound (iirc it wasnt published in europe) and I'm thinking of trying this romhack which apparently improves the controls. Can anyone whos played the original comment if this is a good idea? http://www.romhacking.net/hacks/1111/ http://www.romhacking.net/hacks/1111/
    - gambiting 11y ago
      Mother and Mother 2 are both available on Wii U as Earthbound:Beginnings and Earthbound. Good reason to buy them legally :-)
      - deleted 11y ago
        [deleted]
      - 11y ago
lookbothways 11y ago
http://www.1101.com/home.html http://www.1101.com/home.html “When I’m parting with a friend, regardless of the circumstances, I find it best to just say, ‘See you later.’ We’ll meet again. After all, we’re friends. That’s right—nothing unusual about it. I’ll see you later. You went on a trip far, far away, even though it was planned for many years from now. You wore your best outfit and said ‘Sorry for the short notice,’ though you didn’t say it out loud. You always put yourself last, after you’d finished helping everyone else. You were so generous as a friend that this trip might be your very first selfish act. I still can’t grasp what’s happened. It feels like I could still get a light-hearted e-mail asking me out to lunch at any moment—after you’ve made sure lunch wouldn’t disrupt my schedule, of course. You can invite me out whenever you want. I’ll invite you, too. So for now, let’s plan on meeting again. You can call me up whenever you like, and I’ll give you a call, too. I still have a lot to talk to you about, and if I come up with any particularly good ideas, I’ll let you know. So let’s meet again. No–I suppose we’re already meeting. Right here, right now.” — Shigesato Itoi
- chazu 11y ago
  Damnit now I'm crying. The fact that Iwata-san's passing is being mourned by so many around the world really speaks to his contributions to gaming, and also to the fact that video games are already - and have been for 30+ years - a true art form.
amyjess 11y ago
I'll probably post this as a separate submission, but EarthBound's programming was sublime. Most of the actual native 65C816 code was just a VM, and the actual game was written in a high-level language that targeted the VM. http://earthboundcentral.com/2011/04/a-look-at-the-mother-2-side/ http://earthboundcentral.com/2011/04/a-look-at-the-mother-2-...

agumonkey 11y ago

First time I take a look at Earthbound. Fine pixel art.

Natsu 11y ago
I remember waiting for it to come out after reading everything about it in Nintendo Power for months (even to the point of asking them why the Octopus Eraser turned into a Pencil Eraser). It was a great and funny game. I'm glad he saved it, because a lot of us have enjoyed it over the years. That game really rewards exploration. There are hilarious jokes hidden everywhere... even on the back of billboards :)
david-given 11y ago
Earthbound's amazing. Don't let the cutesy pixel art fool you --- there's a lot more to it than first appears. And the end game boss is, like, one of the most disturbing ever. My only complaint is that it is a bit long. It'd be nice to have some cheats that would let you level up more quickly, in order to get through the story a bit more briskly. But even so it's totally worth playing, and has a killed soundtrack.
- DiabloD3 11y ago
  First time I played it as a kid, it took me about 4-5 days to play it start to finish. Now that I've played through it at least a dozen times since then, I can do it in about 2. This is about normal for a SNES-era RPG. The end boss is maybe one of the best end bosses I've ever seen in a game, the music is absolutely amazing, and the characters are wonderful. I don't want to say anything more because not only will it be a spoiler, but it may not even make sense out of context... and once you play Earthbound, you will know exactly what I mean.
  - Scuds 11y ago
    > The end boss is maybe one of the best end bosses I've ever seen in a game, the music is absolutely amazing 8-bit chiptune throwback before throwbacks were chic = jawdropping for 1995
- agumonkey 11y ago
  I got that it was a special game from the comments, but so far I only have screenshot to judge. I might pop an emulator to try it though.
- JonnieCache 11y ago
  I still haven't played earthbound (iirc it wasnt published in europe) and I'm thinking of trying this romhack which apparently improves the controls. Can anyone whos played the original comment if this is a good idea? http://www.romhacking.net/hacks/1111/ http://www.romhacking.net/hacks/1111/
  - gambiting 11y ago
    Mother and Mother 2 are both available on Wii U as Earthbound:Beginnings and Earthbound. Good reason to buy them legally :-)
    - deleted 11y ago
      [deleted]
    - 11y ago

lookbothways 11y ago

http://www.1101.com/home.html http://www.1101.com/home.html “When I’m parting with a friend, regardless of the circumstances, I find it best to just say, ‘See you later.’ We’ll meet again. After all, we’re friends. That’s right—nothing unusual about it. I’ll see you later. You went on a trip far, far away, even though it was planned for many years from now. You wore your best outfit and said ‘Sorry for the short notice,’ though you didn’t say it out loud. You always put yourself last, after you’d finished helping everyone else. You were so generous as a friend that this trip might be your very first selfish act. I still can’t grasp what’s happened. It feels like I could still get a light-hearted e-mail asking me out to lunch at any moment—after you’ve made sure lunch wouldn’t disrupt my schedule, of course. You can invite me out whenever you want. I’ll invite you, too. So for now, let’s plan on meeting again. You can call me up whenever you like, and I’ll give you a call, too. I still have a lot to talk to you about, and if I come up with any particularly good ideas, I’ll let you know. So let’s meet again. No–I suppose we’re already meeting. Right here, right now.” — Shigesato Itoi

chazu 11y ago
Damnit now I'm crying. The fact that Iwata-san's passing is being mourned by so many around the world really speaks to his contributions to gaming, and also to the fact that video games are already - and have been for 30+ years - a true art form.

amyjess 11y ago

I'll probably post this as a separate submission, but EarthBound's programming was sublime. Most of the actual native 65C816 code was just a VM, and the actual game was written in a high-level language that targeted the VM. http://earthboundcentral.com/2011/04/a-look-at-the-mother-2-side/ http://earthboundcentral.com/2011/04/a-look-at-the-mother-2-...