“[So and So game] is really great, too bad it was never released in the US”
What does this statement mean anymore in an age where all ROMs from all regions are available online to play for free? To your average person, initial release availability 20-40 years ago is totally irrelevant, because it is available now.
The year is 2006. I'm in the 7th grade. The hype for the release of MOTHER 3 is only visible on the english speaking web in a place called starmen.net. There were famous petitions and large scale annoyance-campaigns for NOA to release the game in english. It was a big deal. To me, it was the biggest deal. I was calling gamestop daily. It was a different time. GBA and NDS were still highly relevant platforms. The Wii was peak hotness.
I got the Mother 3 deluxe box for $300 on ebay. It was the most expensive birthday gift I'd ever asked for. The acquisition of the Mother 3 Deluxe Box was the exact moment my priviledge had peaked. Back then none of my guardians even knew how to use eBay. I lucked out big time. It was also the last time I'd accept any birthday or christmas gifts from said guardians, as I was about to cut them off completely and run away, accepting no money or gifts as they'd try to bribe me back, ignoring phone calls etc. I played through Mother 3 in Japanese, on the Micro using a [translation guide from GameFAQs](https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/gba/914622-mother-3/faqs/42686) which I had printed out when no one was looking at my school copy machine. I still cried during the ending even while reading a weird stapled together guide! I digress.
2011, the english patch is released to much hype. Yada yada. Nintendo didn't release it. You know the rest.
By the time of the Wii U era, there were still petitions to release Mother 3. At that point, to me, anything would be too little too late. The release of Mother 1 on Wii U virtual console was *cool*, but not as relevant. Again, the phrase for me is always "too little too late". The distinction between an official release and just getting the ROMs yourself was getting blurry. A cartridge release was the goal back then, and cartridges were **out**!
Today, I find it to be totally irrelevant, aside for historical facts and intrigue, and financial significance to the companies in power. From a cultural, entertainment, and artistic standpoint, it's the same that there's no "official" release. The main difference would be for a child or someone who is incapable of using ROMs and emulators being exposed to a game, or whatever sliver of legitimacy is given when a game is released for purchase. Mother 3 isn't playing on Netflix. It takes some dedication to acquire your ROMs rather than being spoon-fed to you by big company X. The width of that margin is arguable, and is argued all over the place by games industry folk. It's their margin of profit, after all.
The distinction between the US title of _Final Fantasy III_ and Japanese counterpart _Final Fantasy VI_ has all but vanished, with subsequent rereleases outnumbering (pun) the original release. The distinction is only there for discussing the limited physical release from 1996. As time goes on, the definitive version of that game is called *Final Fantasy VI*.
So now, when someone says "too bad it was never released in the United States", my thought is that, sure, it would have been cool 30 years ago, but doesn't really matter now. In this context, someone who has no memory of pre-internet age, can't say "too bad I never got to play [so-and-so game]." They say "too bad it was never released stateside." The latter statement has a different meaning.
...Unless there's still no fan translation, in which case, pragmatically speaking I would say it's too bad it's still not in my language that I know how to read.
I think as time goes on, the original JP release will be the definitive version from an artistic standpoint, and what people play will usually come down to language, but zoomers playing roms and whatever aren't going to need to know that FFIII was FFVI. It's just FFVI now.
My bias is that I always prefer the original Japanese release from the point of pure, uncensored artistic expression. If the US version or other later releases have changes made by the director/creator then that takes precedent, but the typical user of this forum understands how rare that was. I'm speaking in general terms here. As time goes on, things congeal into place. I think that the distinction will be less compulsory as it is today.
As time goes on, the original artistic expression will be what's valued. We already have people translating Japanese cartridges to their language of choice en masse, because it's ideal. Sometimes the western box art is cooler, but for the most part, it's really not, lol. Maybe these video games won't matter once all us 80's/90's kids are dead, but the "definitive" version of stuff is becoming clearer, and it's usually whatever is most "true to the original creator's intent".
I wrote this because I'm noticing a bell curve with people always having to say _"Final Fantasy III, or, in Japan, Final Fantasy VI"_. It's definitely my idealism/pragmatism/first principles/autism/whatever you wanna call it, but even back in 2006 I was annoyed how _every time_ they'd say _"Earthbound/Mother2"_ on starmen.net forums, like, _just say Mother 2!! Everyone here knows what you're talking about!! If they don't know they can google it!!_
Today, I heard someone say for the one millionth time "too bad this was never released stateside, because it's really fun!" in regards to a game from 1994. My thought was, "well, you know that because you had fun playing it, right?"
Maybe it would be more culturally significant or widely known, but, there's tons of game-enjoyers out there shouting on the internet about their most obscure favorites.
Thanks for reading. I'm enjoying my new keyboard. This was easier than finishing one of my 26 drafted thread ideas. Hopefully it didn't come off as a rant or mean to anyone in particular. I'm just interested in the way things are gonna be one hundred years from now, and looking forward to the day we no longer have to fully type out MOTHER2/Earthbound. Just say Mother 2, unless you specifically mean the version where Ness keeps his PJ's on in Magicant. The distinction will become less compulsory, and these games will just be regarded for what they were rather than the politics surrounding the release.