Mother 3, the RPG from Nintendo that has never been released outside of Japan, may finally see the light of day in the United States thanks to a dedicated group of fans. A team of fans, including a professional translator, have localized the game for an English release, and have offered their translation of the game for free to Nintendo so that the game could eventually be released. The poster, using the name Mato, had this to say about the offer.
"I realize that localizing a game this size can cost a lot, so if it'll help in even the slightest, I'll gladly offer to let Nintendo use my text translation files for any use at all, completely for free. I'll even edit the files to fit whatever new standards are necessary (content, formatting, memory size, etc.), completely for free. I'll even retranslate everything from scratch if need be. Just whatever it takes to get an official release out."
If Nintendo indeed chooses to use this fan translation in a localized version of Mother 3, it would not be the first time that it happened. A fans translation of the game Ys: The Oath of Felghana helped that game get a localized release.
Mother 3 is the third game in the franchise that was released under different titles in the United States than in Japan. Mother 1 and 2 were released as Mother and EarthBound in the States, respectively. Mother 3 was released in the Game Boy Advance in 2006, eleven years after the previous game.
Even with this offer, there is no word on whether or not Nintendo would consider using this translation for a North American version of Mother 3. Presumably, the game would become available on Nintendo's eShop for either the Wii U or 3DS. A potential bundle with the previous two games in the series would also be a possibility.