Say, remember when the Entertainment Software Ratings Board re-rated classic Super Nintendo RPG EarthBound for the Wii's Virtual Console? Remember how excited we all got? Well, there's some bad news about that.

According to the folks at Starmen.net, who might just know everything there is to know about EarthBound and the rest of the Mother series, that rating just wasn't supposed to happen. It was, to be clear, a mistake. A big, soul crushing mistake.

That, combined with legal worries on behalf of Nintendo of America about pop culture references—including song samples from popular, litigation-happy artists—and an unwillingness to alter the game on the side of Nintendo of Japan, make for an unlikely release. We can't imagine you were still holding out hope for Nintendo of America to get on the Mother support train, unless you're incredibly naive, but if so, we'd hope you finally put those hopes aside.

Earthbound (nee Mother 2) "was, and will continue to be, withheld due to legal issues" according to folks at Starmen.net.

That's not confirmed from Nintendo, mind you. But if you're still one of those folks holding a torch for the thing to grace North America's Virtual Console service, we'd suggest distinguishing that torch. How much disappointment can you handle?

(Thanks to every frowning Mother fan who sent this in.)

The Sad Story of EarthBound on the Virtual Console [Starmen.net]