EarthBound, known in Japan as Mother, is a role-playing game series created by Shigesato Itoi for Nintendo. The series started in 1989 with the Japan-only release of Mother (known unofficially in the US as Earthbound Zero) for the Famicom, and was then followed up by a sequel, released in the U.S. as EarthBound for the Super NES in 1995, and followed up again much later with the Japan only release of Mother 3 for the Game Boy Advance in 2006. Itoi stated in an interview that the name "Mother" was greatly influenced by the John Lennon song "Mother. In stark contrast to the sword-and-sorcery settings of many Japanese role-playing games, the EarthBound series takes place in more modern settings, although their stories are told from a Japanese perspective. Mother is set in suburban America, EarthBound is set in Eagleland (an allusion to the United States), and Mother 3 is set on the Nowhere Islands (with some Western overtones).