Fans of EarthBound may have something to look forward to soon as reports hint that Nintendo is allegedly working on a re-release of the game. Per reports, Shigesato Itoi, the series creator, has let on that plans are afoot to release the Mother series, as EarthBound is known in Japan, in the near future.

Shigesato Itoi spilled the beans on Twitter and hinted at the possibility of the franchise being made "playable."

According to a report from EarthBound Central, the tweet from Itoi suggests that the re-release is in pipeline and is "making progress."

"Since it's now okay to blurt this out, here goes: the Mother republication thing I mentioned briefly before is making progress. It's not [Mother] 4, though! This has to do with making Mother playable. I can't give out any details just yet, but I do at least need to say that it isn't 4," notes the tweet when translated from Japanese, per EarthBound Central.

The Mother series had three games (Mother, Mother 2, and Mother 3) and the only one that was released in the American market in 1995, under the moniker EarthBound, was Mother 2 on Super Nintendo. The game, however, was not released in Europe.

Those who are unfamiliar with the series may still recognize the central character Ness as he was a playable character on Super Smash Bros. What's more, Super Smash Bros. Brawl for the Nintendo Wii has Lucas from Mother 3 as a playable character.

Even though EarthBound was not a commercial success in America, the game retains its loyal fan base thanks to its interesting gameplay and themes.

A possibility exists that the Mother series is being beefed up for a Virtual Console release, perhaps for the Nintendo 3DS. Whether the game's re-release will be limited to Japan or if it makes it to other countries remains to be seen. If the Mother series makes a jump to 3DS then it would be easier for Nintendo to distribute the game outside its home territory.

With the alleged re-release in the pipeline, we'll have to wait and watch if Nintendo can turn around the series' fortunes this time round and make it worldwide.