Shigesato Itoi
Shigesato Itoi announced in late August 2000 that "Mother 3" had been cancelled following a number of delays. Iwata and Miyamoto clarified in an interview that resources had been moved to the development of the GameCube, the next Nintendo console. Itoi stated that an additional two years would have been required to finish the game, which was 30% complete at the time of cancellation. Iwata stated retrospectively that the focus on 3D graphics made the project overcomplex. Miyamoto also stated that the "Mother" franchise had not been abandoned and that he was still interested in bringing the game to fruition.