Supposedly Itoi does not object to another developer making a new Mother game. The tricky part is that he doesn't want to be involved in development.

Rare was not involved with DKR and the game is amazing!

I would laugh if this is the old franchise that Retro is supposedly relaunching... I should say I would burst in to tears, violently orgasm for several minutes and then collapse into laughter :)

then complain about no Metroid Prime 4.... but hey I'm a Nintendo fan, and just a gaming fan in general - nothing is ever good enough.

True... it's just a matter of finding the right developer. Monolith seems like a good fit (to say the least). Heck, I'd like to see Game Freak take a stab at it!

That didn't stop Monolithsoft from making Xenosaga, which unofficially takes place in the same Universe as Xenogears. It also didn't stop Monolithsoft from using a logo based on the Xenogears logo for their upcoming game.

Also what does "I'm not sure how well flying saucers would fit  X." mean? How do you know the story of this game when everyone else doesn't know anything about the game except some screenshots and a vague trailer. What we do know for certain is that they put Gears in the game, something which is out of Xenogears.

I read that Itoi called it impossible just a few weeks ago.

And frankly, given its relative niche and cult status I can't really imagine Nintendo putting up the effort to make a decent one. Maybe a remake of 1&2 or even 3 but a new entry into the series sounds improbable unless Earthbound did better on the VC then most classic titles do (i.e. Sin and Punishment).

I don't care what Mother/Earthbound might be in the works. Just let me have one! I need more Mother! I would absolutely love a HD Earthbound/Mother 2 remake on Wii U. I'd get that over the new3D Mario. It is really a fantastic series and I have Sakurai and Smash Bros. to thank for that.

I don't want to immediately assume that the picture has to do with X, Xenogears, or anything at all. I ask if it's possible that Monolith could also be working on a new Mother game based on evidence which is exceedingly open to interpretation.

Also, there are no "Gears" in X. There are mechs, but they're called "Dolls". Not enough evidence to even unofficialy put X and Xenogears in the same universe, and every Xeno game seems to contain recurring themes regardless.

And in Xenosaga they Gears were called AGWS. It doesn't change what they are. The chances that this has something to do with the Xenogears universe or parralel is not out of the question. That the picture does have anything to do with Earthbound is completely out of the question. That screenshot taken from Earthbound is meant to represent a poster article about an alien called Giygas attacking, and it is satirizing posters of cheesy alien movies - just like Earthbound parodies and satires pop culture and the RPG genre. The screenshot from that picture is reminiscent of Xenogears style art, not Earthbound style art.

That's exactly the kind of response I want to hear - in detail, examine whether it could or could not be related to Mother. Now, I'm inclined to agree with you. That picture looks like it could be related to a Xeno game or the series in general... or even the Super Robot Taisen series, which I think actually had a crashed flying saucer in it. But the artstyle looks rather Xenoblade-ish, so probably not.