A new website for Nintendo’s upcoming Japanese theme park Super Nintendo World started live yesterday. It features new details and a virtual tour of the wonderland of video games ahead of the February 4 opening. It also used an image of Mario for the loading screen that was apparently not created by Nintendo, but by one of its fans.
“I love how Nintendo uses MY old ass that Mario delivers on their official Nintendo World website,” said Twitter user and Mario fan artist ujiidow tweeted earlier today. Their image of Mario was created about three years ago using the open source animation software Blender and was shared on Reddit at that point. The Mario model used for the version was not one of Nintendo’s, but belonged to 3D artist RafaKnight, who shared it on their Patreon in 2017.
Neither Nintendo nor Universal Studios Japan responded immediately to a request for comment.
The picture appears to be on the cover of Universal Studios Japan’s website for a theme park inspired by one of the most protective and litigious IP holders in the video game industry. (Just this week, the game distribution site GameJolt hit A DMCA Notice by Nintendo aimed at hundreds of free fan projects based on the company’s IP.)
G / O Media can get a commission
The potential irony was not lost on the subredd of r / gaming, who shared ujiidow’s discovery in a wire frantically frying Nintendo, which has been featured more than 60,000 times. A post on the topic over on NintendoLife show ujiidow’s version side by side with a standard one from Mario, it’s similar to. Although both initially look almost identical, it is clear on closer inspection that ujiidows are much more detailed, especially around the shadow.
However, Ujiidow does not necessarily complain. “I’m so used to it that my Mario gets very little attention,” they said. Kotaku in an email. “I have been told to act on the matter, but I find it very pleasing to finally acknowledge it.”
You can find some of their trailer art their DeviantArt page. One of the more recent pieces is a version of Cyberpunk 2077boxing art that replaces his main character V with a more make-up, gun-like Mario. Another show modern Mario and one of Mario 64 trade can while swimming in a pool of water.
Ujiidow said they had contacted Universal Studios about the image but had not yet heard. Meanwhile, they accepted the whole situation as a compliment. “To mistake my version as an official, I’m showing that I’m doing something here.