UPDATE: It appears that Nintendo’s motive for addressing the inappropriate use of its intellectual property is linked to a case in Japan where an individual cosplaying as Mario sent inappropriate, lewd photographs to minors.
These actions are indefensible and do not suggest that Nintendo is broadly targeting lewd or pornographic artwork or fan games, unless those artists and developers are profiting from such content on platforms like Patreon or Fantia.
The original question about the Mario cosplaying incident was censored in the official transcript.
ORIGINAL ARTICLE: During a recent shareholder meeting, Nintendo President Shuntaro Furukawa was asked a peculiar question about the company’s stance on the inappropriate use of Nintendo IP and its characters on social media platforms.
Nintendo often evokes a love-hate relationship among its fans. The Nintendo Switch is the most lenient console available in terms of censorship, especially compared to Sony, which has shifted its headquarters to America, turning its back on Japan. This leniency has allowed Nintendo to dominate the Japanese market and produce exclusive titles on the Switch that fans eagerly want to play.
However, Nintendo is also known for aggressively issuing DMCA takedowns against fan-made game projects and anything involving Nintendo assets or revolving around their IP, such as Pokémon, Zelda, and Mario. Recently, they took legal action against the Yuzu emulator, likely targeting Tropic Haze for profiting by paywalling preview builds via platforms like Patreon.
Nintendo has a history of harboring hundreds of games that consumers cannot legally purchase today while simultaneously targeting PC ports, fan-made HD remakes, ROM websites, and other such material. They often do this to eventually resell these games with “HD” slapped on the box, locked to 30 fps, with censored dialogue and transgender revisionism.
And now Nintendo’s president has vowed to take “appropriate action” against “inappropriate” usages of its IP and prominent franchise characters that would make players “feel uncomfortable.”
When Shuntaro Furukawa referred to inappropriate use of Nintendo IP, it’s fairly clear he was addressing the issue of pornographic material featuring Nintendo characters.
Given the immense popularity of franchises such as Mario, Zelda, and countless others, there’s no shortage of fan-made creations featuring characters like Princess Peach, Daisy, Samus Aran, Princess Zelda, and even “Bowsette,” a gender-bent rendition of King Bowser created by fans a few years ago when he wears the Super Crown power-up.
For decades, Nintendo has been relatively quiet regarding such material, likely because it would be quite extreme for a company like Nintendo to seek legal action against artists for drawing pornography or other obscene artwork featuring their characters.
However, this doesn’t mean Nintendo is entirely hands-off. They have a track record of issuing DMCA takedowns against fan-games, some of which were pornographic in nature, showing that they are willing to take action to protect their IPs, even in these unconventional areas.
In September 2020, Nintendo issued a DMCA takedown against a pornographic game titled “Mario is Missing – Peach’s Untold Tale,” which originally started as a flash game in 2012. The game, a pornographic parody of Super Mario Bros., depicted Princess Peach in explicit scenarios with Toads and Goombas. Unsurprisingly, Nintendo was not amused.
Nintendo aims to bring smiles through its entertainment offerings, though they clearly draw the line at “horny smiles.” While the company hasn’t explicitly asked fans to stop producing adult content, it’s clear they’re not enthusiastic about it.
If an artist or creator leverages Nintendo IP in erotic or pornographic content and profits from it through platforms like Patreon, Nintendo may target them with DMCA takedowns, as they have done with similar fan projects in the past. However, attempting to suppress such content often only increases its desirability, leading to even more creations as a form of pushback.
Such actions could likely be driven by Nintendo’s globalized presence and the increasing influence of ESG policies, which often discourage traditional femininity and heteronormative material. Nintendo of America seems to be particularly aligned with these trends.
Recently, Nintendo posted a job opportunity seeking a localizer with an understanding of cultural adaptation and DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) initiatives. Similarly, The Pokémon Company sought to hire a director of diversity, shortly before Niantic removed the female gender option from the Pokémon Go mobile game after consulting with “GaymerX.”
Given these moves, it’s likely that Nintendo will follow through on their threats. We may soon hear of content creators being hit with copyright complaints for producing erotica featuring Nintendo IP.
