Super Nintendo World's opening may have been recently delayed but – when the pandemic is over – we'll be excited to see it in person. Understandably, fans have been pouring over the details provided and one has made a more unusual discovery: the theme park's cactus design is slightly off.
Taking to Twiitter, user @meatball132 pointed out that the cactus model used is from Newer Super Mario Bros. Wii, a fan-made mod from 2013. Designed to overhaul New Super Mario Bros. Wii with new levels, bosses, updated graphics and more, it specifically appears in World 2's "Rubble Ruins".
As to why this happened, Meatball132 believes this was likely due to an error on Google's search results, which bring up images from Newer Super Mario Bros. Wii if you search "New Super Mario Bros. Wii Cactus". It's not the first time that the team behind Super Nintendo World has fallen foul here, considering a fan-made Mario render was spotted on the official website last month.
The error comes amidst legal tensions between fans and Nintendo, who've shut down numerous fan projects in recent years. Recent examples include an unofficial Mario Kart service and a fan-made Zelda game. Likely with this in mind, Meatball132 has clarified it was "just a cool thing we noticed" and is asking that people don't get too angry at anyone.
Was this just a careless oversight? Let us know in the comments below.
[source arstechnica.com]
Comments 56
No need for anyone to get prickly over this...
I have NO idea how this sort of thing happens?? lol
This would be a lovely tribute to a fan game.. if Nintendo wasn't so harsh about how they treat fan games.
Hey Arlo, isn't syndication grand.
DOWN WITH THIS SORT OF THING!
That's gotta be on Universal. They decided to look up something on Google instead of actually consulting Nintendo and following their strict brand guidelines.
@jump Careful now!
Yikes
In before Nintendo shuts down the entire park and cancels all plans to ever venture into theme parks ever again along with the Mario movie
Now I know why Nintendo takes down so many fan projects, cause otherwise they would be confused which games are their own and which are fanmade.
They're not actually that similar?
I mean, how many ways are there to design a cactus in Mario style?
Seems like little more than a coincidence.
@mariomaster96 I guess not, and this isn't a small thing like with the fan made render of Mario they used on the website, these are sculptures. I do wonder if they'll remove the cacti at some point.
@timleon
They're faithfully similar though?
Point by point, the actual shape of the cactus including its left and right arms, the placement of a flower bud, and the positions of its spikes and the surface detail make for a really faithful recreation of the fan mod asset.
It's not 1:1, their flower bud has 6 petals and is yellow, instead of being pink with 5 petals, and the spike positions aren't exactly even.
News flash! It's based on a plant, that grows in the desert, called a cactus! 🌵
@timleon I was thinking the same thing. Next there'll be some clown claiming Nintendo ripped off their designs for apples in Animal Crossing.
Nintendo's own fault for using Google image search. You'd think they'd learn after using a fan-made Mario render and a fan-edited sprite of the Masked Man from Mother 3 that had 1 off-colored pixel, but managed to sneak it's way into Smash Ultimate's Spirit roster.
@WolfyWardark News flash! It's literally the same exact cactus, right down to the angular design and flower placement! The facts are there in plain sight, and this is the third time they've been caught using fan-made assets that appear first on Google image search!
Another perspective would be: doesn’t this explain why Nintendo need to stop anyone else being creative with their brand? Otherwise Nintendo may end up themselves infringing on someone’s idea (there’s only so many ways you can make a goomba etc.).
Considering how ***** Nintendo have been to their fans I really hope this bites them hard.
I remember there was issue with a mario bros rom on the wii with people claiming it was just an internet downloaded one that nintendo sold back to people. That apparently was false but I remember nintendo giving me back 500 wii points for purchasing that mario bros game...
Meh cactus is cactus like I've seen this type in like 100 cartoons and games with cartoony look.
This keeps happening, so do they hate fan stuff or love it. (Maybe they steal it)
Next up...It’s revealed the Staff of Super Nintendo World have been making the rides run smoother by using an Engine called Dolphin on them.
Hopefully they send Nintendo a Cease & Desist.
How many times do we have to go over the fact that Nintendo have every right to protect their IPs and us as fans should support them. When people are zipping round the actual busy roads of Tokyo dressed as Mario and potentially getting mown down, does that really portray a great image? Maybe this proves Nintendo look at mods before they take them down which I guess is a compliment.
@RupeeClock Nintendo would've had to approve everything though, especially with how hand on Miyamoto etc have apparently been with it, even designing some of the park themselves.
"How could Nintendo do this!?"
Obviously Universal, the people who actually built this, wanted a cactus. There probably wasn't one in the asset pack Nintendo provided, so knowing that it'd take weeks of back and forth to get one from Nintendo, as these things do with any licencing, they just Googled it. The fan made image would have appeared, it seemed convincing enough, it IS in a screenshot of a Mario game after all, and they just went with it.
"But then how did Nintendo not see it?"
The people reviewing it, which yeah would likely have included Miyamoto, would not have spotted a single, in-style asset that was actually not from the games. That's not what they would have been reviewing or looking for and it does blend in.
"I hope this bites Nintendo for their stance on fan-games"
If anything this is exactly why Nintendo are so hard on these games. It'll only serve to bolster their stance.
It's a cactus with a flower on it.....
Slightly surprised that this happens, considering what intense sticklers Nintendo are with their styleguides, when collaboratin with other IP holders. ^^
How about showing a picture of how it should look then NL. sheesh
@RupeeClock Google "cartoon cactus" and half the images have the same arm positions. Spikes come with the territory. True, these cacti are both more angular than most cartoon cacti that you'd see - but I think that's part of the New Super Mario Bros style, rather than evidence of a direct copy.
The flower position is a little suspect, but in Newer Super Mario Bros the flowers appear on several different parts of the cactus...so there was a good chance of coincidence there.
I'll take this opportunity to say what an incredible fan game Newer Super Mario Bros Wii. I'm normally unimpressed by mods but that one blew me away.
@timleon
The arm positions thing is just a common depiction of cartoon cactuses then.
The thing is, these angular cacti aren't the official New Super Mario Bros style, it's a fan interpretation of what they'd look like in that style as there was no official depiction.
There might actually be a psychological aspect at play. If you ask someone to imagine one of the desert levels from previous Mario games like SMB3, NSMB Wii, and ask them what backgrounds element there were, they might mis-identify the existence of cacti.
It's not "just a cactus" though, is it. By the logic being used by some here, I could draw that cactus Pokemon and claim as my own under the logic of "Nintendo don't own cactuses". There's countless ways to draw anything and the more stylised it becomes, the more specific to an IP THAT version of something is.
If it were a cactus for a random thing nobody has heard of 50 pages into an image search, sure, that could be a coincidence. It isnt though, it's a distinct design for a Mario game mod taken and used for a Mario theme park. It isn't like they've stolen a cactus from an obscure 60's movie where coincidence could actually be claimed.
Curious to know where the NSMBW mod makers got their inspiration from. An artbook maybe?
It kind of legitimizes why N wants to shut down numerous fan projects, on top of other reasons.
What if they made it for that fan or was made by that fan for the amusement park?
@mariomaster96 There's also the fact modders always upstage Nintendo at their own game.
I get the feeling articles like this exist only to garner clicks and comments from the inevitable Nintendo vs Fan Games arguments.
If Nintendo was just willing to work with their fans instead of working against them, all of this wouldn't have mattered and it would just be considered a nice homage to a fan.
@RupeeClock definitely wouldn't be the first time. Didn't they steal a fan-made Mario render for the Super Nintendo World website?
lets hope that chonky toad isn't stolen from a fan project...
This is more of a testament to how well the modder designed potential Mario cactuses than anything else. It's not like the modder owns the cactus designs and besides, now they can brag about how their design made it into official Mario merch.
They are 45 degree angles at the golden ratio (from top and bottom) that arc again when the arms reach the golden ratio of the base.
In other words, the most basic and natural design possible, used by all humans in all art for 40,000 years, as well as being the most common astatic in nature. Move the two "arms" to beside each other and it's the same stick figure we see in half the prehistoric caves on the planet.
But yeah sure dude. They ripped off your mod.
Yeah...no way this cactus is gonna survive until opening now.
....but didn't like the modders say they were cool with it? If this is true then why is everyone else up in arms with it?
Hmm, weird they shut so many fan games down but then they use their fans' renders and games? that doesn't seem fair
Now we need a Homebrew Hideaway at the park...
Probably just an oversight by a Universal employee who didn't pay too much attention to their sources. Not worth getting upset over.
Looks like an Origami King cactus to me.
I can swear that tile in back is the same one down the road of a neighbor.
AAaah the cactus
I was like, trying to find the pokey in the mod screenshot
Is clear that the designers from Universal Studios Japan are just taking whatever seems "official" to them from Google images without bothering to check for the image's credentials and credibility. Nintendo may have dropped the ball on that one by not double checking the assets the designers were using in the first place, this is going to cost them.
The artist behind that cactus must be feeling pretty good right now
@jump Be careful now!
Not going to lie, this confused me for five minutes until i realised they are pointing out the Cactus looks like a Cactus and "not" the Cacti character is based on a fan mod (which it isn't, that is the cacti character like it usually appears in Mario games). So i was totally not looking at the correct bit of the photo. They pointed out nonsense it seems as i had a cactus toy looking like that from the 1980's, with the flower. It is a stereotypical design, hence why my eyes didn't even acknowledge it on first glance.
Breaking News Nintendo has just filed a lawsuit against Nintendo.
@AlexOlney I read that in your voice
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