There’s no way Nintendo approved this AI Mario abomination

AI Mario would like you to shop at Target

When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.Here’s how it works.

Update, January 11:A representative for Proto has reached out to offer some clarity on the AI Mario display at CES.

“The AI hologram animation briefly seen today is an unfinished proof of concept tested for a client to demonstrate technological capabilities and innovation. It is not intended for commercial release. AARP and Nintendo were not involved in the inadvertent showing today. The fact that so many gamers of the world have taken notice shows that they are the best fans in the world and we salute them.”

Original story, January 10:CES is in full swing, and Mario was there in holographic AI form to give folks at the AARP booth advice on how to eat healthy. I wish I was joking.

Footage of this AI-powered Mario hit the internet courtesy ofTwitter user ProbChild, and pretty quickly captured the internet’s collective nightmares. It’s a combination of life-sized holographic display, AI chatbot, and awkwardly animated Mario facsimile. Just ask Mario a question and this…thingwill answer with generic advice straight out of a ChatGPT prompt.

What’s with these animations? What’s with thisvoice? It looks like Mario is recovering from shoulder surgery and being forced to lip-sync along with a deep-voiced Italian man who has never once considered the possibility of eating a magic mushroom. It’s so weird and off-model that I can’t imagine Nintendo has signed off on any of this.

So Mario was at #CES But uh… who approved this abomination? 💀 pic.twitter.com/diG3axCJIGJanuary 10, 2024

It only gets weirder the more you look at it. This thing was at the AARP booth - yes, as in the American Association of Retired Persons - and it features a Target logo in the bottom corner.ProbChild reports being toldby an AARP rep to ask Mario how to buy a game, and the AI plumberstronglyrecommends checking in at Target to find the title you’re looking for.

This all seems to tie into AARP’sAgeTech Collaborative, a group of tech outfits with a website full of phrases like “accelerating innovation.” Basically, it seems to be a networking initiative for tech startups whose products might benefit older folks to show their wares and connect with investors. This Mario is being displayed on a holographic display platform called Proto, though there’s no clear indication of who’s providing the AI and animation. (Again, though, it’s a safe bet that it’s not Nintendo.)

Sign up to the GamesRadar+ Newsletter

Weekly digests, tales from the communities you love, and more

All I really know is that this is all profoundly upsetting and I might just have found the one instance where I would appreciate Nintendo vigorously defending its IP from derivative works.

Valve’s new Steam policy will allow the “vast majority” of AI games to release.

Dustin Bailey joined the GamesRadar team as a Staff Writer in May 2022, and is currently based in Missouri. He’s been covering games (with occasional dalliances in the worlds of anime and pro wrestling) since 2015, first as a freelancer, then as a news writer at PCGamesN for nearly five years. His love for games was sparked somewhere between Metal Gear Solid 2 and Knights of the Old Republic, and these days you can usually find him splitting his entertainment time between retro gaming, the latest big action-adventure title, or a long haul in American Truck Simulator.

Despite its crabtastic Soulslike hit, indie dev say funding for its “best game yet” just fizzled: “2024 is really taking no prisoners”

Millions of Fortnite players watch Snoop Dogg and Ice Spice livestream a concert as part of a rap-themed Chapter 2 Remix that includes Eminem and a tribute to Juice WRLD

Metal Gear Solid Delta dev says that Konami wants to make the remake feel familiar but not old: “Our whole goal […] is to make sure that it still feels like the game that you played 20 years ago”