Nintendo has issued a DMCA notice for Peach’s Untold Tales, a fan-made game in which the princess of the Mushroom Kingdom engages in sexual misadventures with other Mario family characters. Surprisingly enough, the game has been available on Github for almost eight years now, but somehow, the title apparently caught Nintendo‘s attention. The company is notoriously protective of its characters, so it’s not too surprising to see the game finally removed from the website. The DMCA notice claims that the game infringes on Nintendo’s copyrights for various characters, as well as specific games, from Super Mario World, to Mario is Missing.
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Fan-made games have always been a source of controversy within the gaming community. On one hand, a lot of developers have learned the ins and outs of game development through fan projects. Freedom Planet notably began life as a Sonic the Hedgehog fan project, but was eventually turned into an all-new IP. There’s also the case of Christian Whitehead, who began his career in game development by creating Sonic fan projects. These projects caught the attention of Sega, and Whitehead began officially working on Sonic ports; this eventually led to the creation of Sonic Mania, which Whitehead directed. Clearly, some good has come from fans making games featuring popular characters!
That said, fan projects always run the risk of getting shut down by the IP holders, and this is something that has always been true of those based on Nintendo properties. Coupled with the fact that Peach’s Untold Tales features Mario characters acting in a way that clearly wouldn’t sit well with Nintendo, it’s not surprising to see the company exercising its rights. Some might argue that the game falls under parody law (particularly since the game was released for free), but it seems that Peach’s Untold Tales might have used too many official assets for it to be protected.
As the internet gives aspiring developers a greater ability to learn the process, it seems increasingly likely that more will get their start through fan-made games. While some of these could lead to a successful career in the industry, it’s probably not the best idea to make unofficial games that feature popular characters engaging in explicit acts!
Have you played any fan-made games? Do you agree with Nintendo’s justification for taking down Peach’s Untold Tales? Let us know in the comments or share your thoughts directly on Twitter at @Marcdachamp to talk about all things gaming!
