A mysterious new game, bearing an uncanny resemblance to ONE PIECE, recently popped up on the official My Nintendo Store, sparking a massive debate on X. Gamers are scratching their heads, not just at the game's AI-generated art that blatantly rips off character designs, but also at how Nintendo's approval process seemingly missed such an obvious red flag.
The game, titled "Pirates Anime Quest: One Boy's Adventures and Island Pieces," is slated for release on May 29th, and its product page is already live on the My Nintendo Store.
The cover art is a dead giveaway: a muscular male protagonist with wild red hair, an X-shaped scar on his chest, and a blue tattoo on his left arm. The déjà vu is real. Between the character's look and the game's title, it's impossible not to think of ONE PIECE. That chest scar? Totally Luffy. The arm tattoo? Nami vibes. The red hair? Maybe a dash of Kid? It's like someone threw all the ONE PIECE characters into a blender and created this Frankenstein's monster of a protagonist, and the internet has definitely noticed.
The game quickly went viral on X, igniting heated discussions. Beyond the blatant character rip-offs, the gameplay itself appears to be a near-identical clone of "Suika Game" (Watermelon Game), with most of the art clearly AI-generated. This has left many users baffled as to how such a title managed to get listed on the My Nintendo Store.
A quick look at the developer, "Red Fables," reveals they've already published 37 games on the My Nintendo Store, with almost all of them seemingly "inspired" by other popular titles.
While Nintendo hasn't explicitly banned AI-generated games, they do have a "Report Improper Goods" window, clearly stating a strict policy against pirated and counterfeit products. So, for this game to pass review and get listed, it must theoretically be considered "compliant." However, with such obvious imitation in its content and character design, many are questioning the actual standards of the review process.
As more people in the community catch wind of this game, the debate over whether it crosses the line is only intensifying. All eyes are now on Nintendo to see how they'll address this in the future.