The Consumer Electronics Show (CES) is currently underway in Las Vegas. Great news! Looks like everyone’s favorite friend Mario is also in attendance. But there’s also bad news. He’s a creepy AI Mario and we hate him.
We first learned about this monster via X (formerly Twitter) user @ProbChild_, who filmed an interaction with him.
So Mario was there #CES
But uh…who approved this abominable act? 💀 pic.twitter.com/diG3axCJIG
— Gregory (@ProbChild_) January 10, 2024
Our reporter Taylor Lyles, who was on the show floor, was able to confirm at CES that this is indeed the real thing. This is a technology developed by a company called Proto, which develops hologram communication software. What appears to be happening here is that Proto has loaded up a hologram of Mario for his CES exhibit hall and is using a combination of voice recognition and his AI technology to answer attendees’ questions. Listen, Mario is responding in a noticeably off-handed manner. The voice of brand Italy.
What’s a little unclear here is how much of this was approved by Nintendo. Nintendo is known for being very strict about who uses their characters and how. I’m no legal expert, but the very off-tone voice, mouth movements, stiff posture, and everything else screams “Nintendo didn’t approve of this” based on past work.
Of course, it’s not limited to just Mario’s appearance. Other attendees reported that the Proto-His hologram box had previously shown off other images and real people, including a demonstration by his CEO of AARP.
Highlight position #CES2024: Our Senior Vice President, @InnovationAndy showed off @ProtoHologram to @AARP CEO, @JoAnn_Jenkins Tours @agetech collaboration Showcase. A virtual Jo Ann hologram demonstrating our commitment to innovative technology. #InnovationAtAgeTech #AARP #future technology pic.twitter.com/T6qPjTe568
— AARP (ILabs)’s AgeTech Collaborative™ (@AgeTechCollab) January 10, 2024
The AARP connection is a bit strange, as @ProbChild_ and @raystrazdas also reported being told by an AARP (not Proto) representative at the booth to ask Mario how to purchase the game. Mario responded (in a deep, agitated voice) by encouraging the questioner to go online to Target.com. Of note is that there appears to be a small target logo in the bottom corner of the hologram, something that has not been present in other demonstrations we have done. I saw it on Twitter. So it seems like Target is involved in some way?
I wish there were more videos thanks @raystrazdas
An AARP representative asked me to ask Mario about how to purchase the game.
Nothing about this makes any sense. AARP? Mario? Do you buy from Target? AI??
This whole experience was weird from the beginning 🙃 pic.twitter.com/mHiSElHsPj
— Gregory (@ProbChild_) January 10, 2024
As far as we know, what appears to be happening in the Mario situation is that Proto is working towards partnerships with retailers such as Target to demonstrate some kind of hologram AI technology that can be used as an AI assistant in stores. It means that there is. The use of Mario in particular seems like something Proto made up to draw people to their booth, but it’s unclear how Nintendo will react to the whole thing. We’ve reached out to Nintendo, Proto, and just to be safe, Target for comment on this.
Updated January 10, 2024, 5:55 PM PT: Proto provided IGN with a statement confirming that neither Nintendo nor AARP had anything to do with today’s “inadvertent” screening of Mario. The full statement is below:
The AI hologram animation briefly introduced today is an unfinished proof of concept tested by the client to demonstrate its technical capabilities and innovation. It is not intended for commercial release. AARP and Nintendo were not involved in today’s inadvertent screening. The fact that so many gamers around the world are paying attention shows that they are the best fans in the world, and we salute them.
Original story continues below.
Perhaps the most infuriating thing about this is that, at first glance, this entire exhibit is reminiscent of what Nintendo has actually done before. they had mario (And Luigi!) Talk to passersby in real time at locations like New York Comic Con and Nintendo New York. But every time we’ve made this production, Charles Martinet has been off-camera, listening to questions and responding in real time in Mario’s voice, so the production has worked. However, Martinet stepped down as the official voice of Mario last year, and while he still remains as the official “Mario Ambassador” (a role he doesn’t seem to understand), at least he became an actor in Super Mario His Wonders. Replaced. Kevin Afghani. I had a misunderstanding about Afghanistan’s voice before, but hmm, Proto’s demonstration doesn’t really sound like him. Jeez. Or any version of Mario, including the controversial Chris Pratt interpretation.
The contrast between Nintendo’s healthy New York Mario and this pseudo-Mario becomes obvious the moment the plumber opens his mouth. Although he’s a video game character, Mario has a human element to his voice that his unsettling AI protobots can’t quite capture. Hopefully, this means that Nintendo and all the other big game companies will realize that replacing real voice actors with robots (a problem that happened a lot at the beginning of 2024, coincidentally) might not work out the way they expected. It will be a signal that there is.
Rebekah Valentine is a senior reporter at IGN. Do you have any story tips? Send it to rvalentine@ign.com.
Additional reporting by Taylor Lyles.