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UPDATE: The original source of this news has now been debunked. The source of the news was an image that appeared to be from Fumihide Aoki’s Instagram. Due to Aoki’s Instagram being private, this post was assumed to be real. However, further research shows that the source of the image was 4Chan.
This source in addition to a logical consistency where the Instagram post appears to be a text-only post with no image (Something that is not allowed on Instagram outside of replies) has led us to the conclusion that the original source of this news was fake.
Included below is the original article text from when the source was assumed to be legitimate, as means of preserving the news when it was assumed to be real.
On December 1, 2023, character designer and video game artist Fumihide Aoki (Known online as @yuzumpo) released concept art and a render for a cut Mario Power Tennis counterpart to Princess Peach, Wapeach, to their Instagram. This concept art quickly went viral on social media as the internet fell in love with this younger and more smug version of Princess Peach.
According to a 2008 Nintendo Dream interview with Shigeru Miyamoto, the concept of Wapeach was originally rejected as when combined with Wario and Waluigi they bore too many similarities to the Doronbo Gang from the classic anime Yatterman.
At the time of this interview, no one online had been able to see the concept art and make this comparison. Resulting in fans speculating for years about what this mysterious Wapeach could have look like. This long speculation as well as the popularity of Waluigi helped spark the Instagram post to viral status.
Unfortunately, the original Instagram posts that contained this concept art and the render were soon deleted and Aoki’s Instagram was set to private. For days gamers speculated on what could have happened and if Nintendo had taken it down themselves.
On the morning of December 5, 2023, we finally got some answers as Aoki made a follow-up post on Instagram. In this post, they explained that they had indeed received a cease and desist letter from Nintendo.
In addition to this, we learned that Aoki was sadly let go from Camelot Software Planning, the game studio they worked for which developed the Mario sports games that characters like Waluigi originated from.
In the future, Aoki will no longer be posting concept art from games they have worked on. Nor will they be answering fan questions on their Instagram in the future.
Despite this miniature PR disaster, the relationship between Camelot and Nintendo remains undamaged. There is currently no info on what titles Camelot is currently developing or if they’re working on a Mario sports title for Nintendo.
Time to boycott Camelot games forever
i wonder if nintendo insisted they be fired or if it was camelot’s decision, or some secret 3rd option