In shocking news, Ian Fleming has risen from the grave to condemn\u2014wait, no, that\u2019s not right. Let\u2019s take it from the top. In shocking news, the developer behind the 1990s platformer series James Pond, who is very much alive, has condemned the apparent use of AI in the upcoming Nintendo Switch 2 anthology series James Pond Legacy: The Pond is Not Enough.<\/p>\n
The anthology collects all three James Pond games: James Pond: Underwater Agent (1990), James Pond: Codename Robocod (1991), and James Pond 3: Operation Starfish (1993), along with 1992 spin-off The Aquatic Games. System 3 Software\u2014the veteran gaming company that shares the rights to all four games\u2014announced the anthology last week, and posted a 90-second trailer on YouTube to promote the release.<\/p>\n
The only problem? Both the game artwork and the trailer itself look awfully like they make heavy use of generative AI. The trailer, in particular, which debuts 3D versions of the series\u2019 original 2D sprites, went down like the proverbial sack of poop on YouTube\u2014so much so that System 3 turned off comments until it published a \u201cclarification\u201d, which now remains as the video\u2019s pinned comment. The post says, \u201cto be absolutely clear, no generative AI was used in the James Pond Legacy trailer or character artwork\u201d and linked to a blog post setting out what System 3 says was the creation process behind the new character artwork.<\/p>\n
Amongst those not buying System 3\u2019s explanation is James Pond\u2019s creator, Chris Sorrell. In a depressingly familiar story, the rights to the James Pond IP have moved around between various companies in a game of pass-the-parcel over the last two decades, and in 2026, Sorrell no longer has any control over what\u2019s done with his creation. And boy, is he mad about it.<\/p>\n
In an interview<\/a> with Time Extension, Sorrell absolutely tees off on System 3. He says that he was \u201cin no way consulted or involved with this \u2018legacy\u2019 collection.\u201d He trashes the company\u2019s blog post<\/a> about how the games\u2019 characters were absolutely not created with generative AI: \u201cIf you want me to believe for a second that the final cow image isn\u2019t AI, how about showing me a wireframe mesh inside a 3D package?\u201d And he finishes by decrying \u201chow soulless businessmen have been exploiting a brand for decades, have zero respect for anyone who made the original games, and prefer to use garbage AI over paying developers for any new material. So, yeah, I wish them the worst\u2014I hope they choke on an AI-generated fishbone.\u201d<\/p>\n Phew. And look, it\u2019s hard to blame Sorrell for being angry. It\u2019s hard to imagine any developer working in the \u201880s or \u201890s giving even a passing thought to what might be done with their games in 25 years\u2019 time, let alone that the character they created might be \u201crecreated\u201d by a machine trained on the hard work of every creator whose work has ever touched the internet. It must be incredibly frustrating to see something you created (and that people still associate with you personally) being milked for every last penny\u2014especially if you see none of those pennies.<\/p>\n