Nintendo announced a new toy line for children this week, and the reveal quickly drifted off course. Shortly after the images went live, people online zoomed in on one model’s hand, leading to accusations of AI-generated imagery in the ad.

The controversy centered on a single thumb that appeared bent at an unusual angle, which is typical of AI-generated hands.

Nintendo’s toy announcement sparks AI speculation

The image in question came from a Nintendo Store X account posted on January 8th. One of four images showed a parent holding a Mario toy alongside a child, but viewers focused on the parent’s thumb, which seemed to twist sharply backward around the toy.

Many commenters online argued the pose looked impossible, or at the very least extremely uncomfortable.

YouTube debates the thumb’s authenticity

YouTuber GameXplain posted a lengthy breakdown examining the image in detail. In his video, he asked, “Did Nintendo get caught using Gen AI in these photos?” However, he quickly explained why he believed the answer was no.

He argued the rest of the image lacked common AI errors. For example, he pointed to normal hands in other photos, realistic fabric folds, and imperfect details. He said, “I could find no clear indicators that AI was used anywhere else in this picture. Either here or in the other three as well. In fact, we zoom in on one of the other three, we can see a perfectly normal set of hands. Two of them, in fact, which of course AI is infamous for getting wrong.” He also cited wear on furniture, messy leaves outside, and reflections in an iPad screen.

To test the thumb theory, he recreated the pose himself.

After some effort, he managed it. He said the position was “not super comfortable,” but possible. As a result, he stated he was “certain that there was absolutely no AI used in these images.”

Social media debates Nintendo’s AI thumb question

People on social media were quick to judge the photo without a second glance. Other folks pointed out that while the thumb positioning wasn’t possible for some people, it is technically possible.

@NinjakickX joked, “After trying a few poses to hold an object like this… I can honestly say that I’ve been using my thumb wrong my entire life, and this grip provides superior crushing strength. I’m never gripping thumbsy-upsy again… Mario-grip for life.”

Meanwhile, some people pushed back against the AI narrative outright. @SlLENTPRINCESS tweeted, “to everyone concerned, this isn’t AI-generated, the thumbs can just do that sometimes lol.” Similarly, @atwtmvtvftvraIp wrote, “Imagine getting told your fingers are weird because they think you are AI-generated omfg.”

Artists and casual users alike weighed in as the clip spread. @Err_Detected wrote, “Shoutout to all my realistic artist friends out there, you guys understand anatomy way better than I do, and I’m glad I don’t have to capture this.” 

Others tested their own flexibility. @duskanddrawings shared photos attempting the pose and admitted, “yeah i guess so, theirs look very long tho.”

Meanwhile, @zachwoliner asked, “It does still seem odd to have that in the final image.  It looks strange, and surely the doll could have been held with a more typical thumb placement and avoided such accusations, right?”

Finally, @JakeLandauTO said simply, “Hyper mobility go brrrrrr.”

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