The builders do not have “a scrap of respect” for the sequence, in keeping with Chris Sorrell.
You would be forgiven should you did not acknowledge James Pond, the fish spy star of a sequence of platformers from the early Nineties. However there’s a probability you have heard in regards to the controversy surrounding the sequence’ upcoming James Pond Legacy: The Pond Is Not Sufficient, which collects variations of 4 James Pond video games launched throughout the Amiga, Genesis, Commodore 64 and SNES, and which followers have broadly accused of being stuffed with AI-generated artwork. In accordance with Time Extension, the gathering has so enraged sequence creator Chris Sorrell that he is on the file as hoping its builders “choke on an AI-generated fishbone.”
“I am certain it will not shock you to listen to that I used to be under no circumstances consulted or concerned with this ‘legacy’ assortment,” Sorrell shared with Time Extension. “For that to have occurred there must have been somebody with at the least a scrap of respect for James Pond concerned, when clearly, as their each motion demonstrates, that is very removed from the case.”
System 3
Developer System 3 Software program introduced James Pond Legacy final week with a trailer that was instantly met with skepticism on-line, Kotaku writes. It did not assist that the developer’s weblog put up defending the “painstaking, human-led course of” that produced the sport’s artwork additionally appeared to make use of generative AI photographs.
As Time Extension notes, Sorrell does not personal the rights to James Pond, and does not have a say in how the sequence is offered. James Pond is now shared between System 3 and Gameware Europe, which introduced its personal, seemingly AI-generated, James Pond sequel in 2025. Whereas the brand new artwork within the assortment is seemingly solely utilized in its menus and field artwork, it does appear garish in comparison with the sport’s unique 2D characters and backgrounds. Fairly than a respectful repackaging of the sequence, the legacy assortment is, in Sorrell’s phrases, “a large reminder of how soulless businessmen have been exploiting a model for many years.”
