Mario Kart Update Removes Offensive Gesture

Mario Kart 8 Deluxe on the Switch just got an update that amongst other tweaks changes one of Inkling Girl’s animations, which I guess Nintendo didn’t realise meant something a little more offensive in Europe than it did in Japan.

Here’s a comparison showing what’s been changed, courtesy of NeoGAF user Neiteio. First, a shot of the new animation, a simple show of excitement:

And now the old one:

While all that’s been changed is Inkling Girl’s hand resting on her bicep, that’s enough to make the game a little cleaner, because in parts of Europe like Italy that gesture can mean everything from “up yours” to “fuck you”. Which, you know, is not a very Nintendo look.

Here are the official patch notes, which confirm the change: