Nintendo puts a banana peel in the path of a real life 'Mario Kart' business

Nintendo has always been protective of its brands, and today they lobbed a blue shell at a fellow Japanese business trying to make a few yen.

The gaming giant filed a lawsuit Friday against go kart business MariCar (or Marika), which rents street-legal karts to customers for a tour of Tokyo.

In a press release Nintendo claimed that the business blatantly simulated the popular racing games both in the name and in the costumes MariCar provides.

"We have declared the mark 'Marika,' which is an abbreviation of 'Mario Kart' widely known as the series of racing games that we manufacture and sell," the press release read. "In addition, when the defendant company rents public road carts to their customers, [they] lend a costume of prominent characters such as our 'Mario'..."

Hmmmmmmm.....

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The suit alleges that MariCar has infringed upon Nintendo's copyright and violated Japan's Unfair Competition Prevention Act. 

But it looks like they're having so much fun!

Nintendo has long been ferociously litigious, going after businesses and fans alike if their products or services seem to overlap with copyrights. Whether it's Let's Players capturing video of Nintendo games or fans lovingly crafting a remake to Metroid II: The Return of Samus, The big N will come for you.

The sudden lawsuit could have resulted from MariCar being featured on NBC Sports’ Off the Grid last month.

Whether or not Nintendo should wield its legal hammer with as much zeal as it does, MariCar and its business is anything but subtle in what it's trying to deliver to customers.

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