Mario and Sonic heading to the Vancouver Games

This article was originally on a blog post platform and may be missing photos, graphics or links. See About archive blog posts.

Lack the talent that an athlete needs to compete at the Vancouver 2010 Winter Games -- and fall far short of the cash needed for airfare, accomodations and Winter Games admission tickets?

Take heart. SEGA Corp. and Nintendo Co. today introduced ‘Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games’

Don’t laugh. A Summer Games edition of the officially licensed Olympics video game tied to the Beijing Games sold 10 million copies.

Along with broadcast revenue, endorsement deals are an integral par of funding Olympic Games. Particularly in a global recession that has raised questions about the ability of future Olympic hosts to complete their construction projects on time and under budget.

Vancouver 2010 has about 60 global and national sponsors, official supporters, suppliers and print media partners. They’ll need all of them to help cover the $1.43 billion it will cost to build venues and operate the Games.

The Winter Games video game was developed by SEGA and under the guidance of noted designer Shigeru Miyamoto, and will work on the Nintendo DS and Wii platforms.

Gamers will be able to choose from what the companies describe as a ‘legendary cast of playable characters.’

There’s even a bit of exercise involved, at least for Wii gamers. The game will incorporate the Wii Balance Board that will, for example, require players to lean into turns during the slalom events.

-- Greg Johnson