BREAKING: Sonic and Mario go olympic on Wii

The old rivals Mario and Sonic will appear in their first videogame together, entitled ´Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games´. The press release reads:

Developed for the Wii (TM) video game system and the Nintendo DS (TM) system, this momentous agreement marks the first time these two renowned stars have appeared together in a game.

Published by SEGA across Europe and North America, and published by Nintendo in the Japanese market, Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games will be available for Christmas 2007 and is licensed through a worldwide partnership with International Sports Multimedia (ISM), the exclusive interactive entertainment software licensee of the International Olympic Committee (IOC).




In Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games, players will compete in events that take place in environments based on the official venues of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games. Using a supporting cast of characters from the amazing worlds of both Mario and Sonic, gamers will be able to compete as or against a range of lovable personalities including Mario, Sonic, Luigi (TM), Knuckles (TM), Yoshi®, Tails (TM) and more. Innovative usage of the Wii and DS control systems to maneuver a favourite character will allow players to race the likes of Mario and Sonic down the 100m track, engage in exhilarating rallies in table tennis and churn water in a swimming heat, all while competing for the much sought after gold medal.

In late 2005, SEGA acquired the rights to games based on the 2008 Olympics.


I have known about this announcement for a few days now - and this is set to become a huge exclusive for both Wii and DS. More info and media as it becomes available.

EDIT SEGA of America has included a quote by Shigeru Miyamoto:

“Mario and Sonic have been respectful rivals since the early days of video games,” says Shigeru Miyamoto, Senior Managing Director and General Manager, Entertainment Analysis and Development Division, Nintendo Co., Ltd.. “In fact, for a long time they have been discussing the possibility of one day competing against each other. Now that they have been given the perfect opportunity to meet at the Olympic Games, we may finally learn who is actually faster, Mario or Sonic?”

EDIT It looks as if this title will be online. The good people over at GameOn Revolution have picked up on a comment by IGN´s Matt Casamassina on his blog.

I think some of you were expecting a Mario and Sonic platformer of some sort, but really, this title makes much more sense to me. It is, when you break it down, Wii Sports + Olympics + Mario + Sonic + online. What the hell is not to like about that?

Finally, Next-Gen has received word that the game, while being developed by Sega Sports Team, is under direct and intense supervision of Miyamoto and his team.

Sources: SEGA of Europe, SEGA of America

´Pokemon Battle Revolution´ friend code rumour fake

The UK version of ´Pokemon Battle Revolution´ apparently "will not have the restrictions of the friend code system", an IGN board thread claimed, citing the country´s NGamer magazine (originally attributing it to the now defunct NGC mag).

I just got off the phone with the newsroom concerned. The magazine´s staff writer has categorically ruled out that such news is in the current issue - or, in fact, in any of them.

EDIT This story may very well not be fake, after all. The good people over at GoNintendo have published a scan of the article in question. Here it is.




I have just spoken to the editor again and mailed him the image. He will get back to me as soon as possible. So I am forced to withdraw my earlier statement that this rumour is definitely fake. Please bear with me while I get the official word in writing.

I must stress here that in the earlier conversation the editor left me in no doubt regarding the authenticity of the quote.

EDIT The scans are real, but the story is not. Here is the magazine´s reply:

Unfortunately, the curse of the magazine lead time has struck again. Since we wrote this piece -- with the understanding that our information was correct -- Nintendo has seemingly confirmed that Pokemon Battle Revolution *will* use game-specific Friend Codes.

Sorry for any confusion. The original IGN poster put quote marks around words we never actually used, which is why we weren't too sure what he was referring to at first.

Source: foxrmf, foxrmf
Thanks to: Codename Revolution

Microsoft buying Take-Two, ´GTA´ to become Xbox360 exclusive?

A rumour was posted over at WorthPlaying that, if true, would turn out to be the industry coup of the year.

Word has reached us through the grapevine by means of an inside source at Rockstar Vancouver, that "the buzz" in the hallways is that Microsoft might have put in a bid or expressed interest in purchasing the ailing publisher/developer. While this is a mere rumor, albeit from a reliable source, it is to be taken with a grain of salt. Just imagine the ramifications....

This comes in the wake of concrete evidence that the company´s Board of Directors is considering a sale. A press release, explaining why the company´s annual meeting had been pushed back six days had noted that the Board wanted to "evaluate alternative courses of actions that could potentially be presented to the shareholders, including a possible sale of the Company."




Allow me to spell the ramifications out for you. Such a buyout would lead to Microsoft adding Rockstar to their First Party list and the ´Grand Theft Auto´ series becoming Xbox360 exclusive... forever.

Undoubtedly, Microsoft would want to buy them. But can they afford to? The entire Xbox venture has cost them billions with little in return. And the last studio acquisitions were not exactly good investments for the company, I should add.

Buying Rare was, in hindsight, a mistake. The studio cost Microsoft almost half a billion US dollars, graced the console with a number of overhyped titles (two of which had been ported twice in their development cycle, to be fair to Rare) and the buyout started a huge exodus of employees which recently culminated in the company´s founders leaving.

I would have thought that Microsoft had learned that throwing money around is not everything in this industry. But I could be wrong.

Sources: WorthPlaying, Games Industry
Thanks to: Karma Kramer