Nights 2? Pfft! Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games WiiDS

[Dr. SEGA Monkey]

Not only that, but how often do you see the game developers themselves make April Fools pranks. It's usually just the magazines and news websites that do it.

[Opa-Opa]

I hope they won't create a new character for the game, like someone who lives in both worlds.

[Senbei]

I think this is a neat idea. It's completely out there and I think that's why I like it so much. Obviously, I'd have preferred a platforming game, but I can see this being actually, literally fun. I am worried that the interview emphasizes "family fun" so much, though -- it makes it sound really kiddy.

This really does sound like an excuse to induct Sonic into Brawl, though, maybe even an excuse to get Nintendo and Sega working closer together. And that's very OK in my book.

[FlashTHD]

It's oh-so-charming of them to go on a PR tour de force within a blazing 24 hours of announcement, with press releases across all three involved parties and an interview with the heads of PR sqwauk at NoA and SoA. But nothing interesting, like gameplay details that aren't ambiguous at best. And screenshots. Any screenshots. Much less a trailer.

Just a bunch of words/copyrights, and an ugly promo render.

I'll leave you with that until April 2nd or any info that confirms to me anything about what this is, whichever comes first.

[Team Mecha]

A theory: Since Nintendo wanted to make Brawl with Sonic in it, Sega wanted a Mario/Sonic game they made to balance it out. Nintendo vetoed a platformer after taking a good long look at Shadow the Hedgehog & next-gen Sonic.

[Locit]

No.

[Esrever]

It's oh-so-charming of them to go on a PR tour de force within a blazing 24 hours of announcement, with press releases across all three involved parties and an interview with the heads of PR sqwauk at NoA and SoA. But nothing interesting, like gameplay details that aren't ambiguous at best. And screenshots. Any screenshots. Much less a trailer.

Just a bunch of words/copyrights, and an ugly promo render.

I'll leave you with that until April 2nd or any info that confirms to me anything about what this is, whichever comes first.

Dude, it can't be an April Fools joke. They're using the official Olympic logo, which you can't do without licensing it from the IOCC.

The Olympic committee have the most aggressive lawyers on the planet. When the games are happening in a particular town they even send out cease and desists to any small local businesses that dare to display logo in their advertising. And those are just individuals who don't know any better.

A giant corporation -- no, a pair of giant corporations -- arenot going to publicly violate the IOCC's intellectual property just for a freaking joke!

As much as I'd like to pretend this game is only a gag, there's absolutely no way.

[Delphine]

Obviously the IOCC is in on it.

[Ngangbius]

It's oh-so-charming of them to go on a PR tour de force within a blazing 24 hours of announcement, with press releases across all three involved parties and an interview with the heads of PR sqwauk at NoA and SoA. But nothing interesting, like gameplay details that aren't ambiguous at best. And screenshots. Any screenshots. Much less a trailer.

Just a bunch of words/copyrights, and an ugly promo render.

I'll leave you with that until April 2nd or any info that confirms to me anything about what this is, whichever comes first.

Assuming you still think this is a April Fool's Joke, why would the official licensee of International Olympic Commitee for entertainment software take part on an elaborate hoax?

Didn't Nintendo have some sort of stock agreement for Japan in which there were not allowed to reveal any thing new during a certain duration of time including GDC? This could have been one of those announcements. Though I have a feeling they were be saving the screenshots and so forth during this year's E3 in July where it can recieve all the show stopping media hype it could get. I mean Nintendo at least is known for sparringly releasing screenshots for their upcoming games--except when it comes to special events.

[cjmcray]

New Article which explains why they chose for it to be an Olympics game.

SEGA ended up getting the exclusive rights to make games for the 2008 Olympics, hence, they decided it be a Olympic game.

It's strange, but fits.

Sonic and Mario have rivaled for years. What better place to finally settle the score, than in the biggest competitive game on Earth? The Olympics.

I'm quite excited. With Mario & Sonic involved, this isn't going to be a typical Olympics game. And with Miyamoto overseeing, it won't be utter shit.

I would rather Nintendo be the ones developing though. SEGA doesn't really have a track record with minigame titles, which is what this will be.

I would like a CG intro of Sonic & Mario comically going at it in several games, like..

-Sonic & Mario on track. Mario strains, and sweats to run fast, while Sonic is off in the bg, running backwards, ala Sonic X, with a cocky look on his face.

-Cut to Mario swimming gracefully, whilst Sonic flails about in an innertube

Stuff like that.

I hope this has a wide array of characters, ala Smash Bros. Think of the possbilities.

Bowser VS Eggman weight-lifting

Sonic/Amy VS Mario/Peach Figure Skating

I imagine the game ends with a wrestling match between Mario & Sonic, and once you beat said fight, Bowser and Eggman steal the gold medal, and Sonic & Mario team-up to stop them. Somehow you'd control the two of them simultaneously.

One thing's for sure: It'll be weird as hell to see the two having a conversation, even if it's brief. Heck, just hearing Sonic say the word Mario will be weird.

[Opa-Opa]

Sonic and Mario have rivaled for years. What better place to finally settle the score, than in the biggest competitve game on Earth? The Olympics.

Yeah, I thought the same.

That logo reminds me a lot of Asterix. But I guess it's just common sense to use roman-like fonts when you are adressing the Olympics.

And Flash, drop the conspiracy theory... you know it's true, you just don't want to believe it.

And about the screenshots thing... I kinda miss those days where we would only find out about some game when it came out. Nowadays we have this massive propaganda industry that really sucks. I think that's one of the reasons the companies invest a lot more effort in making the game look good - in the screenshots - than actually being a good game.

[FlashTHD]

Sonic and Mario have rivaled for years. What better place to finally settle the score, than in the biggest competitve game on Earth?

Super Smash Bros. Brawl?

Seriously, stack it up and then you tell me :p

That is interesting about the game rights. Wouldn't that theoretically give Sega some leverage?

And Flash, drop the conspiracy theory... you know it's true, you just don't want to believe it.

We're talking about a game with Mario and Sonic competing in the last sport you'd ever imagine seeing them in. I don't think you can blame me for raising an eyebrow first, but I admit I didn't know the IOCC lawyers are anal to the last.

[cjmcray]

but I admit I didn't know the IOCC lawyers are anal to the last.

*snickers*

"anal"

[Shadow Hog]

To be fair, neither did I until today.

[Ngangbius]

Sonic/Amy VS Mario/Peach Figure Skating

No, Figure Skating is in the Winter Olympics. This game is based on the Summer Olympics.

[Hybrid]

This is just fucking ridiculous.

I'm in utter disbelief at this, assuming its real (which it appears to be at this point). The first collaborative effort between Sonic and Mario was meant to be epic. Instead, we've got a rather boring looking/sounding sports game.

Think about this. It isn't "Sonic vs Mario in Sports". Its "Sonic vs Mario at the 2008 Beijing Olympics". This is stupid in so many ways. Firstly, it doesn't sound as if we'll be getting quirky hurdles in the Green Hill Zone, or pirana plant weight-lifting in the Mushroom Kingdom. We'll be getting track in Beijing. Everything in Beijing. Why remove two iconic video game icons from their home worlds of fantasy, and slap them in a boring arena in a boring real-life setting? It doesn't make any sense.

On that note, the game itself is a very poor marketing choice that completely misses the mark. I like Sonic and Mario. I do not care for sports games. Therefore, I don't want this game at all. The smart move would be to capitalise on the fact that both are platforming characters, both fanbases like platformers and all the fans would willingly buy a new platformer that featured both characters. I'm living proof that this brilliant marketing opportunity (the coming together of Mario and Sonic) is going to be wasted on a large chunk of the fanbase who don't necessarily care for the genre the characters are being dropped into.

The only positive I see is that this strengthens Sonic's chances of appearing in Brawl. I also hope this game gets delayed and comes out after Brawl; I don't want such a big event to be wasted on such a lame concept of a game, at least not at first.

[THEbigLANDMAN]

A story based game would do it more ridiculous, just put Eggman and Bowser as other contestants, just like in Virtua Striker, it’s the Olympics Games, historically those had stopped wars (not contemporarily though…)

[MiraiTails]

There's a Newsweek article that offers more details about the game.

Some highlights quoted from SegaNerds:

- Sega and Nintendo had discussions of bringing the two mascots together in a game while Sega was still in the hardware business.
- An undisclosed Sega sports team will be the primary developer, not Sonic Team or AM2, while Nintendo and Miyamoto will also be closely involved.
- Sega wants to reinvent Sonic, so chances are, we won’t be seeing another Sonic on another platform for awhile, Jeffrey said.

[CM August]

Sega claimed they had reinvented Sonic for 2k6 too. Could they be serious about it this time?

[MiraiTails]

... It isn't "Sonic vs Mario in Sports". Its "Sonic vs Mario at the 2008 Beijing Olympics". This is stupid in so many ways. Firstly, it doesn't sound as if we'll be getting quirky hurdles in the Green Hill Zone, or pirana plant weight-lifting in the Mushroom Kingdom....

The games played at the Olympics are actually quite varied, and include many "everyday" sports.

For what it's worth, the SoA President said the game won't be a "typical sports title," and critisized previous Olympics video games. (See the Newsweek article I mentioned previously.)

[Mep]

There's a Newsweek article that offers more details about the game.

Some highlights quoted from SegaNerds:

- Sega and Nintendo had discussions of bringing the two mascots together in a game while Sega was still in the hardware business.
- An undisclosed Sega sports team will be the primary developer, not Sonic Team or AM2, while Nintendo and Miyamoto will also be closely involved.
- Sega wants to reinvent Sonic, so chances are, we won’t be seeing another Sonic on another platform for awhile, Jeffrey said.

Kinda wish Sonic Team did this. They may be able to learn something from a competent developer.

[Radrappy]

It’s exciting that the sonic franchise is being put on hold. That Sega acknowledges the critical reception of Sonic 2006 (and also that it’s still selling well) and are choosing to not shit out another game is something.

Hopefully this reflects on the quality of the Nights project, not coinciding with another major sonic game.

With this game, the supervision of Miyamoto and Nintendo, Nights, and Sonic spending time in the shop, I think Sega fans will have a hard time sleeping for the first time in years.

If you look at recent Sonic games, the games that have actually had the best quality have been those that have been on the Nintendo platforms. Sonic and the Secret Rings on the Wii has actually reviewed well and is selling very well. Sonic Rush on the DS reviewed extremely well; I think it averaged in the 80s, and likewise has done extremely well. So we think that Sonic has always had this affinity for the Nintendo platforms and the Nintendo demographic.

I do think the response that "sonic naturally does better on nintendo consoles" is a bull shit answer though. That's no excuse in hell for wretched quality no matter how true it may be.

[Dr. SEGA Monkey]

Yeesh...SEGA must've finally lost trust in Sonic Team. They wont be involved in this OR the new NiGHTS.

Kind of sad when you think about it....

Right now, the game just seems like a dry licenced game, except with Mario and Sonic in it. Like somebody above said, there probably aren't going to be distinct Sonic/Mario environments. And with the IOCC watching over it, they probably only want environments/events that are true to the actual Olympics.

Also, in one interview, it said something like "race against Sonic and Mario". They never actually said you can PLAY as them. This is worrying me because what if you can only play as a generic athlete, or a Mii? That wouldn't be cool at all.

I just don't wat the first "Sonic & Mario" game to be boring and crappy. I like the idea, but....they need to make it more intense and big. Even the official artwork they have for this game (don't get me wrong, it's nice art) doesn't even suggest a rivalry. Maybe something like that Sonic CD pic with Sonic and Metal Sonic facing each other, they could do that with Sonic and Mario.

[One Classy Bloke]

...Sonic spending time in the shop

Thats not really the case. They just haven't announced the next one at this time.

Yes, i know of one.

[Zeta]

Oh dear god. I hate to think of Sega thinking the only reason Sonic and the Secret Rings did better than Sonic360 is the fact that it was on a Nintendo platform, instead of actual effort, gameplay, good design, and great art being put into it. That can only lead to more shit.