Nintendo's design demand almost cancelled Mario & Sonic at the Olympics
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Two worlds collided with the release of Sega’s Mario & Sonic Olympic Games in 2007. And while gamers simply relished the opportunity to play two of the most iconic characters ever in one game, it seems that the two brands were less comfortable about the collaboration – and Nintendo even put in some strict guidelines.
According to former SEGA producer Hasegawa Ryoichi, talking in the Timeless Gamers podcast on YouTube, Nintendo stipulated Mario had to win every race in any video that was released. Though this makes little sense (Sonic is so obviously faster than Mario, right?), it was a 'political' decision. See the podcast below.
HASEGAWA RYOICHI INTERVIEW - Timeless Gamers Show episode 146 - YouTube
Ryoichi shared even more juicy information in a different interview with the Arcade Attack Retro Gaming Network. Here he said that Nintendo also stipulated that Sonic had to be positioned behind Mario in all of the promotional material, including artwork, cartridge cases and manuals. Nintendo even demanded artwork be changed if Mario was behind Sonic, in order for the deal to go through.
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"There was one funny story," Ryoichi says. "There was artwork of Mario and Sonic, and you know, other characters standing on the field. And those artworks were used for the package, the instruction manual cover, and the cartridge label, and things like that...There was one small error and Sonic's foot was in front of Mario's foot, and Nintendo demanded us to change the priority".
"So, what? Mario had to be slightly ahead?" Arcade Attack replies.
" Yes...I still remember that," confirms Ryoichi.
Ryoichi goes on to state that Sega did change the order – and you can watch that video below.
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Who would have thought that one of the biggest brands in video games could be so petty when setting up a collab with another behemoth? I guess Nintendo is famously protective of its IP, but this is an extreme reaction.
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