Former Game Rivals Team Up for Olympics

Associated Press/AP Online

DALLAS - Two old rivals in the video game business are teaming up.

Sega Corp. and Nintendo Co. have agreed to pit their two high-profile mascots - Sonic the Hedgehog and Mario the plumber - against each other in "Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games."

It's the first time the snarky blue hedgehog and the pudgy Italian plumber have appeared in the same title. The game, to be released in time for the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, will include table tennis, swimming and running, among other events.

"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?" said Nintendo's Shigeru Miyamoto, the game guru behind such titles as "Donkey Kong."

For years, the two companies were bitter rivals in the console business.

In the 1990s, Sega's Genesis and Dreamcast systems competed against Nintendo's Super NES and Nintendo 64 for market dominance. Sega quit the hardware business in 2001 after conceding defeat to rivals such as Sony Corp.'s PlayStation consoles. It now makes video games for all the major consoles.

The game will be released for Nintendo's Wii console and DS handheld system by the end of the year, officials said.

With its motion-sensitive remote controls, Nintendo's Wii has been a surprise hit of the three next-generation consoles and was the No. 1 system in the United States in January and February, according to data from market researcher NPD Group. Microsoft Corp.'s Xbox 360 was No. 2, followed by Sony's PlayStation 3.

 Related Images
 Related Polls
 Related Trivia
 Celebrity Gossip

Press, Online, Two, local texas, tw top,
Technology and Computers,