Kotaku: sonic and mario at the olympic games

Wii Third Party Games Can Be Million Sellers Too

fdemarco — Fri, 21 Mar 2008 10:40:00 MDT

I've often been privy to conversations where people swear that the only good Wii game is a first party Nintendo game. While this might be true for some, there are plenty of other folks out there who enjoy a decent 3rd party game although admittedly the really good ones are few and far between.

The Video Game Blog has posted an interesting list of the third party Wii games that have sold over a million copies. Some of them are pretty obvious like Resident Evil 4 (1.6 million) and Guitar Hero III (1.8 million) while others were definitely a surprise (at least to me) like Carnival Games (1.2 million) and the top seller of all, Sonic and Mario at the Olympic Games (3.4 million). There are seven games total on the list including three that are getting pretty close to a million like RE: Umbrella Chronicles (900k) and LEGO Star Wars: The Complete Saga (900k).

While all the games on the list may not be your cup of tea, it certainly is interesting to see what sells on the little white console. You can check out the entire list at That Videogame Blog.
3rd party Wii games that sold a million [That Videogame Blog - via GoNintendo]

Wii Won't Excommunicate You from Nintendo World

Brian Ashcraft — Fri, 07 Mar 2008 00:00:07 MST

A lot of people write off the Wii. Not SEGA boss Simon Jeffery. He is all about the Wii. No wonder, Sonic & Mario at the Olympic Games has done big business! Says Jeffery:

I do think going forward there is very much a place for the hardcore gamers on the Wii and there's a big opportunity for publishers to take advantage of that because we've seen the success of Resident Evil on Nintendo platforms... But I do also believe that a lot of Western publishers are only looking at the Wii for casual and family gaming, and I think that's a mistake — I think there's a lot more opportunity there on the Wii. The Wii isn't just about Wii Tennis and Mario & Sonic; it's about so much more. The Wii as a platform has way much more to offer than [Wii Tennis and Mario & Sonic], and hardcore gamers traditionally love Nintendo as well. There's no reason why they should be excluded or excommunicated from the Nintendo world.

Bwah? Nintendo world?! Excommunicated?! Wow, talk about being a Wii convert. This guy's fanatical.
Dismissing Wii Is Mistake [CVG] [Pic]

Sonic Loses to Mario Once Again

Brian Ashcraft — Thu, 08 Nov 2007 07:00:10 MST

That mass of red t-shirts pouring booze into Mario's mouth is Team Mario. Look how happy they appear! They were victorious. Sonic? He and Team Sonic lost in a special competition SEGA UK had to promote Sonic and Mario at the Olympic Games. British tabloid The Sun sent along some pin-up girls, who wore red shirts (and thus, were part of the Mario Team by default). Some of the events include thug-of-war, climbing-up-an-inflated-thingy-covered-with-soap and penguin sumo wresting. You think we are kidding about the penguin sumo wrestling? We are so not. That, after the jump.

Something Odd [UKR] Images]

Sega Predicts 4 Million For Mario and Sonic

Mike Fahey — Fri, 21 Sep 2007 08:30:14 MDT

Sega is counting on the Wii rekindling of a 16-year old rivalry will match the sales of the first shot fired in the Mario VS Sonic war back in 1991. The original Sonic The Hedgehog sold 4 million copies, and Sega's Masanao Maeda says Mario and Sonic at the Olympic games will do the same. The corporate director at Sega's gaming unit made the statement at the Tokyo Games Show yesterday. Considering the number of Wii systems already in gamers' hands and the fact that this is one title that people will buy to see Sonic and Mario in the same place no matter how good or bad it turns out to be, I'd have to say that it's a realistic goal. Hell, Sonic Heroes alone sold a million copies in Europe, and it completely sucked. If that many people will buy crap with Sonic's name on it, adding Mario to the mix should get them 4 million easy.

Sega Sammy Says Sonic and Mario Game Sales May Reach 4 Million [Bloomberg via Next Generation]

Even EA Is Making Creative Wii Games

Brian Ashcraft — Mon, 03 Sep 2007 00:00:06 MDT

North American SEGA president Simon Jeffery knows a few things about creativity. Take SEGA's combining Mario and Sonic in a game pegged to the Olympics. Talk about creative! And after Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Games took best Wii game at Leipzig (congrats), Jeffery felt in the mood to sound off. Selected quotes include:

There is no doubt that we will see more risks, and therefore more creativity on both the Wii and the DS in the next couple of years. Just look at what EA is already doing on the Wii — EA doesn't usually do that kind of game... We will probably see a fair bit of standardization for a while from third party publishers in the games that they develop for 360 and PS3, as the huge development costs are 'rationalized'.

READ: Making true next-gen games is pricey as hell. Third-party companies are realizing this and will make water-downed 360 and PS3. But, the Wii and the DS are so interesting that even Electronic Arts can make a creative game. Incredible!
Creative Wii Games [MCVUK]