Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games

Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games (マリオ&ソニック AT バンクーバーオリンピック) is a sports game currently in development by Sega, to be published by Nintendo in Japan and by Sega in North America and Europe. The game is officially licensed by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) through exclusive licensee "International Sports Multimedia". The game is the third official crossover title to feature characters from both Mario and Sonic The Hedgehog's respective universes. It will be released on the Nintendo Wii and the Nintendo DS in October 2009, and is the first announced video game based around the 2010 Winter Olympics.

Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games will enable players to assume the role of a Mario or Sonic character while competing against the others in Winter Olympic events. It has been confirmed that EU release will be on October 16th 2009.

Gameplay
Some of the events in the Wii game will use the Balance Board accessory. The multiplayer mode offers "co-op and competitive gameplay" whereas the DS version will use its wireless capabilities.

Development
In January 2009, an article in the Spanish Nintendo magazine Nintendo Acción mentioned a sequel to Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games, to be created for the 2010 Winter Olympics. Both IGN and Eurogamer received confirmation on the games' existence, with IGN stating that game would be officially announced within the following month. Dennis Kim, licensing and merchandising director for the event, stated in February that a Mario & Sonic title "[is] being discussed and planned for Vancouver". Kim also stated that Vancouver 2010 and the IOC will share royalties from this game.

The official announcement did arrive within the month as predicted, the game's title being given as Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games at a joint press release by Sega and Nintendo on February 12, 2009.

Events
It is a possibility that there are different events on the Wii version then the DS version. Confirmed events include:

DS Version
Skeleton Race - lie on your stomach on a sled.

Snowboard Cross - Combination of skateboarding, skiing, and surfing.

Wii Version
Downhill skiing - slalom through gates at high speeds.

Bobsleigh - shows multi player features, four players can line up and work together to hop on the bobsleigh while speeding down the track.

Speedskating - lean forward while swinging your arms, you must keep an even pace to win.

Ice Hockey - play ice hockey in team of three.

Alpine Skiing

Dancing on Ice - dance greatly on ice by swinging the Wii remote.

Dream Snowboarding - Snowboard through various areas from both Sonic and Mario's worlds.

Snowball Fighting - Throw snowballs at your opponent.

Playable
The cast consists of the full roster from the previous game, as well as some new characters.

Sonic characters


 * Sonic the Hedgehog
 * Doctor Eggman
 * Miles "Tails" Prower
 * Amy Rose
 * Knuckles the Echidna
 * Shadow the Hedgehog
 * Blaze the Cat
 * Vector the Crocodile
 * Metal Sonic
 * Silver the Hedgehog

Mario characters


 * Mario
 * Luigi
 * Bowser
 * Princess Peach
 * Yoshi
 * Wario
 * Donkey Kong
 * Princess Daisy
 * Waluigi
 * Bowser Jr.

Other


 * Mii (Wii Version Only)

Referee

 * Charmy Bee

Audience

 * Flicky
 * Goomba
 * Chao
 * Shy Guy
 * Chirps
 * Toad
 * Tux
 * Dry Bones
 * Porker
 * Koopa
 * Omochao
 * Pianta
 * Luma

Artwork &amp; Screenshots
Screenshots

Trivia

 * The first trailer of the game includes a Sonic Unleashed-styled theme playing throughout it.


 * Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Games was released in 2007, and this game will be released late in 2009. This may be a reference to how the Winter Olympic Games always occur two years after the Summer Olympics.


 * This is the third game in which Mario and Sonic appear in a game together, the first 2 being Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Games and Super Smash Bros. Brawl.


 * This is Metal Sonic's first playable appearance on the Nintendo Wii and his first playable appearence on the Nintendo DS.


 * This is also Silver's first playable appearance on the Nintendo DS as well his 4th playable appearance on Wii. Interesingly, Silver's official artwork is the first to show him smiling as well as being more friendly and carefree as depicted in his artwork and trailer to the point where he is seen giving Yoshi a high-five. This contracts his earlier appearances where he is shown to be serious and not social. He still retains his competive attitude.


 * With Donkey Kong and Silver confirmed to appear, the other Hacked characters from the prequel could have a chance to come in.


 * This is the second 2009 sequel of a 2007 game (Sonic and the Black Knight is the sequel of Sonic and the Secret Rings, and this is a sequel of Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Games).


 * Through the DS Adventure Mode, this may be the first canonical meeting between Sonic and Mario, but at this point Super Smash Bros. Brawl does not count due to the fact that Sonic didn't meet Mario face to face in the Subspace Emissary. In fact, Tails introduces himself to Mario for the first time even they were in the first game together.


 * It is believed that a Luma from Super Mario Galaxy was seen within the audience so this could mean that Rosalina from the same game could have the possibility to appear as a Playable character.


 * Sonic Adventure &amp; Sonic Heroes stages Radical Highway, Seaside Hill &amp; Ocean Palace reappear as locations for Dream Snowboarding &amp; Dream Ski. Also, in dream ski, a robot from Sonic Heroes is seen.


 * Unlike its prequel, the boxart for this game differs between the Wii version and the DS version.


 * The Adventure Tours story mode is similar to Paper Mario's storyline. Both involve saving spirits as well as stopping the series antagonists. The Snow Spirits even looks like a star from the Mario series with noticable differences.