14 DAY TRIAL // SEGA announced having entered into a worldwide exclusive agreement with both International Sports Multimedia and with the International Olympic Committee in order to gain an exclusive license related to the 2010 Olympic Winter Games, which are to be held in Vancouver. The agreement will allow the publisher to create and distribute videogames for the PC, the Mac, the Xbox 360, the PlayStation 3 and the Nintendo Wii. The company also promises mobile and arcade versions of any games that bear an Olympic name.
Okitane Usui, the Chief Operations Officer of SEGA, stated that “Sega is extremely excited to once again work with ISM on a series of multi-platform games celebrating the Olympic Games. The Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games offers gamers a collection of exciting sports to master, as well as a stunning location for players to take advantage of. We aim to bring fans around the world an exhilarating experience whenever they play any Olympic title.”
Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games, also created by SEGA, was based on the 2008 Summer Olympics held in Beijing, and the game, which allowed players to take control of well-known videogame characters in order to compete in various events, managed to sell more than 10 million copies for both the Nintendo DS and the Wii.
At the moment, SEGA has not revealed which games it plans to develop based on the deal made, but a recent report in a Spanish gaming magazine suggested that Mario and Sonic might team up again for a sport-based title.
The company will probably try to capitalize on the popularity of the two characters and will offer more than one game in which they can compete in Olympic events. It's about a year until the Winter Olympic, so SEGA has a lot of time to offer more information on its plans.