SEGA Germany Speaks on Mario & Sonic Olympic Success

Manager Wouldn’t Mind to see Sonic in Mario game

While many Sonic fans were watching developments on either Sonic Unleashed or Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood, there was another surprise success with a Sonic-related title around the world–and it wasn’t necessarily Super Smash Bros. Brawl.

It was Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Games, and while many scoffed at SEGA estimates that the game would sell 10 million copies, according to the company, the game hit its mark during the height of the Olympic season.  In fact, in the UK, the SEGA / Nintendo collaboration was one of the best selling titles of 2008.

Now, with thanks to our new newsgathering partner, Germany’s Spindash.de, we can bring you an interview regarding the success of the series with SEGA Germany community manager Sebastian Weidenbeck.  In the interview, SpinDash.de’s Fish talks with Weidenbeck about the internal excitement about the collaboration, as well as prospects for a sequel down the road.

The interview is translated from German.  Because of this partnership, in the future you’ll be able to see major stories from SpinDash.de on TSSZ News in English, and major TSSZ stories will be on SpinDash.de in German.  It’s an alliance we’re proud to be a part of, and it will help both of us bring you more Sonic and Sega news of the world.

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Fish: Hello Sebastian, please introduce yourself.

Sebastian: Well, my name is Sebastian Weidenbeck and I’ve worked nearly a year as the Community Manager at SEGA. I support the SEGA-Fansites and Gaming sites with content, test patterns about the latest games, organize events and represent SEGA at expos.

F: Ten Million games sold and still on growing – does Sega internally expect such incredible success for Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games?

S: It was clear the combination of Sonic and Mario would go well from the start. Everybody who knows Mario and Sonic as videogame heroes has wished for something like that. We were fully aware that, with Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games, we had a good title – after all Nintendo was involved on the development.

There’re not many titles that reach these large quantities, therefore we are really proud on this incredible success.

F: Do you have an accurate statement when the 10 million mark has been surpassed for the Wii+DS games? According SEGA US CEO Simon Jeffery it should have been in June, but according to VGChartz it happened just some time ago. What’s the real deal now?

S: There are many different methods of calculation – everybody has their own source and different statistics for it. According our info, it indeed happened in the Summer. I don’t know the method of survey for these charts and because of this I can’t comment on them.

F: May you tell us your first game experience with Mario & Sonic? How was the feeling to see two well-known characters in one game?

S: I grew up in the times where Sonic and Mario were rivals, and the schoolyard was split up into the Mega Drive and Super Nintendo owners. Back then, there was hot discussion on who would win in such a competition. It’s great that gamers nowadays can figure it out for themselves – and nothing’s better suited for this like the Olympic Games.

For myself, I was, from the start, really excited about the game and enjoy playing even today, especially on the DS.

F: Which sports does SEGA internally enjoy the most (in the game)?

S: That’s different, because each of my colleagues have their own favorites. But Rowing, Trampoline and Archery are the most played sports and at these disciplines we have reached some considerable records internally.

F: In which region–Europe or the World–is Mario & Sonic the most popular?

S: The title sells very well in the US and Europe. In Japan the game has been distributed by Nintendo of Japan, I don’t have any further information for that.

F: How high are the chances that we can look forward to a sequel?

S: There’s a chance for an sequel, like with every successful game. I cannot say if there will be ever one. But when the fans of the series are asking themselves this question, then there will be hopefully be some pondering among developers if both heroes should face off again in a competition.

F: Will SEGA and Nintendo will ever collaborate again together in the future? Are there any plans?

S: Who knows, I personally don’t mind it if Sonic pops up as a playable character in an upcoming Mario Bros. Game. I think that Peach finds Sonic cooler than Mario. Honestly, Mario’s Moustache isn’t scratchier than Sonic’s spines, no? And a Mario Kart appearance for Sonic, in my opinion, has to happen.