Former Sega dev reveals Nintendo’s demand for Mario and Sonic at the Olympics

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Ryoichi Hasegawa, a former Sega developer, revealed an interesting detail about how Sega and Nintendo worked together on Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games. Apparently, Nintendo was very specific about exactly where its mascot, Mario, appeared in advertisements and other promotional materials.

In a recent interview with Arcade Attack Retro Gaming Network, Hasegawa talked about his time working in the video game industry. He noted how rare it used to be to see characters from competing game companies team up in a single game.

Nintendo “demanded” changes to Mario’s placement

Hasegawa recalled the excitement surrounding the original Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games, which came out in 2008 alongside the Beijing Olympics, and emphasized how important the game felt as a crossover event back then.

Team-ups between characters are frequent today, but it was a really new and exciting idea when this game was being made. He remembered one particular instance while they were creating the artwork to promote the game.

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One amusing detail was the artwork used for the game. It featured characters like Mario and Sonic standing on a field, and this art appeared on the game’s packaging, instruction manual, and even the cartridge label.

Hasegawa explained that a minor visual mistake caused problems for Nintendo.

There was a minor issue with the artwork – Sonic’s foot was accidentally positioned in front of Mario’s. Nintendo asked us to fix it, and I remember it clearly. When asked if Sega complied, Hasegawa explained that they immediately agreed, saying, ‘We knew we had to change it or the project wouldn’t move forward.’

The first movie proved so popular that it led to five follow-up films, all released around the time of the Olympic Games. The characters have also teamed up in other projects, like the Super Smash Bros. video game series.

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2026-01-21 16:48