After years of rivalry, as the mascots for multiple Nintendo and Sega consoles, Mario and Sonic the Hedgehog are to appear in a new game to be developed by Sega Japan and based around the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games will be released this Christmas on Wii and Nintendo DS, and will be published by Sega in the West and Nintendo in Japan, according to an official joint statement by the two companies. The game uses an official International Sports Multimedia (ISM) license, the interactive entertainment software licensee of the International Olympic Committee (IOC). ISM has previously overseen the video game adaptations of the recent Olympics and Winter Olympics games, starting with the Sydney 2000 Games. Although no screenshots have yet been released, the game will feature various Olympic events including the 100m sprint, swimming and table tennis. The game will feature both Mario and Sonic, as well as secondary characters from both franchises including Luigi, Knuckles, Yoshi and Tails. “Mario and Sonic have been respectful rivals since the early days of video games,” said Nintendo’s Shigeru Miyamoto. “In fact, for a long time they have been discussing the possibility of one day competing against each other. Now that they have been given the perfect opportunity to meet at the Olympic Games, we may finally learn who is actually faster, Mario or Sonic?”