http://www.gamespot.com/wii/sports/mariosonicattheolympicgames/index.html
What is this?! The two ICONS of 90s gaming and the figureheads of the legions of fans split between the Super Nintendo and Sega Genesis camps. The two characters who PERSONIFIED the 16-bit era and were the topics of discussion in the playground battles of console superiority of ye olde, now in the SAME game?! Ludicrous...but true.
Thanks to a license from the Beijing Olympics of 2008, Sonic and Mario have unified under the same banner in the spirit of the Games. A couple of track & field events, all in the name of friendly competition. Seems like its going to be a fun time.
But let us reflect on what brought us to this point. The rivalry, the fandom...everything. The day that no Sonic nor Mario fan thought would ever happen has just happened. Sega and Nintendo have collaborated to put their two mascots into the same game.
Now, admittedly, Sega is no longer in the console business so maybe this moment doesn't have quite the impact it would have had if this had occured a couple years back but even so, the lineage both franchises possess definitely make this no small matter. Mario, the powerhouse franchise that propelled Nintendo through the 8-bit era combined with one-time arch-rival Sonic the Hedgehog, upstart mascot created by Sega for the sole purpose of giving Nintendo an answer to their pudgy plumber are now seen in the same title.
Does this mean that we'll be seeing more crossovers in the future? Maybe, no one can say really...but now the door is open...