A lot of talk has been going on about how "casual gaming"  will be the way video games will be opened up to the masses. Well, the Europe senior marketing director of Nintendo has something to say about that. Specifically, the term "casual gaming." Find out what he had to say in the full article.

Before the present day's console war, Nintendo and Sega used to be the fiercest of competitors. This is especially true during the 80s and early 90s. So to those of you who are old enough to remember, the recently announced video game title Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Games might cause some thrills or probably remind you of your age.

Anyway, SEGA UK boss Mike Hayes noticed the same and commented that things are not the same now as before. When it comes to the new tag team of characters Mario and Sonic, he remarked,

Now of course it is different because there are many different platforms, for those of us that have been in the business that long, to bring those characters that were always pitted against each other together makes it even more remarkable.

Moreover, both Nintendo and Sega confirmed that Mr. Shigeru Miyamoto is very much involved in the development of Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Games. Miyamoto was the brilliant mind behind video game heroes such as Mario, Link, and Donkey Kong, among others. He was recently inducted into the Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences' (AIAS) Hall of Fame.

Nintendo European Marketing Director Laurent Fischer said that it is only logical that whenever Mario is involved, Miyamoto is also involved. Then he elaborated on the video game designer's role in the making of the upcoming title.

He's working on a large number of titles and he's delegating to the producer, but he's always there. The game is being developed by SEGA, but we are used to Mr. Miyamoto going and following up with the team. He's joining the discussion, it's a relationship - he's not directing the game, he's just there in the discussions.

Likewise, Hayes confirmed this statements from Fischer and admitted that they are actually thrilled to be working with the guy. "Our teams working on it in Tokyo are unbelievably thrilled to be working with the most important man in videogaming; it's like a dream come true for them. He's certainly there and involved."

Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Games will be released both on the DS and Wii Christmas of 2007.

And as it turns out, Nintendo aren't just happy with how well the DS Lite and the Wii did in North America this past Holiday season. As it turns out, it seems that they also have much reason to celebrate since sales from the other side of the globe have turned out to be particularly satisfying last Christmas.

In the UK alone, Chart Track has released independent sales figures which indicate that the Wii and the DS took the number one spot on everyone's Christmas wishlist. The result of this of course, would be 200,000 Wiis being sold over the holiday period, and over 500,000 DS Lites flying off the shelves, being gift-wrapped and sent to a loved one. And let's not forget about all the accompanying accessories and software, shall we? After all, Legend of Zelda: TP sold 500,000 copies in December, while Wii Play sold 320,000 copies during the same period.

According to Laurent Fischer, Marketing Director for Nintendo Europe,

We have enjoyed one of the most successful Christmas holidays ever, with both Nintendo DS and Wii selling at staggering rates. The success of our products this Christmas clearly shows that Nintendo’s drive to make gaming accessible to everyone has attracted people of all ages and abilities to the industry. We are facing such high demand for both platforms that unfortunately we are facing stock shortages, however we are doing everything possible to combat this by attempting to deliver both consoles and games to retailers on a daily basis.

Ho ho ho!!

With the DS, Nintendo has touched the hearts of many European gamers. After giving the mighty portable console a six million units sale, Europeans are now carrying six DS games past the one million sales mark.

Amongst the games sailing past the monumental one million sales mark are Dr. Kawashima’s Brain Training: How old is your brain?, Animal Crossing: Wild World, and of course the world and puppy phenomenon Nintendogs, which has now sold a staggering four million copies in Europe.

Even the retro titles are triumphing in this market, with portly plumber Mario, enjoying three huge hits with New Super Mario Bros. and Super Mario 64 both breaking the one million sales mark and Mario Kart DS selling over 1.5 million copies. Laurent Fischer, European Marketing Director for Nintendo said:

We are delighted by the success of the Nintendo DS and DS Lite and especially pleased to see that we have exceeded the one million mark with games that appeal to both non-gamers and traditional gamers. Nintendo is proud of its role in expanding the gaming market and we hope to continue this success with the launch of Wii in Europe in December.

If Wii gets anywhere near as much the success of the DS in Europe, Nintendo will be laughing all the way to the bank.

With Wii's release is just around the corner (or more like, just around this year's corner), Wii onlookers will be pleased with what Nintendo has to say. According to Laurent Fischer, head of sales and marketing of Nintendo Europe, "all various countries will have Wii released by the end of 2006". Yay.

If you think the Wii's production is taking a bit long, Fischer says, "We need to deliver Wii the proper way. What is the proper way for Nintendo? It is to have software, to give the consumer and player what we promise them and we have to have the quantity necessary to fulfil all their needs. We are not launching something people cannot get their hands on."

Hmmm... sounds quite a promise. And this console seems quite promising, with all the "inter-activity" the player has. Fisher says that their strategy for DS is the same with the Wii, as they want gamers "some fresh air".

Seems like everyone is quite happy with Wii's "fresh air". Fischer says that he saw lots of happy people at the E3 playing with Wii. But would they be happy once the Wii's price is announced? According to Fischer, they promised the said console was going to be affordable and they're going to keep it. So we gotta keep our fingers crossed and hope that their definition of "affordable" is the same as ours.

On a final note, Fischer says that Wii is a revolutionary name for a console that's easy to remember, very catchy, and will "make you smile... It means you and me. It's exactly what we want to deliver with this console and this controller. So let's go for it!"