The Paris 2024 Olympic Games are in full swing, and aside from the sporting action, there has been plenty to digest in terms of design. We've have controversial Olympic logos and mascots, a scandalous opening ceremony, a psychotic Nike advert and even more poorly misjudged Google Gemini advert.
There has also been some controversy about a few missing sports, with no baseball, softball or karate this year. But the absence that has most incensed the internet is that of two legendary athletes. Where are Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Games?
Our favourite speedy hedgehog and hero plumber have competed at almost every Olympic Games since 2008 via the Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Games series. Sega and Nintendo delivered fresh installations for the Wii, Nintendo DS or Nintendo Switch for Beijing 2008, Vancouver 2010, London 2012, Sochi 2014, Rio 2016, and Tokyo 2020 (the latter now available at almost half price at Amazon).
And Paris 2024? Apparently, their absence was not the decision of the developers but of the International Olympic Committee (IOC). And NFTs are responsible (see our what are NFTs? guide if you don't remember what they were).
According to the game developer Lee Cocker, Mario and Sonic Olympic titles were cancelled because the IOC wanted to pursue other opportunities. In an interview with Eurogamer, Cocker says the IOC "wanted to look at other partners and NFTs and esports. Basically the IOC wanted to bring [it] back to themselves internally and look at other partners so they would get more money."
The esports move could still be fruitful, with the IOC recently announcing plans with the National Olympic Committee of Saudi Arabia to hold to an Olympic Esports Games next year. As for the NFT side of things, a studio called nWay developed a free mobile and PC simulator game called Olympics Go! Paris 2024 featuring 12 mini games and a commemorative Paris 2024 mascot NFT Digital Pin.
The Android app has had around 100k downloads. But considering the collapse of interest in NFTs, it seems like a poorly judged move when we could be enjoying Mario and Sonic break dancing. Some of the sports in Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Games made little sense. I mean, who can compete with Sonic in a 100m sprint? But the series was a lot of fun, particularly the javelin and archery.
For more Olympic design news, see our pick of the best Olympics logos and the best Olympics posters.
