Once it became clear that Sega was exiting the console race, Nintendo was ready to display peace and begin a new relationship. In fact, Mario and Sonic, once flag-bearers in the bitter Console Wars of the ’90s between Sega and Nintendo, literally hugged it out when it was time to repair the relationship.
Sega’s cutting-edge marketing, at least by 1990s standards, directly attacked Mario. Sonic was a fast dude with a rad ‘tude in commercials where teachers asked him to be a nice boy like Mario. However, following the Sega Genesis generation, things fell apart for Sega, and by 2001, they had decided to exit the console market and become a third-party developer. That meant that it was time for Sonic to make nice with Mario.
Former Sega Executive Recalls Mario and Sonic’s ‘First Meeting’
In an interview with Sega-16, Mike Fischer, former VP of entertainment marketing at Sega of America, recalled a touching moment where Sega representatives brought a Sonic mascot to a meeting with Nintendo, and they had a Mario mascot ready to greet him at the door of Nintendo of America and give his old rival a hug, a true sign that the war was over.
“The sweetest thing was we we brought the the Sonic the Hedgehog mascot character up to Nintendo, and the Mario mascot character was there at the door of Nintendo of America and gave him a hug and welcomed him in. I think Arakawa-san from Nintendo of America was there. I’m not going to lie, I got a little teary-eyed when I saw that happen. It was really sweet,” he said.
For more on the relationship between Sega and Nintendo following Sega’s exit from console creation, check out a story about the cover art for the first game featuring Mario and Sonic at the Olympics.
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