The Winter Olympics are currently scheduled for 2013 in the Russian city of Sochi. In keeping with a tradition that started with the 2008 Summer Olympics, Nintendo and Sega have announced a new title in the Mario & Sonic At The Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games series to go along with the event, with this entry being the first on the Wii U.
Other than an obvious high-def graphical enhancement, the game has been confirmed to support Wii MotionPlus for controlling many of the sports minigames within it. Confirmed returning events include skiing and snowboarding, with new games including slope-style snowboarding and figure skating with pairs. In other words, and as the gameplay videos showed, if you’ve ever wanted to see Bowser Jr. and Princess Peach do a figure skating routine together, your wish has been granted.
Some sports will make use of the Wii U GamePad, as well. An example shown was curling, where players can draw directly on the ice rink’s surface to show their plan of movement to their partners. Another event, which will be a combination of skiing and rifle shooting, will see players switching between the GamePad and Wii Remote depending on the situation. Dream Events, a feature from earlier titles in the series, will also make a return, where players can compete in more outlandish events that have the visual themes of familiar environments from both series. A featured example showed ice hockey being played in Delfino Plaza, the hub world from Super Mario Sunshine.
Iwata said that more details, as well as release dates, will be announced in the near future. As always, we will keep you updated on details regarding the game as they drop.