With the Winter Olympics about to start from Sochi, Russia, I (Nebraska Dave aka NE_Dave@Twitch) decided I wanted to go out and buy a game based on this years games.
Well, after searching far and wide, I found one: Mario and Sonic at the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympic Games.
For the Nintendo Wii and the WiiU.
Only.
Now, wait a second here. The Wii is a cute game system, good for social games, yes. But, I have a XBox 360 and a PC. I can't afford a XBox One or a PS4 yet, and never bothered to buy a PS3 because the games difference was negligible for what I prefer to play on the console. Are there any games for me?
Sadly, no. I could buy simulated games, such as snowboarding or skiing games. Of course, there is NHL Hockey. But cross country skiing? Curling? (Omaha has a big curling club, I will point out, ran by a good friend of mine.) Ice Skating? Speed skating? Biathalon? (The NRA's favorite sport) Jamaican Bobsledding? Luge?
Nothing is out there for these games for other game consoles other than Mario and Sonic's for the Nintendo Wii and WiiU.
I want to know just why that is the case. Why would the Russian government opt into an 'official' contract with just Nintendo for a game, when 3/4ths of the world won't be able to play it? The exclusivity contracts are cutting off the nose in spite of the face, to coin a cliche. This absolutely makes no sense to me, or at least as much sense as NBC not streaming the opening ceremony live on their online sports extra service, yet will do so for all the events. (Canada and the UK both will be streaming live. Anyone have a proxy I can use?)
Look, I understand how thing work with these licensing agreements. SodaStream ran into this and had to edit their advertisement for their device to take out the nudge against Coke and Pepsi for the Super Bowl. It works the same, if not moreso, with the Olympics. In fact, the Olympics officials have been charged in the past for taking bribes over such things.
Maybe it wouldn't sell well, but a game beyond the Nintendo brand (and a mobile iOS only app - we with Android thank you) hurts the bottom line.
Like so much of this Olympic Games in Sochi, the mysteries behind these decisions astound me.