Last week Sega officially announced that it secured the license for the 2010 Olympic Winter Games in Vancouver, Canada. The license enables the publisher to create Olympic winter sports games, such as skiing, skating, and snowboarding, among others.

Sega has not provided details yet on how it plans to use the Olympic license. However, Dennis Kim, the Olympics director of licensing and merchandising, has let it slip that yes, Sega will once again leverage the successful pairing of classic characters Mario and Sonic. Speaking to The Province over the weekend, Kim commented, "Last year, 2008, they had a very successful game using Mario and Sonic at the Beijing Games, as well as a multi-sport simulation type of game. That's what's being discussed and planned for Vancouver. We are feeling optimistic about sales because of the Beijing experience."

Sega reportedly will also create a more realistic, simulation-type Winter Olympics title to capitalize on the excitement surrounding the 2010 games. "They want to get a real sense of accuracy, particularly with the landscape and the venues and the look of the Games," Kim said.

Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games was hugely successful for Sega, selling over five million copies worldwide within just three months. The game was also cited at the time as one of the few examples of wildly successful third-party titles on the Wii.