Video game rivals team up for Vancouver

In the age before the great PC/Mac divide, geeks identified with computer games. Put simply, you were either a Sega person or a Nintendo person. The two Japanese mega-companies had their own merchandise, fashion, and even music. Super Mario was the star of "Donkey Kong" and the Italian-American plumber's black moustache became synonymous with the entire company. Sega then developed Sonic the Hedgehog, and a second star was born.

Now, in an unprecedented piece of video-gaming history, the two old fighters have become partners. They are the joint mascots of the official video game of the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics.

Using balance boards and remote controls, players of "Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games" get to exercise their bodies on the Wii™ home video game system and the Nintendo DS™. Figure skaters must impress the judges with jumps, turns and spins, while the bobsleigh encourages gamers to stay perfectly balanced as they race along an icy track.

So if you feel like a break between the curling and the cross-country skiing in Vancouver in February, get off that couch and get gaming.