Mario & Sonic to keep Sega running until Xmas

Sega is embarking on its first re-marketing of a catalogue title in a bid to keep Mario and Sonic in the UK All Formats top five until Christmas.

The ambitious target has been set after the Wii and DS title clocked up 1.2m sales in the UK since launch last year.

We will re-advertise this title heavily and continue re-marketing it all through the year,” Sega’s UK boss Alan Pritchard told MCV. We’ve sustained sales at 25,000 a week. Even GTA IV, Wii Fit and Mario Kart haven’t dented it that much. Importantly, it has held price too.”

A new TV creative is being produced for roll-out soon, whilst Sega is planning for further uplift alongside its launch of an official Olympics simulation game in the summer and the start of the tournament itself in August.

The success of Mario and Sonic has underpinned a tremendous period for Sega, which has seen the company rise as high as number two publisher by value during April. A powerful line-up between now and next March has the company hoping it can break into the top five for the year as a whole in the all-important publisher rankings.

Meanwhile, the product portfolio continues to grow, after Sega announced a multi-title tie-up with Japanese studio Platinum Games.