Sega believes that its  marketing campaign for Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Games could help it scoop the Christmas number one.

Speaking to MCV, Sega product manager Phil Lamb said: “This will be a leading title at Christmas. We have fully set our sights on it being the number one Wii title but are confident that this title has the potential to also achieve the top slot in the All Formats chart too.”

Sega claims the title represents the next step on from the massively successful Wii Sports, and has put in place what it describes at its “biggest ever and widest reaching media campaigns,” – which it hopes will ensure it achieves its goals.  

“As sports titles go, Wii Sports was really just the tip of the iceberg,” continued Lamb. “Mario and Sonic goes way below the surface. We’ll be following Nintendo’s lead and ensuring that we are effectively hitting that universal audience of five to 95 year-olds from as many angles as possible. TV will take the lead with a massive campaign running from launch through to the new year.”