Former rivals Nintendo and Sega announced today a mashup title featuring the largest two franchise characters in video game history. Mario and Sonic At the Olympic Games will exclusively ship for Nintendo’s DS and Wii platforms later this year preparatory for the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Granted, cross-promotional games like Square/Disney’s Kingdom Hearts and Lego Star Wars have sold well in the past, but here are five reasons why the announcement doesn’t really matter.

1. It’s not 1995 anymore. To put the news into perspective, this would be like Sony and Microsoft teaming up on a cross-promotional game in today’s market. Nay. It would have been bigger than that as there were only two console makers in the early Nineties.
2. Sega, not Nintendo, is developing the game. Sega ain’t what it used to be, especially when considering its recent string of critical and commercial duds. They still have potential, but they’re clearly under-performing. The one shining beacon for this game is that Nintendo’s Shigeru Miyamoto will oversee the project.
3. The timing is wrong. At any other time outside of holiday 2007, this title could sell well. But there’s no way in hades this thing will stand out next to the likes of Mario Galaxy, Halo 3, and Metal Gear Solid 4 when all four games — not to mention a bunch more — hit retail later this year.
4. Game mascots aren’t what they used to be. As gamers grew up, the allure of a franchise mascot quicly wore off. They still help sell games, but not as much as they used to. Even Nintendo seems to be phasing out Mario’s and Zelda’s importance as the company targets a broader audience on Wii.
5. No one cares who is faster anymore. Shigeru Miyamoto said upon announcing the game, “Now that [Mario and Sonic] have been given the perfect opportunity to meet at the Olympic Games, we may finally learn who is actually faster.” Sounds cute. And we love Miyamoto’s playful nature. But no one really cares.

Despite playing the contrarian, the gamer in me does see a few significant milestones from the deal. First, the announcement marks a significant cultural impact on games. That’s a good thing. Second, Nintendo doesn’t usually share its intellectual property with other publishers — if at all. So maybe they’re warming to the idea in other feasible scenarios.