Vancouver’s 2010 Winter Olympics will start four months early for gamers.

On October 13, Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games will be released for the Nintendo Wii and DS.

The official video game of the 2010 Olympics features characters from the Mario and Sonic worlds, including Luigi and Yoshi.

According to its Web site, Mario & Sonic allows players to compete in alpine skiing, ice hockey, speed skating, bobsleigh, figure skating, and snowboarding at Olympic venues in the Vancouver and Whistler areas.

Dream events, like dream ski cross, add features from the Mario and Sonic worlds to the mix, such as Goombas and Piranha Plants.

The Wii version makes use of the Balance Board.

In addition, the DS version features Adventure Tours, which see players take on missions to save the Olympics from a lack of snow.

According to the game’s site, climate change isn’t the culprit.

“Bowser and Dr. Eggman have started on their evil plot to stop the Olympic Winter Games by capturing the snow spirits who make the snow fall,” the site states.

The game is the sequel to Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games, which was based on the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing.

It’s rated everyone for “Mild Cartoon Violence”.

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