March 29, 2007 - Development sources tell IGN Wii that, although SEGA Japan will be officially credited as the creator of Mario & Sonic at the Olympics, another studio is actively working on the project. The company is Tose, which has contributed to more than 1,000 games since its inception in 1979, but has rarely been sourced. That's because Tose is regularly contracted as a third-party to organize full projects or lend a helping hand in secret.
"We're always behind the scenes," said Masa Agarida, vice president of Tose's U.S. division, in an interview with industry website Gamasutra last year. "Our policy is not to have a vision. Instead, we follow our customers' visions. Most of the time we refuse to put our name on the games, not even staff names." The Tose head called the company a ninja developer, as it lurks in the shadows.
Over the years, Tose has developed or co-developed games for everybody from Atlus, Bandai, Capcom and Electronic Arts to Koei, Namco, SEGA, Sony and, of course, Nintendo. In fact, the studio created the DS title Super Princess Peach.
It is unclear at this point exactly what contributions Tose is making to Mario & Sonic at the Olympics, or whether it is working strictly on the Wii or, alternatively, DS version of the game.
We placed a call to Nintendo for an official confirmation or denial, but the company did not respond in time for publish.
