Nintendo Originally Had Key Role In Tokyo Olympics With Lady Gaga

During the Tokyo Olympics opening ceremony last week, you might've noticed a few familiar themes being played. Between Sonic the Hedgehog, Final Fantasy, Tales, Kingdom Hearts, Monster Hunter, Phantasy Star Universe and more, some iconic gaming music was featured, but Nintendo wasn't amongst them.

However, if all had gone to plan, they would've originally been there. As reported by Japanese outlet Weekly Bunshun, Nintendo was supposed to play a major part in this opening ceremony, alongside Lady Gaga.

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Nintendo Originally Had Key Role In Tokyo Olympics With Lady Gaga

Within this report, Weekly Bunshun claims that it would've originally featured The Legend of Zelda's main theme, Kirby Super Star Medley, Pokemon's opening theme and the Super Mario Suite. Lady Gaga and Naomi Watanabe would've appeared from a Warp Pipe sporting Mario caps, but Nintendo allegedly pulled out last month.

Though Nintendo refused to comment, the Tokyo Olympics has proven controversial in Japan for several reasons. Most notably, they're taking place amidst rising Covid-19 cases and a state of emergency, with 83% of the Japanese public opposed to the Olympics continuing back in May. While this is speculative, we'd say there's a good chance Nintendo didn't want the negative publicity.