A new SEC filing states that on October 12, "Nintendo of America and THQ entered into a Confidential License Agreement for the Wii Console."
The filing continues, "The agreement grants [THQ] the right to use certain of Nintendo's intellectual property to develop, have developed, have manufactured, advertise, market and sell videogame software for play on Wii until October 13, 2009 in all countries within the Western Hemisphere..."
No "certain Nintendo IP" was mentioned in the filing, although it may not be too difficult to imagine Mario pile-driving some steroid-injecting wrestler in SmackDown vs. Raw, or maybe as a character in an "MX" racing game.
A rep for THQ didn't shed any light on the specifics of the confidential agreement, but she did tell Next-Gen, "THQ maintains agreements with all of the first party hardware companies that we make games for. Periodically, these agreements are renewed. It's just a standard procedure and is not indicative of any new arrangements."
As part of this most recent deal, Nintendo will collect royalties and manufacturing costs, and reserves the right to reject and approve the game, including all packaging and marketing materials.
VIA: Computer and Videogames