GameSpot have revealed that Nintendo are teaming up with Ronald McDonald to provide Happy Meal toys based on their popular games characters Mario, Yoshi and Donkey Kong. Children are being invited to “Take the Mario Challenge” whatever that means, with the range of “active” toys that include flying disks, and bat and balls, themed around the characters. This coincides with the marketing for the forthcoming Wii, which, according to Nintendo, will change the way we play games and make us more active, using our bodies to control them. A spokesperson for McDonalds had this to say:

"The ‘Take the Mario Challenge’ Happy Meal and Mighty Kids Meal event is part of McDonald’s ongoing commitment to helping guests better understand the keys to living balanced, active lives. This initiative…underscores the importance of eating right and staying active, and includes a wide variety of programming for guests of all ages."

It also gets you a nifty toy that might be worth something in 50 years, if its kept in its packet.

This is not the first time Nintendo and McDonalds have come together like this. Nintendo WiFi hotspots are also to be found at McDonald’s “restaurants”, allowing you to play Mario Kart online with your DS, while you wait for your friends to finish their “burgers”.

This promotion shows McDonald’s attempting to stave off accusations of causing child obesity, by encouraging kids to get off their arses and start exercising. But lets hope they are not trying too hard, or the kids might not want to get a Wii when they are having so much fun exercising (very unlikely).

I remember another time when games and fast food collided in a special way, when Mick and Mack went to McDonald’s land on the early nineties, then with the sequel where they saved the world from pollution, with help from Ronald McDonald and some custard spewing Super Soakers (not confirmed), in Mick & Mack: Global Gladiators.