Olympic hero breaks new ground in gaming

TOKYO--Yesterday, Taito released a new PS2 game, Run a Marathon with Naoko Takahashi, that features appearances from both the popular female runner and the coach that helped her win gold in Sydney three years ago. Initially, this might look to be an uninspired concept for a video game, but Taito may have found a way to make it entertaining: the player assumes the role of owner and general manager of a sports club and must operate the club, as well as develop his/her athletes.

Naoko Takahashi's marathon win at the Sydney Olympics made her one of Japan's most popular female athletes, but just in case her presence in the game isn't enough to drive sales, Taito has planned an interesting promotion. The company will set up trial stations at the National Stadium this weekend for the Tokyo International Women's Marathon, which starts and ends there. The real Takahashi will compete in the real race as well as appearing in the virtual race.

While it may be hard to imagine much overlap between marathon fans and gamers, Takahashi's presence may convince some of her fans to try the game.