TOKYO -- How much did Nintendo pay to land that dream marketing opportunity at the Rio Olympics closing ceremony, where Japan's prime minister popped out dressed as the red-hatted plumber Super Mario?
Zero.
The Japanese video game maker behind "Pokemon" and "Zelda" got the coveted stage that corporate sponsors pay millions for after they were approached by those creating the festivities for "cooperation," not the other way around, says Nintendo spokesman Yasuhiro Minagawa.
"I want to make that clear. We did not pay," he said in a telephone interview. "And we are not going to become Olympic sponsors either."
