Of all the games I expected to see ported to the Dreamcast in 2026, Hotel Mario just wasn't one of them! I've written a little article about developer MoneyShift64's kinda unusual project, which brings the infamous 1994 Philips CD-i game to Sega's final console, complete with the original campaign, two-player support, VMU saving and, of course, those weird, weird animated cutscenes.
Hotel Mario has a reputation, and not the best one, but I find it really interesting that people are still finding new ways to preserve and revisit these corners of gaming history. There's something really funny to me about seeing Mario and Luigi running around on a Dreamcast, especially considering Nintendo and Sega's old rivalry. I've included some screenshots and links to the developer's project for anyone curious enough to give it a try!
Nintendo had probably planned to ditch them for a while, since they could not have reacted that fast otherwise. Chances are they would have announced the Philips thing when they did anyway, or maybe slightly later...
But in every report I've seen, Sony did showcase publicly first, and presumably without Nintendo's agreement, on CES 1991. Nintendo's partnership with Philips was announced literally the day after.
Must have been quite confusing for people attending CES in any case.