Google marked in its own way the official start of the Tokyo Olympics by offering Internet users this Friday an interactive and fun doodle on this theme.

On the opening ceremony day of the Games of the XXXII Olympiad, the Californian giant launched its own Champions Island Doodle Games on the home page of its search engine.

It's the big day: Lucky the cat (athlete) participates in the Doodle Games on Champions Island!



To accompany him on this adventure and try your luck in the marathon, synchronized swimming or archery, it's here 👉 https://t.co/po3sQESKRE #GoogleDoodle pic.twitter.com/ZpWv7cqMDO

- Google FR (@GoogleFR) July 23, 2021

A tribute to the first Japanese video games

It is a tribute both to the world sporting event and to the first Japanese video games, very present in the culture and recent history of the country.

The doodle offers Internet users the opportunity to participate in seven virtual events: table tennis, skateboarding, archery, rugby, synchronized swimming, climbing and the marathon.

Each sporting discipline gives rise to a different video game.

The graphics and animation of these mini-games have been designed to recall those of the 16-bit consoles dear to those nostalgic for the first titles from Japan.

Gamers compete in digital Olympic events as Lucky (Chanceux, in French), a calico cat-ninja.

In each sport, they face a distinct character referred to as the “legendary champion”.

An online competition

Before starting, the player must choose which of the four competing teams (blue, red, yellow or green) he wishes to join.

Each is represented by an animal mascot.

Online competition is global.

Any participation is taken into account in the overall score of the four teams, updated in real time by Google and viewable via the doodle.

The program was created at the request of the American company by Studio 4 ° C, a Japanese animation specialist.

"We first identified stories and folk tales from all over the country as well as very easily recognizable characters," explained the developers.

Then we associated these tales and these characters with each of the sports disciplines available in the game. "

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  • Olympic Games

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