SEGA Reveals More Details About Sonic Boom Games At E3 2014
SEGA and Nintendo partner to launch the highly anticipated Sonic Boom videogames exclusively for Wii U and Nintendo 3DS across Europe and in Australia
2nd June 2014 – An all-new Sonic the Hedgehog will be unleashed at this year’s Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) in Los Angeles with the debut of playable versions of new titles exclusively for Wii U and Nintendo 3DS and 2DS systems. Nintendo of Europe will be responsible for the sales, marketing and distribution of the games throughout European territories and Australia, with SEGA remaining as publisher. The new games Sonic Boom™: Rise of Lyric for Wii U, developed by Los Angeles-based Big Red Button, and Sonic Boom™: Shattered Crystal for Nintendo 3DS, from San Francisco-based Sanzaru Games, will introduce new gameplay and the most vile and formidable villain in Sonic history -- Lyric.
In both games, Sonic and friends - Tails, Knuckles, Amy, and the newest member of the team, Sticks, will work together as they face their most powerful enemy yet. Lyric is a giant and monstrous snake-like creature from an ancient race. An extremely tech-savvy mastermind who uses a sophisticated robotic body of armour to carry out his own nefarious deeds, he is a formidable enemy and a force to be reckoned with. With a strong emphasis on collaboration, the roles of Tails, Knuckles, Amy, and Sticks, will be elevated in gameplay that capitalises on each character’s unique talents and abilities. The goal is to prevent Lyric from powering his army of robots and carrying out his plan to destroy the world. The stakes have never been higher, and the only chance to overcome Lyric is to band together and work as a team.
Both Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric and Sonic Boom: Shattered Crystal are crafted to take full advantage of the unique gameplay mechanics of their respective consoles. Each version is a new chapter in the Sonic Boom universe and will each have their own unique immersive storylines. Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric will also feature CRYENGINE®, the cutting-edge 3D game technology from Crytek, one of the leading innovators in the industry. As the very first Wii U game to incorporate this technology, the lush environments and landscapes within the game will be visually enhanced like never before.
Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric
Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric on Wii U will deliver a different experience than past titles. The detailed levels and emphasis on each character’s unique abilities will showcase the distinctive feel of an action-adventure game, giving players more choice in exploration as they work as a team to stop the deadly snake-like ancient villain, Lyric, before he can power up his army. The gameplay will challenge players with over-the-top speed runs, but the heart of the game will focus on intense combat and brand-new abilities including the Enerbeam. This new feature in the game gives players an energy-charged cord that can be used by characters to navigate the world like never before. Players will be able to swing or zip-line across gaps, explore alternate paths, grab and throw enemies and take away their shields in combat.
Sonic Boom: Shattered Crystal
Sonic Boom: Shattered Crystal on Nintendo 3DS and 2DS is a standalone adventure that shares key characters, events and lore of the Sonic Boom universe with exclusive environments and characters. For the first time ever, gamers will be able to take on the role of Sticks, the newest member of the team who will play an integral role in the story after her best friend Amy gets kidnapped by the ancient villain Lyric. While the Wii U game is focused on action-adventure and exploration, Sonic Boom: Shattered Crystal will place a bigger emphasis on platforming and puzzles. Additionally, unique collectibles featured in the Nintendo 3DS version will unlock special content on the Wii U via local communication.
SEGA announced Sonic Boom earlier this year, which is a new branch of the Sonic Universe that, in addition to gaming, will include a first-ever CG-animated TV series on Cartoon Network in the U.S. and Canal J and Gulli in France with a global rollout to follow, as well as a robust merchandising program anchored by master toy partner TOMY. Unlike previous Sonic adventures, the Sonic Boom video games will operate in harmony with the TV series, with many feature storylines and characters appearing in both formats.
Sonic the Hedgehog first appeared as a videogame character in June 1991 and instantly became an icon for a generation of gamers. Defined by his super-fast speed and cool attitude, in the years since he first raced on to videogame consoles Sonic has become a true global phenomenon with over 140 million videogames sold or downloaded worldwide across consoles, PCs, mobile phones and tablets. SEGA’s iconic blue blur has also gone on to enjoy incredible success in many licensed areas, such as toys, apparel, comics and animation.
The Sonic Boom TV series is a co-production between SEGA of America, Inc. and OuiDO! Productions. Executive producers on the Sonic Boom TV series are Evan Baily, Donna Friedman Meir and Jane McGregor on behalf of SEGA, and Sandrine Nguyen and Boris Hertzog from OuiDO!. Bill Freiberger is Co-Executive Producer. Other partners involved in the TV series include Lagardère Entertainment Rights for distribution and Lagardère Active TV Licensing & New Business for licensing and merchandise in France.
Sonic Boom™: Rise of Lyric for Wii U and Sonic Boom™: Shattered Crystal for Nintendo 3DS and 2DS will release in November 2014 for Europe.
Ends
For further information:
Nintendo website http://www.nintendo.co.uk
Nintendo 3DS Guided Tour: http://guidedtour.nintendo.co.uk
Nintendo 3DS (UK) on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/Nintendo3DSUK
Wii U website http://www.nintendo.co.uk/Wii-U/Wii-U-344102.html
Wii U (UK) on Facebook http://facebook.com/WiiU.co.uk
Nintendo of Europe on Twitter https://twitter.com/nintendoeurope
Nintendo UK on Twitter https://twitter.com/nintendouk
Nintendo UK on YouTube http://www.youtube.com/nintendouk
Official Nintendo Online Store http://store.nintendo.co.uk
For press assets visit www.sega-press.com
###
About Sonic Boom
The Sonic Boom TV series is a co-production between SEGA of America, Inc. and OuiDO! Productions. Executive producers are Evan Baily, Donna Friedman Meir and Jane McGregor on behalf of SEGA, and Sandrine Nguyen and Boris Hertzog on behalf of OuiDO! Productions. Baily and Co-Executive Producer Bill Freiberger are showrunners. Takashi Iizuka, the head of Sonic Team and driving creative force behind the Sonic games, is overseeing the series to ensure that it's true to the Sonic characters and universe.
About SEGA® Europe Ltd.:
SEGA® Europe Ltd. is the European Distribution arm of Tokyo, Japan-based SEGA® Corporation, and a worldwide leader in interactive entertainment both inside and outside the home. The company develops and distributes interactive entertainment software products for a variety of hardware platforms including PC, wireless devices, and those manufactured by Nintendo, Microsoft and Sony Computer Entertainment Europe. SEGA® Europe’s web site is located at www.sega.com
About Nintendo:
The worldwide pioneer in the creation of interactive entertainment, Nintendo Co., Ltd., of Kyoto, Japan, manufactures and markets hardware and software for its Wii U™ and Wii™ home consoles, Nintendo 3DS™ and 2DS, and Nintendo DS™ family of portable systems. Since 1983, when it launched the Nintendo Entertainment System™, Nintendo has sold more than 4.2 billion video games and more than 670 million hardware units globally, including the current-generation Wii U, Wii, Nintendo 3DS, Nintendo 3DS XL™, Nintendo 2DS™, Nintendo DS, Nintendo DSi™ and Nintendo DSi XL™, as well as the Game Boy™, Game Boy Advance™, Super NES™, Nintendo 64™ and Nintendo GameCube™ systems. It has also created industry icons that have become well-known, household names such as Mario™, Donkey Kong™, Metroid™, Zelda™ and Pokémon™. A wholly owned subsidiary, Nintendo of Europe, based in Grossostheim, Germany, was established in 1990 and serves as headquarters for Nintendo's operations in Europe.
About OuiDO Productions:
Headed by Sandrine Nguyen and Boris Hertzog, OuiDO Productions produces animation TV Series adapted from national and international well-known licences such as: "Alvinnnn & the Chipmunks" (52 x 13') for M6; co-produced by Bagdasarian Productions ; "Sonic Boom" (52 x 13') for Gulli/Canal J and Cartoon Network (USA), co-produced by SEGA® ; "Mini Wolf", season 2 (52 x 7') for France Télévision.
OuiDO Productions also develops with TF1 and Canal J a TV Series based on the comic books published by Editions Delcourt, "The Legendaires" (26 x 22') and intends to keep on acquiring the audiovisual adaptation rights for existing licences and original properties.
About GULLI/CANAL J:
As France’s leading free youth and family channel, GULLI, operated by Lagardère Active and France Télévisions, draws an audience of both children and parents, with 6 million viewers daily. Since 2010, GULLI is France’s best known channel in its category. Today, in addition to the television channel, GULLI is a true family entertainment platform available on a wide variety of media, including digital (gulli.fr, GULLI Replay, connected TV applications, tablets and mobile phones, iTunes, etc.), with a full audio range, magazines, toys and field events. (Source: Mediamat/Mediametrie, annuel 2012)
CANAL J, the channel aimed at 8 to 12 years old, operated by Lagardère Active, confirms the wealth and diversity of its programming featuring animated series, comedy series and original shows based on the channel’s two mainstays: adventure and humour. CANAL J keeps a close eye on what’s happening on the playground, continues to reflect the key aspects of children’s lives.
About Big Red Button Entertainment:
Based in Los Angeles, CA, BRB was founded in 2009 by Bob Rafei, Jeff Lander, and veterans from leading gaming studios such as Naughty Dog, Heavy Iron, Luxo Flux and High Impact Games, to leverage team’s specialization and prior experience in character action game development.
In both games, Sonic and friends - Tails, Knuckles, Amy, and the newest member of the team, Sticks, will work together as they face their most powerful enemy yet. Lyric is a giant and monstrous snake-like creature from an ancient race. An extremely tech-savvy mastermind who uses a sophisticated robotic body of armour to carry out his own nefarious deeds, he is a formidable enemy and a force to be reckoned with. With a strong emphasis on collaboration, the roles of Tails, Knuckles, Amy, and Sticks, will be elevated in gameplay that capitalises on each character’s unique talents and abilities. The goal is to prevent Lyric from powering his army of robots and carrying out his plan to destroy the world. The stakes have never been higher, and the only chance to overcome Lyric is to band together and work as a team.
Both Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric and Sonic Boom: Shattered Crystal are crafted to take full advantage of the unique gameplay mechanics of their respective consoles. Each version is a new chapter in the Sonic Boom universe and will each have their own unique immersive storylines. Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric will also feature CRYENGINE®, the cutting-edge 3D game technology from Crytek, one of the leading innovators in the industry. As the very first Wii U game to incorporate this technology, the lush environments and landscapes within the game will be visually enhanced like never before.
Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric
Sonic Boom: Rise of Lyric on Wii U will deliver a different experience than past titles. The detailed levels and emphasis on each character’s unique abilities will showcase the distinctive feel of an action-adventure game, giving players more choice in exploration as they work as a team to stop the deadly snake-like ancient villain, Lyric, before he can power up his army. The gameplay will challenge players with over-the-top speed runs, but the heart of the game will focus on intense combat and brand-new abilities including the Enerbeam. This new feature in the game gives players an energy-charged cord that can be used by characters to navigate the world like never before. Players will be able to swing or zip-line across gaps, explore alternate paths, grab and throw enemies and take away their shields in combat.
Sonic Boom: Shattered Crystal
Sonic Boom: Shattered Crystal on Nintendo 3DS and 2DS is a standalone adventure that shares key characters, events and lore of the Sonic Boom universe with exclusive environments and characters. For the first time ever, gamers will be able to take on the role of Sticks, the newest member of the team who will play an integral role in the story after her best friend Amy gets kidnapped by the ancient villain Lyric. While the Wii U game is focused on action-adventure and exploration, Sonic Boom: Shattered Crystal will place a bigger emphasis on platforming and puzzles. Additionally, unique collectibles featured in the Nintendo 3DS version will unlock special content on the Wii U via local communication.
SEGA announced Sonic Boom earlier this year, which is a new branch of the Sonic Universe that, in addition to gaming, will include a first-ever CG-animated TV series on Cartoon Network in the U.S. and Canal J and Gulli in France with a global rollout to follow, as well as a robust merchandising program anchored by master toy partner TOMY. Unlike previous Sonic adventures, the Sonic Boom video games will operate in harmony with the TV series, with many feature storylines and characters appearing in both formats.
Sonic the Hedgehog first appeared as a videogame character in June 1991 and instantly became an icon for a generation of gamers. Defined by his super-fast speed and cool attitude, in the years since he first raced on to videogame consoles Sonic has become a true global phenomenon with over 140 million videogames sold or downloaded worldwide across consoles, PCs, mobile phones and tablets. SEGA’s iconic blue blur has also gone on to enjoy incredible success in many licensed areas, such as toys, apparel, comics and animation.
The Sonic Boom TV series is a co-production between SEGA of America, Inc. and OuiDO! Productions. Executive producers on the Sonic Boom TV series are Evan Baily, Donna Friedman Meir and Jane McGregor on behalf of SEGA, and Sandrine Nguyen and Boris Hertzog from OuiDO!. Bill Freiberger is Co-Executive Producer. Other partners involved in the TV series include Lagardère Entertainment Rights for distribution and Lagardère Active TV Licensing & New Business for licensing and merchandise in France.
Sonic Boom™: Rise of Lyric for Wii U and Sonic Boom™: Shattered Crystal for Nintendo 3DS and 2DS will release in November 2014 for Europe.
Ends
For further information:
Nintendo website http://www.nintendo.co.uk
Nintendo 3DS Guided Tour: http://guidedtour.nintendo.co.uk
Nintendo 3DS (UK) on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/Nintendo3DSUK
Wii U website http://www.nintendo.co.uk/Wii-U/Wii-U-344102.html
Wii U (UK) on Facebook http://facebook.com/WiiU.co.uk
Nintendo of Europe on Twitter https://twitter.com/nintendoeurope
Nintendo UK on Twitter https://twitter.com/nintendouk
Nintendo UK on YouTube http://www.youtube.com/nintendouk
Official Nintendo Online Store http://store.nintendo.co.uk
For press assets visit www.sega-press.com
###
About Sonic Boom
The Sonic Boom TV series is a co-production between SEGA of America, Inc. and OuiDO! Productions. Executive producers are Evan Baily, Donna Friedman Meir and Jane McGregor on behalf of SEGA, and Sandrine Nguyen and Boris Hertzog on behalf of OuiDO! Productions. Baily and Co-Executive Producer Bill Freiberger are showrunners. Takashi Iizuka, the head of Sonic Team and driving creative force behind the Sonic games, is overseeing the series to ensure that it's true to the Sonic characters and universe.
About SEGA® Europe Ltd.:
SEGA® Europe Ltd. is the European Distribution arm of Tokyo, Japan-based SEGA® Corporation, and a worldwide leader in interactive entertainment both inside and outside the home. The company develops and distributes interactive entertainment software products for a variety of hardware platforms including PC, wireless devices, and those manufactured by Nintendo, Microsoft and Sony Computer Entertainment Europe. SEGA® Europe’s web site is located at www.sega.com
About Nintendo:
The worldwide pioneer in the creation of interactive entertainment, Nintendo Co., Ltd., of Kyoto, Japan, manufactures and markets hardware and software for its Wii U™ and Wii™ home consoles, Nintendo 3DS™ and 2DS, and Nintendo DS™ family of portable systems. Since 1983, when it launched the Nintendo Entertainment System™, Nintendo has sold more than 4.2 billion video games and more than 670 million hardware units globally, including the current-generation Wii U, Wii, Nintendo 3DS, Nintendo 3DS XL™, Nintendo 2DS™, Nintendo DS, Nintendo DSi™ and Nintendo DSi XL™, as well as the Game Boy™, Game Boy Advance™, Super NES™, Nintendo 64™ and Nintendo GameCube™ systems. It has also created industry icons that have become well-known, household names such as Mario™, Donkey Kong™, Metroid™, Zelda™ and Pokémon™. A wholly owned subsidiary, Nintendo of Europe, based in Grossostheim, Germany, was established in 1990 and serves as headquarters for Nintendo's operations in Europe.
About OuiDO Productions:
Headed by Sandrine Nguyen and Boris Hertzog, OuiDO Productions produces animation TV Series adapted from national and international well-known licences such as: "Alvinnnn & the Chipmunks" (52 x 13') for M6; co-produced by Bagdasarian Productions ; "Sonic Boom" (52 x 13') for Gulli/Canal J and Cartoon Network (USA), co-produced by SEGA® ; "Mini Wolf", season 2 (52 x 7') for France Télévision.
OuiDO Productions also develops with TF1 and Canal J a TV Series based on the comic books published by Editions Delcourt, "The Legendaires" (26 x 22') and intends to keep on acquiring the audiovisual adaptation rights for existing licences and original properties.
About GULLI/CANAL J:
As France’s leading free youth and family channel, GULLI, operated by Lagardère Active and France Télévisions, draws an audience of both children and parents, with 6 million viewers daily. Since 2010, GULLI is France’s best known channel in its category. Today, in addition to the television channel, GULLI is a true family entertainment platform available on a wide variety of media, including digital (gulli.fr, GULLI Replay, connected TV applications, tablets and mobile phones, iTunes, etc.), with a full audio range, magazines, toys and field events. (Source: Mediamat/Mediametrie, annuel 2012)
CANAL J, the channel aimed at 8 to 12 years old, operated by Lagardère Active, confirms the wealth and diversity of its programming featuring animated series, comedy series and original shows based on the channel’s two mainstays: adventure and humour. CANAL J keeps a close eye on what’s happening on the playground, continues to reflect the key aspects of children’s lives.
About Big Red Button Entertainment:
Based in Los Angeles, CA, BRB was founded in 2009 by Bob Rafei, Jeff Lander, and veterans from leading gaming studios such as Naughty Dog, Heavy Iron, Luxo Flux and High Impact Games, to leverage team’s specialization and prior experience in character action game development.