Let all those other rumors be put to rest...for it's time to explore new worlds!
Have you seen today's Nintendo Directs? Well on the SEGA side, lots of new info came about from the U.S./European and Japan streams.
The biggest one to stem from today's announcements: Sonic Lost World has now been confirmed for a seemingly Fall 2013 release. Over the past few days, the name has been trademarked by SEGA Japan and the domain name by SEGA of Europe. We can now say the game is happening and it is exclusive for the Wii U and 3DS.
From the screenshot above, we see Sonic and Tails flying towards a globe of sorts, with different colored sections connected to one another, with some pieces breaking off. A closer look and we see ice, desert, volcanic, even forest areas. This could be the different levels Sonic and/or Tails will have to converse.
The game is part of a new worldwide partnership between Nintendo and SEGA that also includes a third unknown title plus the next installment for the Mario & Sonic series, as they will be in another Olympic title based after the 2014 Winter Games in Sochi, Russia. As said by Nintendo CEO Satoru Iwata:
"We have entered into a worldwide partnership with SEGA on the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise. The next game in the series, Sonic Lost World, is a brand new action platforming game that will launch exclusively on Wii U and Nintendo 3DS. We'll have more details on this game prior to E3."
"Sonic the Hedgehog has performed incredibly well on Nintendo platforms and this exclusive partnership is a natural fit for the next evolution of Sonic games,” commented Jurgen Post COO SEGA Europe Ltd. “The Wii U and Nintendo 3DS are ideal platforms to showcase Sonic and we are looking forward to working with Nintendo on these three exciting adventures."
UPDATE: While the three aftermentioned games becoming exclusive to Nintendo consoles, SEGA Europe will give Nintendo publishing rights of these titles in Europe and Australia. SEGA of America will continue to publish/distrubute the game in the United States.
"Sega have chosen to exclusively partner with Nintendo to distribute or publish the next three Sonic the Hedgehog titles throughout Europe and Australia. This is a strategic partnership that does not affect our existing distribution network across these territories and with whom we are looking forward to working with on the upcoming releases of Total War: Rome II and Company of Heroes 2"
-Jurgen Post, COO of Sega Europe, as told to GamesIndustry International.
/END UPDATE
The game's website is also open, though there isn't anything noteworthy other than the image above.
What do you think of this news? Is Sonic Lost World going to be a hit or miss, given its console exclusivity? Let us know in our comments section below.
Thanks to GamesIndustry for the update.
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