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SONIC THE HEDGEHOG SPEEDS ONTO ALL NEXT GENERATION VIDEO GAME PLATFORMS

World Famous Sonic The Hedgehog Franchise Featured in Four New Games On PlayStation 2, Nintendo GameCube, Xbox and Game Boy Advance

LOS ANGELES – Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) – (May 12, 2002) – SEGA® today announced that it will deliver its top-selling franchise of all time – Sonic The Hedgehog® – to the largest audience of gamers worldwide, launching four new Sonic The Hedgehog games on all next-generation console and handheld platforms this fiscal year. The highly-anticipated "Sonic Heroes,™" an all-new title in the Sonic The Hedgehog series, will debut on the PlayStation®2 computer entertainment system, Nintendo GameCube™ and the Xbox® video game system from Microsoft. Additionally, building off the success of the Sonic franchise on Nintendo GameCube, SEGA will release "Sonic Adventure™ DX Director’s Cut" exclusively for Nintendo GameCube. Finally, Sonic will return to the Game Boy® Advance with the release of "Sonic Pinball Party™" and "Sonic Battle™."

"Sonic The Hedgehog is one of the most popular video game characters of all time," said Shinobu Toyoda, executive vice president of content strategy and business development, SEGA of America, Inc. "Bringing Sonic The Hedgehog games to all next generation platforms provides SEGA with unprecedented potential for the franchise as the company builds to become a leading independent content publisher."

Debuting on PlayStation 2, Xbox and Nintendo GameCube, "Sonic Heroes" marks Sonic’s first simultaneous multi-platform launch in history, as well as his first-ever appearance on PlayStation 2 and Xbox. Sonic’s biggest adventure to date, "Sonic Heroes" introduces an innovative new squad-based game style, where players control a team of three characters, taking advantage of each member’s unique abilities and skills to thwart the plans of Sonic’s nemesis, the evil Dr. Eggman.

"Sonic Adventure DX Director’s Cut" is the definitive version of the blockbuster SEGA Dreamcast™ classic, featuring more than 50 bonus missions and enhanced graphics and audio to take full advantage of the Nintendo GameCube. "Sonic Pinball Party" delivers hours of on-the-go pinball fun with themed boards based on classic SONICTEAM games, including "Nights™," "Samba de Amigo™" and "Sonic The Hedgehog®" for the Game Boy Advance. Also for Game Boy Advance, "Sonic Battle" delivers thrilling head-to-head battles between some of the best-known Sonic The Hedgehog characters, including Sonic, Tails and Amy Rose.

One of the most recognized and celebrated video game characters of all time, Sonic The Hedgehog has appeared in numerous video games across multiple console, handheld and wireless platforms over the past 10 years. Consistently a top-selling franchise, Sonic The Hedgehog continues to be a popular icon worldwide in 2003 and beyond. This summer, Sonic The Hedgehog will come alive in interactive electronic handheld games included in McDonald’s® Happy Meals® at participating McDonald’s restaurants throughout North America. Additionally, Sonic The Hedgehog will soon explode onto television in the all-new animated series Sonic X™. Recently debuted in Japan and coming soon to North America, Sonic X features 52 exhilarating episodes including a new character named Christopher and exciting new adventures sure to captivate Sonic fans around the world. Finally, Sonic will debut on the Nokia N-Gage™ mobile game deck in "SonicN™," a side-scrolling action game packed with the charms and characters of the Sonic series.

About SEGA

SEGA® of America, Inc. is the American arm of Tokyo, Japan-based SEGA Corporation, a $3.5 billion corporation by market capitalization, recognized as a worldwide leader in interactive entertainment both inside and outside the home. The company develops, publishes 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 Inc. SEGA of America’s Web site is located at www.sega.com. 

About McDonald's McDonald's is the world's leading foodservice retailer, with more than 30,000 restaurants serving 46 million people each day in 121 countries. Approximately 80 percent of McDonald's U.S. restaurants are owned and operated by independent local businessmen and women.

"PlayStation" and the "PS" Family logo are registered trademarks of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. Xbox is a registered trademark of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/or other countries. ™, ®, Game Boy Advance and the Nintendo GameCube are trademarks of Nintendo.

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ÆÉ McDonald’s Corporation 2003