December 21st, 2002 (12:00am) - LONDON, 18 December 2002 - Xbox today announced that it has reached an agreement with Sega Europe LTD. for the exclusive rights to distribute ToeJam & Earl III: Mission to Earth and Shenmue II in Europe. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
Both ToeJam & Earl III: Mission to Earth and Shenmue II are due for release from Microsoft in the first quarter of 2003. ToeJam & Earl III: Mission to Earth is an Xbox exclusive and Shenmue II is an Xbox enhanced version of the Sega classic.
"We’re very excited about this new agreement with Sega," said Michel Cassius, Director of Xbox Platform EMEA. "Both ToeJam & Earl III and Shenmue II are hotly-anticipated titles from some of the industry’s most renowned developers and we’re pleased to be bringing them to Xbox gamers in Europe. They join a strong portfolio of Xbox titles that includes hit Sega games like Sega GT 2002 and Jet Set Radio Future - both available free in the Sega Christmas Pack offer we’ve developed with Sega. Sega has been a great partner for us and this agreement is a natural step in the development of our relationship."
"We are pleased to partner with Xbox and are confident they will do justice to these great titles," said Naoya Tsurumi, President & COO. "Xbox will provide excellent distribution and marketing support for these titles, both of which have been on many gamers’ wish lists for months. We look forward to these titles’ success and the continuation of our excellent relationship with Xbox."
ToeJam & Earl III: Mission to Earth
"ToeJam and Earl III: Mission to Earth" delivers a comic adventure of cosmic proportions, blending phat beats, risqué humour and truckloads of attitude into one seriously funkified quest to save the universe. The game also features special downloadable characters and additional levels via Xbox LiveTM.
The 12 Sacred Albums of Funk have been stolen and it’s up to gamers playing as ToeJam, Big Earl and their new gal-pal Latisha, to journey to Earth and return the vanished vinyls to Lamont the Funkopotamous, source of all Funk in the known universe. Scattered throughout more than 30 massive, randomly generated levels, the 12 Sacred Albums of Funk will ultimately give players the power to square off against the dreaded Anti-Funk and save the universe.
Xbox Live subscribers will be able to access both the Hades maze and Funkadelic levels, which offer the most lethal enemies and valuable prizes combined with colourful, mind bending scenery. With Live, players can romp on these and other levels with three new characters. The robot Suteki will act much like the game’s starlet Latisha, only with enhanced speed and jumping distance, as well as better luck when opening potentially dangerous gifts. A second robot, Earl Bot, has enhanced speed as well as the ability to inflict double damage. Finally, ToeJam’s cousin Nerdy ToeJam will be selectable and will run slower but jump higher and further than his funkadelic relative.
As gamers explore Earth they will battle hordes of decidedly un-funky Earthlings - from insane drill-wielding dentists and perky cheerleaders to medusa babies in walkers. Players must master the ways of Funk-Fu and make use of scores of gift-wrapped power-ups, ranging from Icarus Wings to the Funkmobile, to convert the clueless Earthlings to the ways of Funk.
Shenmue II
Created by the famous Yu Suzuki from AM2, Ryo Hazuki’s epic adventure is reborn once again as he arrives in the bay of Hong Kong, continuing the quest to avenge his father’s murder by the mysterious Lan Di. Determined to unravel the mystery behind the Phoenix mirror, his journey takes him through a 3D world almost three times larger than the original Shenmue, visiting Taoist temples, magical forests, mountainous wilderness and mysterious caves to name a few. A new navigational system allows you to map out your current location and mark areas you visit for ease of reference. With over 20 extra hours of gameplay included, Shenmue II takes gamers on a thrilling action adventure of cinematic proportions, full of emotional encounters and spectacular surprises.
About Sega
SEGA® of Europe Ltd. is the European arm of Tokyo, Japan-based SEGACorporation, a 3.5 billion corporation by market capitalisation, recognised as a worldwide leader in interactive entertainment both inside and outside the home. The Sega Corporation 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 Corporation’s web site is located at http://sega.jp.
About Xbox
Xbox (http://www.xbox.com/) is Microsoft’s future-generation video game system that delivers never before seen gameplay experiences. With more than three times the graphics performance of other game consoles, top-quality DVD playback, Dolby 5.1 surround sound to make games and movies come alive, and a hard disc that opens up new kinds of gameplay, Xbox is the video game system that delivers more of what gamers want. Xbox is now available in Europe for an estimated street price of €249.99/£159.99.
About Xbox Live
XboxTM LiveTM is the first comprehensive, online game service fully dedicated to fast-action broadband gaming experiences. Xbox Live will allow gamers to play multiplayer Xbox games with other gamers everywhere via a broadband Internet connection. With a built-in hard drive and Ethernet port, the Xbox console was built from the ground up to be an online gaming system so there’s no need to buy additional peripherals.
Xbox Live will enable all gamers to find and play with their friends easily; talk to other players during game play through the Xbox Communicator headset; and download current statistics, new levels and characters to their Xbox hard drive.
About Microsoft
Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq "MSFT") is the worldwide leader in software, services and Internet technologies for personal and business computing. The company offers a wide range of products and services designed to empower people through great software - any time, any place and on any device.
