quote gamesindustry.biz

PRESS RELEASE: SEGA® SET TO RELEASE BLEACH™ ON THE Wii™ AND NINTENDO DS™

LONDON & SAN FRANCISCO (July 6th, 2007) – SEGA® Europe Ltd. and SEGA® of America, Inc. today announced that Bleach™: Shattered Blade will be available on the Wii™ video game system from Nintendo and that Bleach™: The Blade of Fate will be released on the Nintendo DS™ portable handheld system. Based on the forthcoming and eagerly awaited Bleach™ animated series, Bleach: Shattered Blade and Bleach: The Blade of Fate offer relentless action and dazzling swordplay with crisp, stylised graphics that deliver an authentic anime experience. Both versions feature a strong cast of characters voiced by the actors from VIZ Media’s award-winning BLEACH anime. The TV show, is scheduled to air across Europe later this year. With a lively cast of over twenty characters, including Rukia, Kon and hero Ichigo, gamers will spend hours furiously fighting and unlocking individual character stories, all based on the animated series’ story arc. Bleach: Shattered Blade for Wii™ and Bleach: The Blade of Fate DS™ will be released across Europe in early 2008.

The Bleach storyline follows fifteen-year-old Ichigo Kurosaki who has the power to see spirits from the afterlife, including warriors known as Soul Reapers. The Soul Reapers are tasked with defending humans from otherworldly beings called Hollows. One fateful day, Ichigo meets Rukia, a Soul Reaper who lends him her powers after she’s injured by a Hollow. In the game, players will progress through an exciting storyline facing increasingly difficult opponents in their quest to uncover the truth.

“The content of the Bleach story lends itself perfectly to an action packed arcade fighting game with a heavy dose of mighty sword battles”, said Gary Knight, European Marketing Director SEGA Europe. “Both the flexibility of the Wii and the portability of the DS have allowed us to bring the intense action of Bleach to a wide variety of gamers and make a great companion to the awesome forthcoming TV series”.

“We are thrilled to be partnering with SEGA Europe for the Bleach Wii and DS games”, explains John Easum, president of VIZ Media Europe. “The SEGA Bleach games are outstanding and have already enjoyed immense success in Japan. In Europe, the manga is already a top-seller, and the exciting TV series will soon launch. We are expecting a very big response to the SEGA games”.

Bleach: Shattered Blade for the Wii enables players to wield the Wii Remote™ and Nunchuk as their weapons – slashing, jabbing, and lunging in furious battles like a real Soul Reaper. Bleach: Shattered Blade offers an exclusive storyline created specifically for the Wii with 32 characters to choose from. Once a new character is unlocked, players can replay the story episodes utilising the characters special moves and weapons adding a whole new perspective to the storyline.

On the Wii, players will be able to inflict enormous damage on opponents with powerful weapons and super power attacks taken straight from the TV series. Characters can summon supernatural allies such as a giant serpent, a samurai titan, or a tidal wave, for battle support. Players can also square-off against their friends in high-speed multiplayer combat in 3D arenas and environments based on settings from the series.

On the Nintendo DS, Bleach: The Blade of Fate offers striking 2D action and brilliant visuals that have become the hallmark of Treasure, the game’s legendary development team. Players will face a variety of opponents as one of 28 highly-stylised characters in intense action-packed battles based on the animated series. Bleach: The Blade of Fate on the Nintendo DS brings a twist to the traditional 2D fighting game with a new kind of battle system that enables players to move between upper and lower split-plane battle arenas to chase after or escape from opponents.

Bleach: The Blade of Fate for the DS also allows gamers to build Spirit Card Decks to strategically access power-ups and power-downs to perform special attacks, cast healing spells on themselves, displace opponents, or prohibit them from using their own Spirit Cards. Additionally, gamers can take to the streets battling against enemies in fast-paced combat via the Nintendo DS’ Wi-Fi capabilities.

Bleach: Shattered Blade on the Wii and Bleach: The Blade of Fate on the Nintendo DS are due for release in early 2008. For more information please visit www.sega-europe.com.