People are excited about Sonic Generations. Sega announced today that pre-orders for the upcoming PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, PC, and 3DS title have exceed all previous pre-orders from the franchise’s 20-year catalog.
“Sonic Generations is the ultimate title to cap off Sonic’s 20th anniversary and we have put our full support behind it with a number of truly amazing initiatives,” said Alan Pritchard, Executive Vice President of Sales & Marketing at Sega of America. “This year is a milestone for Sonic and we want to make sure this is the best title that Sonic fans, old and new, have been waiting for.”
Celebrating Sonic‘s 20th anniversary, Sega highlighted its investments in a number of large-scale promotional initiatives:
- Six Flags Partnership, throughout October: Nationwide theme park brand implementation with Sonic Generations game zones for hands-on experience and marketing messaging across the Six Flags Digital Networks. (I was actually at Six Flags last weekend and saw the campaign in action).
- Sonic Generations of Skate, October 22: The nationally broadcast (November 25 on FOX Sports Net) professional skateboarding tournament featuring legendary skaters Steve Caballero, Tony Hawk, Pierre Luc Gagnon, Andy Macdonald, Mitchie Brusco and more, united skateboarders from multiple generations to compete in an event celebrating Sonic Generations and Sonic’s 20th Anniversary. (Venice Beach, CA)
- Custom Sonic Playground, October 28: SEGA and KaBOOM! have partnered to build a custom Sonic-themed playground for kids in East Oakland, CA at the Youth UpRising community center. (Oakland, CA)
- Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade – November 24: Modern Sonic will be making his debut as a helium balloon in this year’s parade. In 1993, Classic Sonic was the first-ever video game character in the annual event. (New York, NY)
Sonic Generations is due out November 1 for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, and November 22 for 3DS.