SEGA ENTERTAINMENT LAUNCHES FIRST EDUTAINMENT TITLE SONIC'S SCHOOLHOUSE FOR THE PC.

REDWOOD CITY, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 4, 1996--

Sonic The Hedgehog Edutains Kids with Math, Reading and

Spelling in a 3-D Classroom

Sonic, the world-famous hedgehog, just got his teaching credentials and is headed for the classroom --the interactive classroom -- on home PCs.

Sega(TM) Entertainment Inc. Monday shipped its first edutainment title, "Sonic's Schoolhouse(TM)," a 3-D interactive classroom that brings the broad appeal of Sonic the Hedgehog(TM) to the fast-growing edutainment PC software category. For the first time ever, Sega Entertainment's "Sonic's Schoolhouse" enables parents to entertain their kids in an educational environment with Sonic the Hedgehog, the "blue dude with a 'tude" kids already know and love.

"Sonic's Schoolhouse" combines elements of playing and learning in a real-time 3-D graphical environment that lets kids feel they are actually in a schoolhouse facing interactive educational challenges. As a 3-D learning pal, Sonic encourages kids to answer math, spelling and reading questions and then accompanies them on education-oriented recesses and field-trip adventures with full-motion video.

"Sonic's Schoolhouse" is designed for children ages five to nine (grades K-4), with five difficulty modes based on grade curriculums. Minimum system requirement is a 486 DX2 66 MHz PC running Windows 95 or Windows 3.1 and 8 MB RAM.

"Sega Entertainment is committing itself to the edutainment and family fun markets," said Shinobu Toyoda, president/CEO, Sega Entertainment. "We already know kids love Sega's video games, and we are extending that excitement to the edutainment arena."

More than 10 curriculum specialists, child psychiatrists, education consultants and teachers from across the country contributed to the interactive design and content of the learning tasks in "Sonic's Schoolhouse." In addition to math, reading and spelling skills, the edutainment title helps develop and build:

-- Basic and fine motor skills 

-- Memory skills

-- Spatial relationship skills

-- Eye-hand coordination skills

-- Auditory attention skills

-- Inferential learning skills

-- Computer skills

"Sonic is a character kids know and love, a proven family-fun character since 1991, and he's the perfect character to make learning fun and cool," said Jill Braff, Sega Entertainment product manager. "Sonic's Schoolhouse is the first of many titles we expect to bring to market with the `learn and play' concept, where play is not just a reward for learning but an active partner in computer and curriculum-based education."

In a first-person perspective, players enter "Sonic's Schoolhouse," which is filled with questions on blackboards and animated 3-D answers throughout four different classrooms. Players who cannot yet read can command the computer to ask the question aloud. Sonic is always on hand to help players find the answers.

But watch out, Dr. Robotnik is also in the classrooms and can "steal" kids' answers. More than 1,500 questions are randomly generated to provide different challenges each time a child plays. "Sonic's Schoolhouse" is a one- or two-player game with split-screen capabilities for parent/child interaction or for head-to-head challenges.

For each right answer, players receive a gumball. Players earn passes to recess or field trips by answering questions correctly. At recess, children play 3-D "concentration," a memory match-up game, and search for golden rings with Sonic and his friends.

"Sonic's Schoolhouse" field trips are as exciting on computer as field trips are in real life; on the field trips to the zoo, full-motion video sequences teach players about the lives, habitats and foods of 10 different wild animals.

Players can control the game with a Windows 95-compatible gamepad, mouse and/or keyboard. The title was being developed under joint venture between Sega Entertainment and Orion Interactive.

Sega Entertainment Inc. is a new joint venture between Sega of America, the arm of Tokyo-based Sega Enterprises Ltd. responsible for the development, marketing and distribution of Sega video-game systems and video games in the Americas, and SOFTBANK Holdings Inc., one of the world's largest distributors of computer software, peripherals and systems, as well as Japan's largest publisher of computer-related magazines and books.

Sega Entertainment is responsible for creating, marketing and distributing PC-based entertainment which utilizes Sega's arcade and console-based games and characters. The company has headquarters in Redwood City, Calif. -0-

Note to Editors: Screenshots are available under Sega Entertainment on Sega of America's World Wide Web Site located at http://www.sega.com/segapc.

For Sega's past news releases, go to http://www.businesswire.com/emk/267.htm

CONTACT: Leasa Vignale

Manning, Selvage & Lee

213/782-6600 ext. 228

[e-mail]

or

Toni Werner

Sega Entertainment Inc.

415/802-3013

[e-mail]