SEGA BRINGS SPORTS MANAGEMENT SIMULATIONS TO NORTH AMERICA
Worldwide Soccer Manager and NHL Eastside Hockey Manager to Take Fantasy Sports to Next Level
SAN FRANCISCO (September 1, 2004) - SEGA® of America today announced that it will publish a series of sports management simulation titles for the PC and Mac in partnership with UK developer Sports Interactive, creators of the Championship Manager series (Europe's best-selling PC title). The company plans to enhance the fantasy sports experience by allowing sports fans to control all team-related activities for their favorite pro or semi-pro franchise via their PCs.
Sports Interactive, the creators of the Championship Manager® series, have created an award-winning game engine that has been refined and tuned in accordance with the feedback received from fans over 12 years of development. They are now applying that management platform to other sports. Through these highly realistic simulations, gamers are responsible for overall team performance through the management of important franchise elements including, but not limited to, coaching, scouting, trading, human resources and finance.
"Hardcore sports fans can truly put their knowledge to the test by managing every element of a franchise, then compare their business and coaching decisions against their real world counterparts," said Scott A. Steinberg, vice president of entertainment marketing, SEGA of America, Inc. "Sophisticated sports management simulations represent the future of fantasy sports leagues."
NHL Eastside Hockey ManagerTM (NHL EHMTM), officially endorsed by the National Hockey LeagueTM (NHL) and the National Hockey League Players' AssociationTM (NHLPATM), will feature a total of 18 playable leagues from 12 countries, including more than 250 playable teams with a database of 15,000 players, coaches and staff to choose from. Worldwide Soccer Manager will feature leagues from more than 45 different countries, so players can manage clubs from countries such as Brazil, Argentina, Mexico, England, Italy and Spain. Officially licensed by Major League Soccer (MLS) in North America, the game will feature a player database of more than 245,000 players and staff from 3,000 manageable clubs in over 140 divisions.
SEGA plans to break the ice in North American by releasing NHL Eastside Hockey Manager in Fall, 2004, then Worldwide Soccer Manager in Winter, 2004.
About SEGA
SEGA® of America, Inc. is the American arm of Tokyo, Japan-based SEGA Corporation, 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 Sports Interactive
Sports Interactive (SI), the creator of the Championship Manager® series, is the world's leading developer of sports management simulations. Founded in 1994 and based in Islington, North London, SI has a full-time staff of 34 and employs the services of more than 2,500 part-time researchers across the globe. Five of SI's creations are among the UK's Top 20 best-selling PC games of all time. The company's future games will be published by the global computer and video games giant, SEGA. Further information on the company is available from its website, www.sigames.com.
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