Sega takes on Sony with 3D Bug

Sega is to launch a 3D successor to Sonic the Hedgehog, designed to run on the new Saturn games machines to be released next month.

Saturn product manager Jeremy Crisp says the game, called Bug, will launch in September. It will be technically-superior to Sega’s Sonic the Hedgehog game, says Crisp.

Crisp confirmed that Saturn’s launch is to be brought forward by two months (MW last week) to avoid a clash with the Sony PlayStation. “This is a David and Goliath fight,” says Crisp. “Sony can out-spend us, but having a three-month jump on them is invaluable.”

Sony is understood to be spending 30m on a pan-European launch in September.

Sony UK head of marketing Simon Jobling says the company will not respond by pushing forward its launch date.

He says Sony will be able to offer ten PlayStation-ready games, whereas Sega will have only four games ready at the time of Saturn’s launch.

Saturn’s July 8 launch will be backed by a 25m pan-European campaign. About 5m will be spent in the UK.

A television and cinema campaign devised by McCann-Erickson is scheduled to break in mid-August.

A teaser campaign is already running, and cinema and TV work will continue the creative theme of telling Sega players that they must be talented to earn the respect of Sega.