News

October 12, 2006

Sonic The Hedgehog Blazes his Way onto Next Gen Consoles

Using Havok’s renowned physics engine, SEGA®’s iconic Sonic The Hedgehog is due to blaze his way to the 2006 DigitalLife event in New York today.

With Havok’s cutting-edge real-time rigid body physics and collision detection to help him, Sonic beats enemies and obstacles alike with trademark speed and attitude. Delivering the highest production values, Sonic The Hedgehog™, despite his 15 years in existence, takes advantage of what next generation platforms and physics technology have to offer to create the most intense sensation of speed ever experienced in a videogame.

Speaking about the game, Takayuki Kawagoe, R&D Creative Officer of SEGA Corporation, underlined the importance of Havok’s physics in helping SEGA to achieve its creative goals. “For the next generation Sonic The Hedgehog, we wanted blistering speed in a visually rich environment. Havok’s real-time physics engine has enabled us to process the huge amounts of data involved in ensuring that Sonic’s every bounce and battle is both visually interesting and accurate, within the enhanced but still recognizable dream-like world of the game. The fact that our development team was provided with all documentation and support was in Japanese from Havok’s office in Tokyo, made it that much easier for them to make the most of Havok’s technology.”

For Havok, a premier provider of interactive software and services to digital creators in the game and film industries, it was very important that SEGA’s talented in-house development team was able to optimize use of Havok physics. Said Havok Chief Executive Officer, David O’Meara, “Sonic The Hedgehog for next gen platforms is an excellent example of how a talented development team can use physics technology to bring a much loved classic character to a whole new level. We are very proud to be involved in the latest evolution of such an iconic, world-renowned game.”