Square and Disney collaboration making its way to store shelves

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LOS ANGELES, Calif. (September 17, 2002) – Square Electronic Arts L.L.C. (Square Electronic Arts), the exclusive publisher of all SQUARESOFT products in North America, and Disney Interactive announced today that Kingdom Hearts, for the PlayStation 2 computer entertainment system started shipping to retailers nationwide. An action role-playing game, Kingdom Hearts is the first video game project between Square and Disney Interactive that not only features many classic Disney characters and worlds with new characters and worlds, but also introduces new characters and environments created in the renowned Square style. The unprecedented inclusion of original and new characters and worlds tells a new story and offers breakthrough creative content.

Featuring more than 100 Disney characters, Kingdom Hearts is debuting new Disney characters, Sora, Riku, Kairi and the Heartless, designed by Square’s Tetsuya Nomura, director and character designer of Kingdom Hearts. Nomura is best known for his creations in the top selling titles FINAL FANTASY VII, VIII and X. The new Disney characters team up with classic favorites, as they’ve never been seen before, to embark on a magical adventure that takes them to familiar and newly created Disney worlds.

The North American version of Kingdom Hearts features an all-star voice cast that includes Haley Joel Osment (“The Sixth Sense,” “A.I. Artificial Intelligence”) as Sora, while David Gallagher (“7th Heaven”) and Hayden Panettiere (“Ally McBeal,” “Remember The Titans”) are the voices of Riku and Kairi, respectively. Other voice talents featured in the game include Sean Astin (“The Lord of the Rings,” “Rudy”), Lance Bass (member of *NSYNC), David Boreanaz (“Angel,” “Valentine”), Mandy Moore (“A Walk to Remember,” “The Princess Diaries”), Christy Romano (“Even Stevens,” “Kim Possible”), Steve Burton (“The Last Castle”) and Billy Zane (“Titanic”). In addition, many of the original star Disney voice actors are reprising their roles for this project.

Japanese pop sensation Utada Hikaru also lends her talent to Kingdom Hearts in her first song performance in a video game. The theme song titled “Simple And Clean,” the English version of its original Japanese release “Hikari” (meaning “light”) was written specially for Kingdom Hearts. Both the North American and Japanese versions of Kingdom Hearts feature the song.

“We are excited about the release of Kingdom Hearts in North America. Square’s expertise in game design and development and Disney’s historic legacy of rich characters and animation has resulted in one very unique product,” said Jun Iwasaki, president of Square Electronic Arts. “We expect this title to appeal not only to the existing fans of Square and Disney games, but to cultivate a new and broader audience for both companies.”

“Kingdom Hearts is completely original in its scope, scale and creativity,” said Jan Smith, president, Disney Interactive. “This title integrates the magic of Disney with Square’s design innovation and cutting edge technology. We are extremely proud of this incredible game.”