I like cute little cartoon animals, but I love accident prone cute little cartoon animals that die in horribly gory ways. Such is the case with Happy Tree Friends, which started out as a quirky internet and TV show and has expanded into a virtual roadkill empire.

In a bid to cash in on the underground sensation, Sega has recently announced a partnership with HTF creators Mondo Media that will result in a game entitled Happy Tree Friends: False Alarm. The title will make use of the same twisted humor that fans of the show have come to know and love. Features include:

• Playable Happy Tree Friends characters: For the first time in 3D, play as the rescue squad of Flippy, Handy, and Lumpy to save other Happy Tree Friends such as Cuddles, Toothy and Flaky from life-threatening disasters!
• Unique twist to the action genre: Using physics-based reactive environments and problem-solving elements control a rescue squad with unique abilities such as hurling concrete, spraying water, or throwing nitroglycerin to augment the dynamic 3D environments creating a variety of unpredictable outcomes.
• Disaster levels made exclusively for Happy Tree Friends False Alarm: SEGA and the creative minds behind Happy Tree Friends have teamed up to create 10 original and engaging disaster scenarios such as the Mine Shaft, Candy Factory, and Museum.
• Gameplay true to the franchise: Experience the non-stop hilarious action Happy Tree Friends-style where their accident prone universe means destruction and mayhem are inevitable.
• Xbox LIVE Arcade features: Xbox LIVE Arcade will feature leaderboards to compete with friends, earn achievement medals, and track your progress as you advance through Career mode.

Sounds like a trip to cute cartoon animal genocide heaven to me. Count me in! For the full press release, make the jump. Flynn De Marco

Happy Tree Friends website

SEGA ANNOUNCES HAPPY TREE FRIENDS FALSE ALARM FOR PC AND XBOX LIVE ARCADE

Game will be Based on the Animated, International, Multi-platform Franchise from Mondo Media

SAN FRANCISCO & LONDON (May 10, 2007) - SEGA of America, Inc. and SEGA Europe Ltd. today announced an exclusive agreement with the award-winning production studio, Mondo Media, to create video game content based on the popular animated series, Happy Tree Friends . Currently under development by Stainless Studios, Happy Tree Friends False Alarm is scheduled for release via digital download on PC and Microsoft's Xbox LIVE Arcade in Fall 2007.

"We are excited to be partnering with Mondo Media to bring the irreverent comedy of the Happy Tree Friends to gamers worldwide," said Scott A. Steinberg, Vice President of Marketing, SEGA of America, Inc. "The dark humor and twisted characters of Happy Tree Friends will act as a great foundation for creating a fun and entertaining universe for gamers and fans of the show alike."

Happy Tree Friends is a wildly popular Internet phenomenon that debuted as a television series on G4 TV in the U.S. and on MTV in key markets overseas. Selling over one million DVD copies worldwide, Happy Tree Friends continues to thrill audiences online and maintains its position as a top ten most downloaded podcast on iTunes.

Now taking the spotlight with its very own interactive game, Happy Tree Friends False Alarm features the furry woodland creatures in a host of dismembering and ill-fated calamities.

Playing unlike any other action title on the market with its physics-based reactive environment, Happy Tree Friends False Alarm is an action-puzzle game that enables players to control one of three characters; Flippy, the emotionally tattered war-torn bear; Lumpy, the dim-witted blue moose; and Handy, an amputee beaver carpenter always eager to lend a helping limb. Using resources such as concrete, ice, gasoline, and nitroglycerin to augment the dynamic 3D environments, your goal is to save the Happy Tree Friends from hilarious disaster situations and their own bad luck. Play in 10 diverse levels designed exclusively for the Happy Tree Friends False Alarm game including mine shafts, candy factories and a museum, all of which are filled with outrageous outcomes and plenty of accidental mayhem!

"Sega is a perfect partner for us because of their rich tradition of creating compelling, character-based games, and true to form they're developing a truly original game that we think our fans will love," said Kenn Navarro, the creator of Happy Tree Friends.

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