The next title in SEGA’s Sonic the Hedgehog franchise will be exclusive to Nintendo’s Wii U home console and Nintendo 3DS portable system. Nintendo Global President Satoru Iwata announced the details of a new partnership with SEGA during a new Nintendo Direct video announcement today. Sonic Lost World is a new action platforming game, and more information about it will be announced before the E3 2013 video game trade show begins on June 11.

“These announcements in conjunction with SEGA demonstrate the commitment we have to bringing great games to the Wii U platform, and set the stage for our upcoming announcements at E3.”

The Nintendo Direct also announced Mario & Sonic at the Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games for Wii U, and revealed that additional SEGA Game Gear games would be coming to the Virtual Console service for Nintendo 3DS.

“The onetime rivalry between Mario and Sonic has grown into a friendship that has never been closer,” said Nintendo of America President and COO Reggie Fils-Aime. “These announcements in conjunction with SEGA demonstrate the commitment we have to bringing great games to the Wii U platform, and set the stage for our upcoming announcements at E3.”

SEGA Game Gear: Games from the classic hand-held system are headed to the Virtual Console service. These include:

• Columns
• Crystal Warriors
• Defenders of Oasis
• Dr. Robotnik’s Mean Bean Machine
• G-LOC: Air Battles
• Shining Force II: The Sword of Hajya
• Sonic Blast
• Sonic Drift 2
• Sonic Labyrinth
• Sonic the Hedgehog
• Sonic the Hedgehog 2
• Tails Adventure
• Vampire: Master of Darkness

What do you think of the news?