Even though we just got our first real taste of Sonic Unleashed at E3 last week, Sega is already making announcements about the next game to appear in the franchise. This month, the cover of Nintendo Power magazine features Sonic holding a giant sword with the words "Sonic and the Black Knight" emblazoned on the cover. After some digging around, we’ve gotten confirmation that this game is indeed real and it will be a Wii exclusive.

The new title will be a new entry into the "storybook" series of Sonic games that began with Sonic and the Secret Rings. Apparently, this time our speedy blue friend will be inhabiting the time of King Arthur, and will wield a shiny sword to help dispatch any who stand in the way of his quest to do whatever it is blue hedgehogs do when trapped in Medieval times.

Other information, such as a release date (all we know so far is Spring 2009) or assets in the form of screenshots and trailers have not been released yet, but we’ll be sure to keep you up to date on the news as it happens. In the meantime, take a moment and consider how long it will be before Sonic and his new sword are paired up with some Square-Enix characters for a new RPG mashup. Don’t laugh, it worked for Kingdom Hearts and you know those crazy developers at Square are just looking for the next mascot they can force to fight unmentionable evils.