Naka believed that "Sonic Heroes", a "Sonic"-themed McDonald's Happy Meal toy line, and the anime series "Sonic X" would expose the franchise to a new generation. Sega released "Sonic Heroes" in Japan on December 30, 2003, two weeks later than intended, to ensure there were "no compromises" in the final product. The GameCube version was released in North America on January 6, 2004, followed by the Xbox and PS2 versions on January 27. The European version was released on February 2, 2004. A Windows version was released in North America on November 22, 2004, followed by Europe on November 26 and Japan on December 9. The game was rereleased through the "Sonic PC Collection" for Windows on October 2, 2009, and the PS2 Classics line for the PlayStation 3 (PS3) on February 22, 2012.