Pops Culture: Episode 2 - Sonic The Hedgehog

During the early 90's, as console gaming was exploding with audiences worldwide, the infamous and brutal "mascot war" was being brewing behind the scenes of two rival video game companies - Sega and Nintendo.
At the time, Nintendo held a monopoly over the industry even as Sega burst onto the scene as a hungry upstart, young, ambitious, and chomping at the bit to challenge the monolith for market share - and power.
Nintendo's success was largely due to Super Mario, a smash hit game and immediately recognizable official mascot. Super Mario solidified Nintendo's place in the home console marketplace. In order to compete with Nintendo's success Sega needed a game to stand out as the defining reason for people to buy a Sega console. They needed a game that was easy to learn, fun to play, and better than its counterpart in every way. They needed a Mario killer.
Episode Two of Pops Cultures presents the untold story behind the scenes of these behind the scenes scenes - the unheralded story of one man with a failing shipping business and his quest to experience the legendary comfort of a Japanese toilet and how that quest lead to one of the greatest David and Goliath stories in pop culture history.

[@ConnorGrail]

Great interview. Truly inspiring to hear the humble beginnings of Gary the Echidna, these are the things Sega doesn't want the "Hedgehead" community to know

[@CHMernerner]

:)