The Importance of a Mascot
The corporate mascot is a powerful thing. Every American company worth a grain of salt has a mascot, an image, it uses to represent the corporation and its product. Preferably, consumers will immediately recognize the mascot and favorably associate it with the product for sale. In the video game industry, these corporate mascots are even more important as they are often times the stars of the products themselves. Nintendo has utilized its popular Mario character to the fullest, pasting his image on nearly every piece of merchandise they make. Sony is still searching, but Crash, Spyro or Parappa could certainly fit the bill. However, the most successful video game mascot of all-time is Sega’s Sonic the Hedgehog. Once upon a time, Sonic was second only to Mickey Mouse in terms of popularity. While Sega has foolishly let that go over the past 5 years, they are finally preparing his triumphant return on Dreamcast.