Sega needed a mascot

Thanks to Yuji Naka's persistent arguments and Hayao Nakayama's mediation, the project was ultimately retained by AM8.

"Alright then, I was originally planning to have AM10 do it."

Lin Lixin sighed helplessly, feigning regret, then his face lit up with joy, "But since AM8 was recommended by President Nakayama, your abilities must be quite impressive."

"That's for sure!"

When it comes to the issue of ranking, Yuji Naka is naturally unwilling to budge an inch.

Of all the people in the company, the only one who could make him feel a little intimidated was probably Yu Suzuki, the grandmaster of AM2.

"Our AM8 is definitely Sega's strongest (in the home console market)."

Today's experience has given Yuji Naka a small sense of anticipation.

Sega, although Mr. Hayao Nakayama still serves as the president of Sega.

But everyone knows who truly has the final say.

Even the major shareholder CSK was kicked out of the management team, so Hayao Nakayama was already less secure than others, was even less likely to be affected.

Sega has long been a subsidiary of Gamenova.

But this isn't necessarily a bad thing.

At least in Yuji Naka's understanding, Lin Lixin seems to be a staunch advocate of home-use machinery.

If I can perform well and leave an impression on Lin through this project, it will naturally be of great benefit in the brutal office struggles to come.

Nowadays, the only ones who can truly threaten his position are probably Yu Suzuki from the arcade faction and Sato Hideki from the hardware department.

Dude, with all these different factions, what faction has more say than the GAMENOVA faction?

If I were to become someone else's proxy... hehe...

What are you laughing at?

"Nothing!"

Lin Lixin glanced at him with a puzzled look before continuing, "Let's gather everyone from AM8 together and discuss the character design."

If you want to create a cornerstone IP tailored specifically for Sega, it's best to have the original design team involved.

Sometimes, self-serving improvements may backfire and cause market backlash.

Before long, Yuji Naka summoned the entire core team of AM8 to the conference room.

Faced with this Legend suddenly appeared at Sega headquarters, the others couldn't quite keep their composure.

"Ahem... Anyway, I believe Yuji Naka has already told you about this new project."

Lin Lixin displayed the demo to everyone, saying, "The reason I called everyone here is naturally to discuss the character design."

"My goal is simple: to create a mascot for Sega that can truly hold its own."

Sega does have its own mascot.

Back in 1986, they released a game called "AleKidd: Fantasy Adventure".

And this Kidd is actually Sega's current mascot.

But as a mascot, its competitiveness is really too poor.

It's so bad it's almost negligible.

If Sam hadn't mentioned it to him, he wouldn't even have remembered the character.

To compete with Nintendo, this level of skill is simply utterly hopeless.

The problem is quite evident just from the sales figures.

Super Mario Bros.., Nintendo's Nintendo IP, has achieved a staggering global sales figure of over 40 million copies.

Meanwhile, AleKidd, a fantasy Adventure on SMS, only sold a little over 2 million copies.

If this is the work of a third-party studio, then this result is indeed quite good.

But it's benchmarked against games with core competitive advantages like Super Mario Bros., Pac-Man, and Mega Man.

As a mascot, it is a failure.

"What we need is a classic character that can be etched into the hearts of players, one that they can't forget at first glance."

Lin Lixin tapped the blue square on the screen. "Blue! It must be a character with blue as its main color, specifically Sega Blue."

7

"It's not just because it's Sega's signature color, but also because it's the color that most dares to challenge Nintendo."

If you had to choose a representative color for Nintendo, it would undoubtedly be red.

If you want to project a clear and compelling message of confrontation, then using blue, the complementary color, is precisely the best way to create a strong contrast.

As for the name----

Lin Lixin searched around but couldn't find what he wanted.

Seeing this, Hayao Nakayama, who was standing nearby, quickly took out a Japan- made platinum fountain pen from his pocket and handed it to Lin Lixin.

"Hmm? Thanks."

Lin Lixin took the pen and casually wrote down a name on the paper.

[SONIC]

"SONIC, meaning sonic, perfectly matches the tone of our project."

Sonic ----

Looking at the name, Yuji Naka nods thoughtfully.

It must be said that Chairman Lin is truly skilled in understanding the essence of souls.

Simply choosing a color and a name can instantly bring the character to life.

The character's artwork hasn't even been created yet, and nobody even knows what they look like.

These two simple steps made him realize the potential of the character.

He's definitely much better than AleKidd.

Yuji Naka's gaze shifted to Lin Lixin, who was standing to the side, and his admiration for him surged even stronger.

Generally speaking, there are only so many things a person can excel at.

Very few people can be versatile and proficient in everything.

If a person is good at everything, then they are destined to be bad at everything.

Because energy is also limited.

Like myself, although I have shown extraordinary talent in programming, my artistic attainments are only at the level of a typical STEM guy.

Without the help of Naoto Ohshima, AM8's chief art director, he wouldn't have been able to create anything decent on his own.

Lin Lixin, however, was not like that.

Hardware, software, art, music, planning----

There's nothing he can't do.

Can you believe this guy even won Grammy Award?

I'm afraid I'll live in his shadow for the rest of my life.

However, this isn't necessarily a bad thing.

"Is there anything objection to this part?"

Lin Lixin glanced at everyone. "Regarding the design of this character, I think we need an image that can express a sense of speed, but—it must be simple enough."

This is crucial for a mascot.

A careful analysis of AleKidd, this failed mascot, reveals its obvious flaws.

It piles up too many elements, but lacks anything that leaves a lasting impression.

Redundancy and complexity actually diminish recognizability.

In this respect, GameFreak is undoubtedly the strongest.

"I will send Ken Sugimori to assist you later."

Designing characters with the most distinctive features and the most memorable impressions using the simplest lines is Ken Sugimori's specialty.

"But before that, we obviously need to determine what the character will look like."

After saying that, Lin Lixin quieted down, indicating that everyone could begin to speak.

However, there's just too much information to process completely; it will take some time.

Lin Lixin wasn't in a hurry. While chatting with Hayao Nakayama about Namco's further plans, he waited for AM8's reaction.

"Believe me, President Nakayama, once Namco and the others have actually developed a game on Genesis NEO, they'll never be able to go back."

Seeing Hayao Nakayama's continued worry, Lin Lixin grinned.

While Metal Slug is undeniably powerful, it also serves as a smokescreen, diverting much of the attention from this remarkable machine.

In fact, this machine, with its uniquely simple architecture, was the true secret to Sega's victory.

As long as Hayao Nakayama doesn't fall ill like Hiroshi Yamauchi, theoretically this battle is a sure victory.

"Since Chairman Lin is so certain—"

Hayao Nakayama nodded helplessly.

Since Lin Lixin said it's possible, then it must be possible.

"President Lin!"

Just then, AM8, who had finally finished the discussion, made a move.

Yuji Naka spoke first, breaking the silence. "What do you think of dogs? They're cute, and they run very fast."

--A blue dog that runs very fast?

Lin Lixin was speechless.

"President Lin, I also have an idea, but I'm not sure if I should say it."

The speaker was Naoto Ohshima, the art director and chief artist of AM8.

Lin Lixin glanced at his panel briefly, and unsurprisingly, it was another A-level.

It must be said that although Sega suffered repeated setbacks on the front lines, and was almost always beaten by Nintendo in every era, Sega did have something to offer in terms of talent reserves.

Yeah, I should pack them up and take them to North America when I have the chance, so I don't have to come all the way here myself.

Tell me about it.

"Yes!"

Naoto Ohshima picked up a document from his hand; it was something Lin Lixin had casually handed out to them earlier.

This is a handwritten draft that briefly explains the overall style and gameplay of the game.

Regardless of how ingenious the design concept is, it at least gave Naoto Ohshima some inspiration in this gameplay.

"I noticed that, Chairman Lin, you said Sonic can curl into a ball and attack enemies by rolling, right?"

"That's right."

"In that case, I think maybe we could try—the hedgehog."

Upon hearing this, the other members of AM8 showed a surprised expression.

While dogs might have some relevance to this theme, the hedgehog is rather inexplicable.

It does indeed fulfill the need for curling up to attack, but hedgehogs are not really related to speed.

This is really putting the cart before the horse.

"This is no ordinary hedgehog."

Naoto Ohshima, noticing the disapproval of the others, offered an explanation. "It should be described as—an image? Imagine an United States pilot whose hair was always blown back like thorns by the wind at extremely high speeds, earning him the nickname 'Hedgehog' from his comrades."

As if he felt that simply describing it with his words might not be enough, he grabbed his pen, pulled over a sheet of white paper, and began to draw in front of everyone.

As soon as the line drawing appeared before everyone, AM8, who had been discussing it, immediately fell silent.

Some figures, just by standing there, can give people a sense of speed!