News: Sonic surprise in Sanrio

January 13, 2007, 06:53 PM

by brandon, via Sega/Sanrio -
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As the title indicates, I walked into Sanrio the other day, not, I hasten to add, to enjoy their delightful character-based female-oriented merchandise, but because they had a Hello Kitty Squire guitar in the window (admittedly also aimed at girls). Once within, I discovered something rather strange - a cardboard Sonic standee selling character-based Sega games. I suppose Sanrio has to get with the contemporary times and move into electronics - the guitars were the first indication, but the Hello Kitty iPod speakers and Hello Kitty waffle iron were the icing on the cake. This Sonic thing contains one each of: Sonic the Hedgehog Genesis (the terrible GBA remake), Sonic Riders (PS2, GC), Sonic Plus (PS2), Shadow the Hedgehog (PS2, GC), and Charlotte's Web, randomly. Very strange that they didn't bother filling it up completely, as there are certainly enough games out for them to do so. It stands just a bit taller than the Sonic 360 version of the character, and sort of looks like he's been put on the rack. Not quite proportional.

I'm guessing this is the first (and quite quick!) evidence of the Sega Sammy/Sanrio alliance that was announced on christmas, in which each company will strengthen the brands of the other. Sega Sammy currently owns 14% of Sanrio's stock. So, in conclusion, seemed kind of weird and out of place to me, but I want one of these so I can fill it with, you know...good Sonic games. At least they left the atrocious Sonic 360 out! Here's another picture of the scene, this time without the flash, for the obsessed. Both this one and the one you get when clicking the link to the left are very unnecessarily large.