Has Miku replaced Sonic as Sega's mascot...in Japan?

[ROJM]

I was reading the article concerning the vocaloid character Miku appearing in a mainstream american show like David Letterman and Sega was behind the effects. Sega and Miku has become so interwined she might as well be a Sega character even though Sega doesn't own the character or rights. But Sega pratically is behind the Miku merchandise,concerts and everything else related to the character since the game has caught on in Japan. In fact in Japan you often see the character with the Sega logo brand than you see Sonic.
The thing is with this Letterman deal..isn't that the type of thing you'd expect Sonic to be a part of? While Sonic is still visible in the west..from looking at japanese websites..in relation to Sega..you'd be mistaken to think Miku was the company mascot.
Its not the first time a Sega franchise was pushed heavy in japan over Sonic..VIRTUA FIGHTER and SAKURA TAISEN are prime examples..but those games were never used to replace Sonic as a mascot..even though Sega tried to replace Sonic as a mascot in favor for a new one during the saturn era.
In fact when it comes to Sonic which is stil a big money maker for Sega outside Japan..the character hasn't been treated with the dues he deserves. Sega has created two animes...one based on a game HEROBANK that failed..and one that is geared towards Otaku pop culture with the HiGirls...while Sonic is relugated to a CGI cartoon Sonic Boom which looks poor if you compare  it to SONIC X.
Do you think Sega needs to step it up in regards to a character many in the world associate Sega with? Do you think Miku has become a new mascot for Sega in all but name? And do you think Sega should produce a new anime featuring Sonic...

[Happy Cat]

Well, SEGA definitely prefers Miku over Sonic this year. Maybe that will change when it's a Japanese made game again, but Miku got much more stage time at TGS.

I'm still surprised SEGA West is releasing Miku games. Do you think SEGA Japan is pressuring them? Surely you know! you seem to know stuff like this.

Also the first Miku concerts were put together by SEGA themselves, used an upgraded Project Diva PSP model rather then the fancy CGI that we see today at the Miku concerts

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8dmJeOPQqYQ

heres a video. Miku even says SEGA at the beginning!

also if you didn't know the person who is the main Miku artist is also the person doing the art for the
"Hi☆sCool! Seha Girls” anime. so, SEGA has certainly a lot of ties with Miku, even if it's not directly their franchise.

[The KKM]

Official word is they're bringing the Project DIVA games westward as a response to the outcry for Miku DLC in All-Stars Racing Transformed, IIRC. Wouldn't be surprised if Crypton Media were influencing things a bit too seeing Miku's popularity boost worldwide.

[ROJM]

Well, SEGA definitely prefers Miku over Sonic this year. Maybe that will change when it's a Japanese made game again, but Miku got much more stage time at TGS.

I'm still surprised SEGA West is releasing Miku games. Do you think SEGA Japan is pressuring them? Surely you know! you seem to know stuff like this.

Not in touch with that side of things anymore but i do get told snippets now and again..but since SOJ runs Sega west nowadays..i don't think its pressure as much as being told that they going to promote and release the games here.

[Happy Cat]

Not in touch with that side of things anymore but i do get told snippets now and again..but since SOJ runs Sega west nowadays..i don't think its pressure as much as being told that they going to promote and release the games here.

I see. That makes sense. SEGA America has been promoting Project Diva pretty heavily this year, going to lots of expos and conventions and such. Here is a video of them at Anime Expo 2014, they had quite a pretty big chunk of space to promote the game there.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HvfEi844Yf0

People seem really interested too, So that probably means better sales then the first game had in the west.

[ROJM]

All that proves to me is if Sega wanted to they could push other japanese heavy games to the west...YAKUZA and SAKURA TAISEN especially the latter since its an adored brand to all those american gaijin anime fans...

[TimmiT]

No because Hatsune Miku isn't a SEGA character, SEGA just has a license to make Miku games. This is like saying that the Alien is replacing Sonic as SEGA's mascot in the US.

[Happy Cat]

All that proves to me is if Sega wanted to they could push other japanese heavy games to the west...YAKUZA and SAKURA TAISEN especially the latter since its an adored brand to all those american gaijin anime fans...

Yeah. I have hopes the good Miku sales will make them brave enough to try localizing some other Japanese games eventually. Make them realize theres quite a big group of consumers who buy Japanese games as long as they are promoted correctly.

[ROJM]

No because Hatsune Miku isn't a SEGA character, SEGA just has a license to make Miku games. This is like saying that the Alien is replacing Sonic as SEGA's mascot in the US.

If you know anything about Japanese gaming culture...there is such a thing as a honourable license or traditional licensee/ grand licensee. Where a company licenses a product makes it succesful and it becomes part of that company for years and years to the point they are effectivly a property of that company even though they don't own the character they own the license. Bandai is the perfect example of that. They've had the GUNDAM license for over 3 decades..as well as the Lupin tHE 3RD LICENSE and many other properties..they pratically built their company around them. Sega has been trying to get in on this action for as long as i've known them since the eighties..and they've always failed. Nintendo for example never really bothered until POKEMON fell onto their lap and have that type of franchise where they have a multimedia series out of it. Sega until now as they seem to be going after the properties that are popular with the new breed of anime fan and are created from a non traditional source. Miku is effectivly a Sega character in all but name because Sega acts as the grand licensee to everything Miku related..which is what Bandai and various other companies have been doing for years.

[TruthEnigma]

If you know anything about Japanese gaming culture...there is such a thing as a honourable license or traditional licensee/ grand licensee. Where a company licenses a product makes it succesful and it becomes part of that company for years and years to the point they are effectivly a property of that company even though they don't own the character they own the license. Bandai is the perfect example of that. They've had the GUNDAM license for over 3 decades..as well as the Lupin tHE 3RD LICENSE and many other properties..they pratically built their company around them. Sega has been trying to get in on this action for as long as i've known them since the eighties..and they've always failed. Nintendo for example never really bothered until POKEMON fell onto their lap and have that type of franchise where they have a multimedia series out of it. Sega until now as they seem to be going after the properties that are popular with the new breed of anime fan and are created from a non traditional source. Miku is effectivly a Sega character in all but name because Sega acts as the grand licensee to everything Miku related..which is what Bandai and various other companies have been doing for years.

Fascinating. I never realised that's how it works. It makes sense. If a company has been successful in pushing a license, why risk that relationship for the sake of some short term cash.

It makes sense for Sega to move on from Sonic to some degree. When Sega tried to push Alex Kidd as the mascot, it didn't work, particularly in the 16bit era. They needed something more modern. On top of that, Alex Kidd had a hit and miss record with his games. Some were great, some not so great. Cut to 2014 and Sonic is not modern, and has been hit and miss with his games for the past decade. With the popularity of Anime, it makes sense to have a character that is easily marketable to otaku. SoJ should have been doing this kind of thing for years, but that's another argument.

[ROJM]

Fascinating. I never realised that's how it works. It makes sense. If a company has been successful in pushing a license, why risk that relationship for the sake of some short term cash.

It makes sense for Sega to move on from Sonic to some degree. When Sega tried to push Alex Kidd as the mascot, it didn't work, particularly in the 16bit era. They needed something more modern. On top of that, Alex Kidd had a hit and miss record with his games. Some were great, some not so great. Cut to 2014 and Sonic is not modern, and has been hit and miss with his games for the past decade. With the popularity of Anime, it makes sense to have a character that is easily marketable to otaku. SoJ should have been doing this kind of thing for years, but that's another argument.

What people have to realise is that Sega japan at least wasn't intrested in just pushing video games in the home..they wanted to become a toy licensing company as well. They failed in that until the late nineties and 2000s. The closest thing to a traditional license sega had was DOREMON, FIST OF THE NORTH STAR and ZILLION. Look into the background of those licenses and Sega not only help produce the games for them but the toys..and sponser or make the anime..FIST OF THE NORTHSTAR is the only one where Sega was activly involved in producing the new version of the anime series and to a degree DOREMON as well. FOTNS because Sega got that license on three seprate occasions...the original....the remake of the anime but no game produced...the sammy merger where the Arcworks game fell on their lap...as well as the pachislot PS2 games..BLEACH had it lasted could have been one as well. Miku however is the license that's gotten them thru to a larger audience in japan. And in a position wher e they  mostly basically produce everything Miku merchandise related. But Miku seems to be positioned into a role as a mascot as well...click on any SOJ website  or video with Miku and you see where i'm getting at.

[Happy Cat]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pEXEWyUKzMY

awesome song

[Trippled]

A mascot isn't just the amount of exposure or success it has. Often it simply is something to identify the company, like a logo. That
s why you see Sonic on Sega Japan's Social Media accounts all the time.

[ROJM]

A mascot isn't just the amount of exposure or success it has. Often it simply is something to identify the company, like a logo. That
s why you see Sonic on Sega Japan's Social Media accounts all the time.

I know that but you also see Miku on there as well especially on TV where most will see things like that and will identify Sega with the character.

[pirovash88]

I feel like Miku is a character that you have to be a gamer/jpop/anime fan to know about, whereas Sonic is universally known as Sega's Mascot. I know plenty of people who don't know who the fuck Miku is, yet they'll be quick to point out Sonic in any given circumstance.