What type of animal is the video game character Sonic, introduced by Sega on June 23, 1991?
Sonic the Hedgehog (1991 video game) shown, and won the CES award for innovation. Sega of America CEO Tom Kalinske wanted reassurance that the character would not fail. The global head of marketing, Al Nilsen, became involved, and playtested the game across the United States with Mario fans: they were shown "Mario" and then played "Sonic the Hedgehog". 80 percent preferred "Sonic the Hedgehog", and the game was shown at the 1991 Summer Consumer Electronics Show. The game was released in North America on June 23, 1991, and in the PAL regions and Japan the following month. Sega of America packaged it with American Genesis consoles,
Sonic the Hedgehog (character) Yuji Naka and artist Naoto Ohshima are generally credited with the creation of the character. The first game was released to provide Sega with a mascot to rival Nintendo's flagship character Mario in June 1991. Since then, Sonic has become one of the world's best-known video game characters, with his series selling more than 80 million copies. In 2005, Sonic was one of the first game character inductees into the Walk of Game alongside Mario and Link. While Sega was seeking a flagship series to compete with Nintendo's Mario series with a character to replace Alex Kidd as the company's