I've been wondering about that. I've heard it was because the Japanese didn't like Sonic's "I do things my own way" attitude.
He isn't popular in Japan!? What shows you that?
Actually, that's what I heard, too, V2. I'm currently reading an anthropological study of Japanese culture (cuz I'mma nerd) and their whole society is built around working together, contributing to a group, and striving for the betterment of the whole. "The needs of the many outweight the needs of the few." They'll even go so far as to shun someone for acting "improper" or "selfish" - even at a very young age, this is taught and encouraged. So, it would make a lot of sense for Sonic's attitude not to fly high on the Japanese standard. Also, it would explain where the whole concept of Sonic Heroes comes from...
Because the Japanese worships Mario.
...well, okay Mario is more popular that Sonic in the US also, but Mario has the major monopoly of popular company mascots, along with Pikachu and DQ's Slime over there. =D
A more serious theory, is that Sega as a console brand hasn't been really popular compared to Nintendo and Sony. The Sega console has been the major home for the Sonic franchise and maybe his games have been largely ignored since the Nintendo brand and other popular companies that were associated with them such Squaresoft and Enix was popular in the console front.
Maybe has Sonic started out as an arcade game over there(Sega was and still is popular in the arcades), his brand would have been more popular. *shrugs*
Sonic V2:
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I've been wondering about that. I've heard it was because the Japanese didn't like Sonic's "I do things my own way" attitude.
Then how can you explain the popularity of some characters such as Vegita over there?
Deus:
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He isn't popular in Japan!? What shows you that?
Well, for one thing his games sells less than the Megaman platformers there and the Megaman brand sans .EXE hasn't been as strong as it was in the past there.
The Saturn and the Dreamcast were more sucessful in Japan than anywhere else. (I think) Mind you that could be down to ports of Sega Rally and Virtua Fighter 1-3tb.
I think they just dont really like furry characters. Aparently Crash Bandicoot and Ratchet had major redsigns for their games to make them look more Anime-ish.
Well this is an strange topic. I thought blue boy was popular over seas (read:japan) due to the fact they have sonic x, sonic x toys and sonic candy(no pun atended) over there.We u.s. people have to breck our backs gut to find sonic x toys or spent all our money just to get ONE sonic x plushie. Plus,sense sonic was 'born' in japan, this surprise me. Well,im not going to japan whean i grow up.
John:
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The Saturn and the Dreamcast were more sucessful in Japan than anywhere else. (I think) Mind you that could be down to ports of Sega Rally and Virtua Fighter 1-3tb.
The Saturn yes, but I'm not so sure the DC was more successful in Japan than in the U.S.
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I think they just dont really like furry characters.
Not true, since they embrace Disney, Tom & Jerry, Totoro, Felix the Cat, and many other of those funny cartoon animals. Not to mention anthromorphic creatures are common in Japanese literature and legends--the Kitsune and Tanuki, for example.
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Aparently Crash Bandicoot and Ratchet had major redsigns for their games to make them look more Anime-ish.
That has more to do with changing their Western design to make them more appealing to Japanese audience not because they are anthromorphic characters. Many western game covers that features humans get changed also to a more anime-like design when they go on sale in Japan.
sonic candy:
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Plus,sense sonic was 'born' in japan, this surprise me.
There are quite a few gaming franchises that originated in Japan that are vastly more popular in the West. Castlevania and Metroid are such examples.
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The Saturn yes, but I'm not so sure the DC was more successful in Japan than in the U.S.
I'm no DC expert, but I think the DC continued to have new games in Japan long after America had forgotten it.
I'm probably way off, but I'm going to venture my best guesses...
1. They don't like the gameplay as much. It's all about speed and thrills anymore, moreso even than with previous games in the series, and perhaps that isn't as appealing to Japanese gamers?
2. The Sonic series has a lot of Western themes and a Western feel to it (which is probably why I like it more than most Japanese stuff). I've noticed the games are far different in tone than Sonic X or even that old Sonic anime. Maybe because they're tailored more for a Western audience whereas the animes are not?
-Jake
Sonic X was kinda redesigned over here to be kiddier (it was kiddy enough anyway!), at least that's what I heard (who dies on the plane in Japan? Shadow made a grave for her but here in the UK it was rewritten for us to think she lived to fight another day). And as far as I know, the same thing was done to America's, so the difference could be that the games are far far far darker. Especially SA2 
Eh? Sonic X just basically reused the whole story of the SA games complete with the death with some old added touches so it is no less darker than the games. Then again, I never really seen much of the 4Kids version of Sonic X so eh...
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The Sonic series has a lot of Western themes and a Western feel to it (which is probably why I like it more than most Japanese stuff). I've noticed the games are far different in tone than Sonic X or even that old Sonic anime. Maybe because they're tailored more for a Western audience whereas the animes are not?
So er, how is the extremely popular Super Mario Brothers series feel any less "Western" than Sonic over there? I mean the leads of SMB are even Italian, not Japanese for goodness sake. Also note that RPGs which are western in origin are popular there. Even Wizardry which is a Western RPG was(and probably) still is extremely popular there.
I'm looking at the Anime-ish feel, Ashide. The Final Fantasy series in Japan has an Anime look and feel to it, as do a number of Japanese RPGs (Tales of Symphonia particularly, Evolution, etc.). The Sonic games, however, don't have the same Anime feel as, say, Sonic X.
I know I'm not explaining myself properly, but if you can make anything of this gibberish, you probably get my drift.
-Jake
You just completely ignored AB's point about Mario.
Way to go.
@ AB: In the 4kids ones they never even SAY 'die'! Who dies on the plane then? I believe she's called Molly (Wikipedia said so anyway) but what character is it (I probably won't recognize her anyway because I'd've outgrown it if I was a month old nd such never watch it, but still...)?
That death didn't take place during the SA2 arc and was of a one-episode-only Sonic X specific character.
Apologies, Wonderbat. Care to offer something productive, or are you just here to point out my shortcomings?
Seriously, though, I don't know about Mario. I'm not trying to prove Ashide wrong, I'm trying to add to the discussion. Anyone care to venture a guess as to why Mario is so popular in Japan yet Sonic isn't? If not, we shall move on.
-Jake
[Mimi's long winded argument]
If Sonic is "unpopular" over in Japan, it probably stems from the same issues fans from other parts of the world are complaining about; The quality of the games is declining. Sonic games don't stand as strongly as they used to in the gaming industry as a whole. With the character himself, I doubt it's a matter of his personality, after all, Sonic's constantly with his friends and has been since Tails first appeared in Sonic the Hedgehog 2. He's become much friendlier since SA if you ask me. He seemed like a smart-aleck in the Genesis games (at least by his few animations and expressions).
Also, is Sonic selling badly, or not as well as other long running franchises? If the latter is the case, then he probably isn't unpopular (as in, no one cares for him) as other characters are more popular.
Since I've never been a big player of franchise games other than Sonic and Harvest Moon (which is a case of a series being more popular in Japan than anywhere else), I can't make judgements on why Mario is so much more appealing to a Japanese gamer than Sonic is.
Secondly, one thing about Sonic that makes it different than Mario, Zelda, Metroid, or even Megaman is that it's not just one or a small handful of staple characters to look forward to. It's Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, Amy, Shadow, Rouge, Cream, etc. A player knows who he or she will get when you play a Mario game. You don't know when you play a Sonic game who's going to play a role. Would an avid Knuckles fan who loves his character over all the others want to play a game in the franchise that doesn't have him anywhere? Probably not.
[/Mimi's long winded argument]
Point is Kaulimus, I'm not exactly getting your response to how pre-SA Sonic having "Western" themes/design(what ever the heck those are compared FF and especially DQ *shrugs*) is contributing to his unpopularity in Japan when Mario and frelling Disney is extememly popular there. If anything, Sonic and co's pre-SA design is reminiscent of those old anime that starred cartoon animals like The Noozles and any of Osamu Tezuka's work-- which is inspired by 30's Disney.
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Mimi:
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If Sonic is "unpopular" over in Japan, it probably stems from the same issues fans from other parts of the world are complaining about; The quality of the games is declining. Sonic games don't stand as strongly as they used to in the gaming industry as a whole. With the character himself, I doubt it's a matter of his personality, after all, Sonic's constantly with his friends and has been since Tails first appeared in Sonic the Hedgehog 2. He's become much friendlier since SA if you ask me. He seemed like a smart-aleck in the Genesis games (at least by his few animations and expressions).
But Sonic hasn't been popular in Japan even in the MegaDrive/Genny era.
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Also, is Sonic selling badly, or not as well as other long running franchises? If the latter is the case, then he probably isn't unpopular (as in, no one cares for him) as other characters are more popular.
In the US, during the DC/PS2/GCN/Xbox generation, Sonic was the 9th best selling franchise here--after Pokemon(8th) and before Halo(10th). Mario was in 1st place.
In Japan, Mario is in first place followed by Pokemon and then Gran Turismo, I believe. I think Sega's most popular franchise in Japan at the moment is either Mushiking, Love & Berry, or Virtua Fighter. They are all thanks to their success in the arcades.
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Since I've never been a big player of franchise games other than Sonic and Harvest Moon (which is a case of a series being more popular in Japan than anywhere else), I can't make judgements on why Mario is so much more appealing to a Japanese gamer than Sonic is.
I'm not sure about Japan, but I can guess why Mario is more popular than Sonic in the U.S. at least. I'm assuming it has to do with Mario's overall quality of games and the fact that he's a bigger pop-culture icon than Sonic.
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Secondly, one thing about Sonic that makes it different than Mario, Zelda, Metroid, or even Megaman is that it's not just one or a small handful of staple characters to look forward to. It's Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, Amy, Shadow, Rouge, Cream, etc. A player knows who he or she will get when you play a Mario game. You don't know when you play a Sonic game who's going to play a role. Would an avid Knuckles fan who loves his character over all the others want to play a game in the franchise that doesn't have him anywhere? Probably not.
I think this is sort of a double-edged sword in terms of receiving good sales--maybe even hurt the franchise in the future. I want to elaborate more but I'm being rushed off the computer, so maybe later.
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Seriously, though, I don't know about Mario. I'm not trying to prove Ashide wrong, I'm trying to add to the discussion. Anyone care to venture a guess as to why Mario is so popular in Japan yet Sonic isn't? If not, we shall move on.
Probably because Mario games tend to be something amazing with each one, often bringing something new to the formular each time, and not just for the series but for platformers in general.
Edit: Jeez, people post fast! Added quote I was replying too. :/
The Megadrive was more successful than the SNES in the UK, by the way.
Okay, Ashide, I gotcha. 
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My argument is that the games sell poorly in Japan since they are, essentially, less Japanese. They're tailored, it seems to me, toward a Western audience that would find them less accessible if they were anime-styled. Hence, I think, Sonic X and Sonic Riders... perhaps attempts to draw in Japanese audiences in a similar way that ST draws in Western audiences... by giving them a relatable style.
The more I think about this, the more unlikely it seems. But that's where I'm coming from, and it's, I think, a possibility.
-Jake
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The Megadrive was more successful than the SNES in the UK, by the way.
So was the Master System to the NES. But then Nintendo has always had trouble properly advertising their producted there. I remember seeing Crazy Frog Racing outsold Mario Kart DS there? 
The Genesis was also slightly more popular here than the SNES, but in the end the SNES outsold Genesis due to Sega completely dropping support when the Saturn debuted. Unlike Nintendo who supported the SNES here 'til around '97(I think that was when the last SNES game was released here).
EDIT: Darn you people reply fast!
EDIT: It was here and now it's not. Deal with it or stop posting so damn fast >: O
^In addition I should point out that Final Fantasy was very popular in Japan even back then when Yoshitaka Amano was the main chracter designer. Here's a reminder of what his Final Fantasy work look like:
Yep, that is totally reminiscent of 90% of anime.;-)
Dangit, edit back what you just said as this post was supporting your previous post.
The first Harvest Moon was released for Snes in '96 on US shores if that gives you any clue on late support.
Yoshitaka Amano was well known in Japan before he started working on Final Fantasy. His working on it helped get the first game noteriety. (sp?)
Kaulimus does have a point on why certain games sell better over here than in Japan and vice-versa. Western audiences have been bombarded with different visual and gameplay styles than Japan. FPS games are HUGE here, but not nearly so in Japan. That's why the Xbox is so ill received there, but loved here. Also, why is Dragon Quest gigantic in Japan, and only given a cult following here? It's the same deal.
Dragon Quest's popularity problem has to do that it is a bit more challenging than many of the JRPGs released here. I was going add that the old-school gaming mechanics, but then I remembered, currently Final Fantasy and Pokemon which are the two most popular JRPGs in the U.S. isn't that big of a drastic step up in comparison to say the less popular Tales and Grandia series. FFXII is going to be a big change though(not counting the online FFXI).
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Yoshitaka Amano was well known in Japan before he started working on Final Fantasy. His working on it helped get the first game noteriety. (sp?)
Yep, and his style isn't the "generic anime" design that Kaulimus claimed what Japanese flock to over Sonic. Heck, Sonic was even animated before the Final Fantasy series(the SegaSonic Sonic 1 commercials and Sonic CD predates that FF OAV).
And his arguement still doesn't explain why Mario, Disney, and Wizardry is popular.
Not to mention Fire Emblem, which is based heavily on Western Medieval history and mythology, and is highly reminiscent of 90% of westenr fantasy novels and whatnot.
Very true. Good points.
I still very much feel that Sonic's (and other franchises's) popularity in either country is largely dependent on style/tone. Westerners may prefer one thing, Easterners another. Perhaps it's not so much dependent on necessarily being anime or not (or at least not to the degree I had previously suggested), but there is a definate difference in style between games like Sonic and games like Fire Emblem or even Mario that goes beyond just "Oh, it's anime-styled" or "It's pseudo-realistic" or "It's whimsical and cartoonish," and it's not something I can explain.
Anyway, I can't support that this is the WHOLE reason, as enough evidence to the contrary has been supplied that I'd look pretty dumb trying. I do believe it may be a contributing FACTOR, simply because I'm stubborn and would sooner go down with the ship than jump on a life raft.
But it was mentioned earlier in this thread that some game box art (for Ratchet and Clank, I believe it was?) is anime-ized to be more appealing to Japanese gamers, and a lot of what IS popular in Japan does seem to have an anime-ish look or Japanese themes, and that seems lacking in most Sonic games.
Anyway, good points.
-Jake
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But it was mentioned earlier in this thread that some game box art (for Ratchet and Clank, I believe it was?) is anime-ized to be more appealing to Japanese gamers, and a lot of what IS popular in Japan does seem to have an anime-ish look or Japanese themes, and that seems lacking in most Sonic games.
Except that the reverse happened to Sonic. He and his pals has been American-nized from Ohshima's design.
from this:
to this:
img145.imageshack.us/img145/5217/sonic3sonicjapvr2.png--image is slightly big so I made it into a link
🙂 P.S. The Japanese Sonic character designs also reminds me of the art from Rocket Knight Adventures and Tezuka's animal designs.
Some artwork credit goes to Sonic Art Archive
I been wondering, for those who live in european countries, is Sonic very popular in Europe? Compared to Japan and the West I mean. I know he popular here in Puerto Rico since people know who I am talking about when I mention his name.
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I remember seeing Crazy Frog Racing outsold Mario Kart DS there?
The entire crazy frog anomaly is best forgotten.
That said, the DS Lite has now finally got round to outselling the PSP here (After an inital trend the other way), so it seems there may be hope yet.
So was the Master System to the NES. But then Nintendo has always had trouble properly advertising their producted there. I remember seeing Crazy Frog Racing outsold Mario Kart DS there?
The Genesis was also slightly more popular here than the SNES, but in the end the SNES outsold Genesis due to Sega completely dropping support when the Saturn debuted. Unlike Nintendo who supported the SNES here 'til around '97(I think that was when the last SNES game was released here).
The last Mega Drive game was released after that. I had a game from '98. Yes, it was an EA one, I think.
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I been wondering, for those who live in european countries, is Sonic very popular in Europe? Compared to Japan and the West I mean. I know he popular here in Puerto Rico since people know who I am talking about when I mention his name.
People also refer Europe as also part of the West. Anyway to answer your question, I would not be surprised if Sonic was more popular in Europe than in the U.S.
oddly enough sonic lost his fame worldwide, not just in Japan. everyone loved the old mega drive sonic the hedgehog but now people don't bother with the new sonic.
I suppose like some already posted, the reason is sonic's new character attitude. he just seems so.....American 
Time has changed, people are more interested in a sensible character. For example, Tom and Jerry's whack and smash cartoon doesn't appeal for today's viewers.
The same can be said about sonic's yahoo attitude, people aren't accepting to his character anymore.
Not all the sonic characters are bad, simply sonic and that giant scary cat. Shadow would have made a good character, cream, metal sonic and tails too. but because of the attachment made with sonic the other characters lack interest in storyline.
But sage went too far with sonic to suddenly change his character now, although I think sonic X puts up a good fight. Perhaps because sonicX is 100% Japanese.
The answer is simple. Western gamers generally like something quick, sharp, painless and fun to play, whilst Japanese gamers are more interested in sympathising with the character's plight before anything else, believing the game to be boring if they cannot make that critical connection.
(Please note the following examples are generalisations as we're considering mainstream popularity here.)
Case point 1: Mario
In the West, Mario's superior jumping abilities and awesome gameplay make him the king, and popular. Westerners couldn't give a rat's ass about the plot so long as it doesn't get in the way. Japanese gamers sympathise with Mario's plight; the poor bloke busts his ass trying to save Princess Peach, only to be told "she's in another castle". Mario has the patience of a saint, and that makes him a sympathetic character. International popularity ahoy.
Case point 2: Sonic
The oldest Sonic games barely had any time for the plot at all, and chose instead to simply further the plot along by progressing through the game. For Westerners that's all that matters and the US and Europe lapped it up. In Japan, however, that makes Sonic completely uninteresting. Why are we kicking Eggman's ass? Why should I care? Without an answer, they switched off. Popularity in Japan is diminished.
This is perhaps something Sonic Adventure and beyond attempted to rectify but in the process damaged the franchise's reputation. Mario's continued international popularity comes from the fact that he still has the patience of a saint, and he is still immensely intuitive to control.
Discuss.
EDIT: Typo fixing.
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Case point 2: Sonic
The oldest Sonic games barely had any time for the plot at all, and chose instead to simply further the plot along by progressing through the game. For Westerners that's all that matters and the US and Europe lapped it up. In Japan, however, that makes Sonic completely uninteresting. Why are we kicking Eggman's ass? Why should I care? Without an answer, they switched off. Popularity in Japan is diminished.
Sonic kicks Eggman's hinder because that nutty doctor traps poor and defensless animals in machines for his own desires. Instead of embracing nature, he defiles it because he wants his own Eggmanland, which I assume would be dominated by machines. I take it that Sonic vs. Eggman to be a common motif of nature vs. man.
That theme usually dominates in many of Miyazaki movies and his movies are really popular in Japan so why wouldn't Sonic be popular, again?
Because that theme is rarely, if ever, touched upon in the original games, other than the fact that animals appear when you destroy robots.
*shrugs* it could be interperated in that way just like BV interperated Mario's personality. XD
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Because that theme is rarely, if ever, touched upon in the original games, other than the fact that animals appear when you destroy robots.
Like how Bowser transform Toads into bricks and other items and yet we never see the Toads except for the seven in the castles. Besides, games back then didn't have much of a story and usually is only mention in the manual.
Boss, that's a well organized thought, but I don't believe it mainly because Sonic was very popular in Japan years ago.
Personally, and people have said this, I now think that it's simply because of his changes and his step into the 3D world -- as well, his competition is just putting him into the Shadow (no pun intended).
I'm sure any Japanese will know who Sonic is, but they probably wont have much interest playing the newer games over something else that recently released.
Maybe StH 06 will change everything? Hopefully Sonic Team is fixing the problems of the game (camera, falling down pits too easily) as promised (I posted a link to this specific promise somewhere in the StH thread.)
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Boss, that's a well organized thought, but I don't believe it mainly because Sonic was very popular in Japan years ago.
Eh? Where did you get the info that Sonic was very popular in Japan years ago?
From what I have heard it was quite the opposite.
Sonic was specifically designed to attract U.S. gamers. So that probably has something to do with it.
^I heard about that statement also. I heard that Sega wanted to make a mascot character that would first appeal to Americans in hopes that the Japanese would too embraced the character if it was popular in America. Maybe it had to do with the Japanese embracing Western pop-culture.
I guess that idea sort of fell flat. =P
If this is true..maybe it had to do with Sonic creation being artificial compared to Mickey Mouse and Mario? *shrugs*
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Eh? Where did you get the info that Sonic was very popular in Japan years ago?
he is right, I remember how big it was back then.
but why do you assume the game world is revolving only America and Japan, there are other countries in this world, gamers are world wide. it's true other countries don't make games or translate them but they are essential consumers to a game's success. And this is Japan's mistake, it believes America is its only consumer aside from its country.
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Sonic was specifically designed to attract U.S. gamers. So that probably has something to do with it.
Yes, thinking that will increase profits. The same move has been done with many other Japanese game failures such as ff8. what the Japanese want is to hit the big market, thinking if it passes in America they make it everywhere. That is partly true, many countries depend on American game exportation, but that doesn't mean people won't recognize Japanese games.
People don't want everything Americanized, it's good to taste something new every now and then. Japanese games and cartoons give that ethnic sense people enjoy, as American movies have giving us for a long time.
I believe even the American consumer wants ethnic games, Sonic would have been a success in America anyway if they didn't culturally "fix" him (I lack the suitable word for it) and still made it in Japan and everywhere else.
The desire of "cultural acceptance" is the result of today's sonic.
One of the things that gives Mario the edge over Sonic is the fact that Mario is simply a far-more flexible character. Mario has something that appeals to everyone. He's been a hero (obvious), a villian (Donkey Kong 2), a victim, (Mario is Missing, Super Princess Peach) a Time-Traveller, (Mario's Time Machine) a doctor, a cart racer, a golfer, a tennis pro, a baseball player, a soccer star, and the list goes on. I think, in the long run, what gives Mario and his posse the edge all over the world is simply the fact that he's a much more flexible character and has something that appeals to everyone one way or the other.
Yet, Ice, that's exactly what we've tried to fight with Sonic. Since Sonic Adventure, fan's have been saying, "Just go back to basics! Focus on the speed and platforming!"
Mario is a much more flexible character, but we actually DON'T want Sonic to be. Isn't that ironic?
-Jake
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One of the things that gives Mario the edge over Sonic is the fact that Mario is simply a far-more flexible character. Mario has something that appeals to everyone. He's been a hero (obvious), a villian (Donkey Kong 2), a victim, (Mario is Missing, Super Princess Peach) a Time-Traveller, (Mario's Time Machine) a doctor, a cart racer, a golfer, a tennis pro, a baseball player, a soccer star, and the list goes on. I think, in the long run, what gives Mario and his posse the edge all over the world is simply the fact that he's a much more flexible character and has something that appeals to everyone one way or the other.
I tend to think of it as Nintendo not having enough dignity to have a serious mascot. SEGA's actually trying to be serious, not selling out the millions of spinoffs like Mario, which might be the problem. Mario is a whore, so everyone likes him. Maybe Sonic should follow suit.
Mario may be a whore, but at least the majority of his games hav'nt been disappointments like the speedster's.
You've got it all wrong, TTG.
Everyone likes Mario because his games have quality, which is something just about every Sonic game since S3&K has severely lacked.
Mel Rose:
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he is right, I remember how big it was back then.
So you telling me Sonic was popular enough to sell more Mega Drives than Super Famicoms in Japan? Riiiiiight...
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but why do you assume the game world is revolving only America and Japan, there are other countries in this world, gamers are world wide.
Eh? What makes you assume that I only think the industry revolves around the U.S. and Japan? I never said anything like that in this topic.
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Yes, thinking that will increase profits. The same move has been done with many other Japanese game failures such as ff8.
Er...FF8 is sure as heck isn't a financial failure--seeing that it is the second best selling FF worldwide title behind FF7. Heck, it's the best selling FF title in Japan.
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what the Japanese want is to hit the big market, thinking if it passes in America they make it everywhere.
I'm pretty sure most Japanese companies are thinking more on how to sell your product to Japanese consumers as the first priority with the worldwide consumer base second. That's how it is usually in every country.
TTG:
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I tend to think of it as Nintendo not having enough dignity to have a serious mascot. SEGA's actually trying to be serious, not selling out the millions of spinoffs like Mario, which might be the problem. Mario is a whore, so everyone likes him. Maybe Sonic should follow suit.
The first two statements sounds like something Pat L. would say. Sure Mario is a whore, but so is Sonic--or have you forgotten about the Sonic Drifts, Shuffle, Battle, the bazillion Sonic Cafe shovelware, Sega re-releasing Sonic 1 into every platform known to man, and other merchandising hijinks like the comics and cartoons. And as far as Sonic current incarnation of this metaphor is concerned--he is the whore that is nearly pretty as Nintendo's, but carries some unfortunate STD.
