Segata Sanshiro

[kite200]

Image its 1997. You are a marketer at sega. Your saturn is sucking ass in Japan. You need a way to sell it. So what do you do? You create argueably the most famous commercial icon in all of video games. Segata Sanshiro. The name Segata Sanshiro is a parody of the names Sega and Sugata Sanshiro. Sugata Sanshiro is a legendary judoist in the akira kurosawa movie named Sugata Sanshiro. The character Segata Sanshiro is played by none other than the famous Japanese actor / martial artist Fujioka Hiroshi. But sega's marketing genius doesnt stop there; not only is the character a parody of the highly recognizable movie character, his name sounds awfully similar to the phrase "Sega Saturn Shiro!" which literally means "You MUST play Sega Saturn!"

Sanshiro lives as a hermit high on a mountain, devoting his life to intensive Sega Saturn training. He trains physically by carrying around a giant Sega Saturn and punching a giant Sega Saturn controller, and mentally by breaking piles of bricks with his head. He also frequently visits the city to seek out people who are not playing the Sega Saturn, and harshly teach them a lesson. Sanshiro is a serious man with a firm sense of duty, who believes that playing video games is the most valuable activity in life.

The character Segata Sanshiro stars in nearly 2 dozen commercials from the years 1997-1998. Sega, now dreaming up the dreamcast, realizes that Segata Sanshiro, the wildly successfull commercial star's fate is tied to the Saturn. They decided to dream up one final commercial. In this commercial, sega higher-ups are dreaming up the dreamcast (no pun intended), while a terrorist fires a missle at Sega HQ. Segata Sanshiro leaps from the building, and reverses the missile into outer space. Once he and the missile are both outside the earths atmosphere, his final words are once again "Sega Saturn Shiro!" and then he is killed by an explosion. Then, a narrator comes on screen and says "Segata Sanshiro will live on in your hearts" and announces the release of Segata Sanshirou Shinken Yuugi, a game dedicated to the legend, Segata Sanshiro. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Segata_Sanshirou_Shinken_Yuugi
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Segata_Sanshiro

Segata Sanshiro was one of the few reasons Sega Saturn became popular in Japan. Here is a youtube video documenting the legend of segata sanshiro:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o3lCF8O2N50

[Jedi Master Baiter]

Segata Sanshiro FTW! Nintendo had the N64, Sony had the PS, but Sega will always have memories of this guy.

[Flash1087]

I loved all the Segata Sanshiro commercials. I was actually a little sad about the one where he sacrificed himself to save the Sega building, right before the Dreamcast released...

Speaking of Sega fanboy wackiness, anyone here ever play SegaGaGa?

[FamicomFreak]

That is so awesome. I did watched the hilarious segata sanshiro commercials.