When a company with the licenses to multiple intellectual properties exists for a long time, it seems inevitable that eventually the properties will cross over in some form, no matter how nonsensical it may be. An old piece of official art fromSEGAdemonstrates this effect in an extreme form.
LongtimeSEGAfans will know that the company owns many properties, and has been involved in many more; many iconic long-running franchises likeSonic the HedgehogandSuper Monkey Ballare owned by SEGA. Less commonly recognized, however, are SEGA’s licensed works; as it turns out, SEGA is no stranger to licensed media, which explains an out-of-place character in 2009 promotional art.
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Livestreamer SpuukyLIVE unearthed official art from over a decade ago depicting three iconic SEGAcharacters in a Christmas-themed setting. Sonic the Hedgehog, Bayonetta, and AiAi form the left half of the image. The right side, however, features a terrifying Xenomorph, iconic to theAlienfilm series. SpuukyLIVE pinged SEGA’s official social media for an explanation, which succinctly and comedically responded “no.”
While the crossover may seem nonsensical at first, the common denominator between everything featured is timing; 2009 is the year SEGA announced a newAliens vs. Predatorgame that launched the following year, released aMario and Sonic at the Olympic Gamesentry, launched the firstBayonetta, and re-releasedSuper Monkey Ball 2for iOS. All four franchises were active that year, and given the context, the cross-promotion makes a little more sense.
TheAlienfranchise has a long history with gaming, going as far back as the Atari 2600. SEGA intermittently published someAliengames from 1993 to 2014, but never became a name tied strongly to the franchise, so those unfamiliar with SEGA’s lesser-known history would be understandably shocked to see Sonic and a Xenomorph in the same official image. With Bayonetta also included in the image, the lineup will only seem more random to those that do not know the story behind it.
The art may be from a long-past time, but SEGA is far from done with crossovers. Just recently,Super Monkey Ball: Banana-Maniareleasedwith a number of characters tying in with both SEGA and non-SEGA IPs. Perhaps the company would still be confusing the world withAliencrossover art if it still had access to the IP; with the many years sinceSEGAhas published an originalAliengame, though, the potential is low.
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