Sonic the Hedgehog is celebrating his 30th birthday in probably the most pleasant of how — by stepping into Vtubing.
On Thursday, Sonic’s official Japanese Twitter account posted a video of a Vtuber model that brings a 3D model of the basic character to life. In the video, we see Sonic speaking and smiling, as he says, “Hey guys!” at the beginning of the video. The gimmick is a part of an ongoing celebration of the 30th anniversary of the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise.
Vtubers (brief for digital YouTuber) are content material creators who stream utilizing a 3D mannequin in lieu of their precise face. Vtubers take a wide range of types, from 3D anime ladies to cute otters; there’s actually no restrict to what you might be, so it follows that will now embrace a lovable blue hedgehog.
The Sonic within the video is voiced by Jun’ichi Kanemaru, who has been the Japanese-language voice of Sonic in video video games since 1998’s Sonic Adventure, in addition to in films and TV present, like Ralph Breaks the Internet and Sonic Boom. Kanemaru’s participation within the stream makes it appear to be this shall be a particular occasion, slightly than a daily factor the place Sonic turns into a bona fide streamer.
Sega has already thrown all kinds of programming at followers because the 30th anniversary celebration kicked off this week. There shall be an interactive livestream the place viewers can management a modified model of the unique Sonic the Hedgehog recreation by way of chat and do issues like create platforms within the recreation, and on Wednesday, followers had been handled to a symphonic performance of classic songs from the video games.
Beyond occasions, Sega is commemorating the anniversary with a brand new recreation initiatives like a Sonic Colors remaster, a retro assortment that features Sonic 3 and Knuckles, and Sonic and pals’ debut in Minecraft. Next 12 months, there shall be a brand new 3D Sonic recreation and a brand new animated collection coming to Netflix.