Sega has announced three new colognes that are based on three of its franchises, with fans soon being able to smell like a character from Shenmue, Yakuza, or even Sonic the Hedgehog. It’s unclear why anyone would want to smell like a big blue hedgehog, but Sega clearly believes that there is a market for people who enjoy the aroma of chili dogs.

It’s surprisingly common for video game franchises to have their own brands of cologne and perfume. The items are cheap to produce, yet are presented as luxury gifts, which means they can be sold for a lot of money to diehard fans, especially when presented as limited edition collector’s items. In recent times, there has been Resident Evil cologne and perfume sold by Capcom; Cloud Strife and Sephiroth from Final Fantasy VII have also received their own colognes in the past; and there has even been Pokémon cologne, for those who want to walk into the club smelling like Bulbasaur.

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There are three more franchises entering the perfume game. The official Sega Europe website (via Polygon) is taking pre-orders for colognes based on Shenmue, Sonic the Hedgehog, and Yakuza. The colognes are currently expected to launch in December. The scents are intended to be unisex, so even the ladies in the audience can smell like Kazuya Kiryu.

The Sonic the Hedgehog cologne is described as an “aroma of fresh citrus, a zing of grapefruit zest and exotic lemon and lime, topped with the scene of the ocean breeze and chilled melon fade. Take pleasure in the rich base tones of leather, suede, and cedar.” This is a considerable departure from Sonic’s beloved chili dogs. The Shenmue fragrance is described as a “rich fragrance with top notes of clashing cardamom and bergamot, smouldering golden tobacco, deep orris and a strong patchouli base.” The Yakuza cologne is described as “a deep and mysterious scent of antique oak, cedarwood, beeswax infused with smoky bourbon, leathery rose and scorching pimento,” which at least sounds somewhat on-brand for the franchise.

These aren’t the only Sega franchises that have their own fragrances, as Atlus has been selling Persona character colognes and perfumes for years now. The video game industry is hardly the only one with its own gimmick scents, with franchises like Game of Thrones and Star Trek having released character-based fragrances in the past. There are also plenty of celebrities who are paid to lend their endorsement to perfume, so in some ways, it makes sense that Sonic the Hedgehog would get in on the action.

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The Sonic the Hedgehog, Shenmue, and Yakuza colognes will be released in December.

Source: Sega Europe (via Polygon)

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Scott Baird
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Scott has been writing for Screen Rant since 2016 and regularly contributes to The Gamer. He has previously written articles and video scripts for websites like Cracked, Dorkly, Topless Robot, and TopTenz.
A graduate of Edge Hill University in the UK, Scott started out as a film student before moving into journalism. It turned out that wasting a childhood playing video games, reading comic books, and watching movies could be used for finding employment, regardless of what any career advisor might tell you. Scott specializes in gaming and has loved the medium since the early ‘90s when his first console was a ZX Spectrum that used to take 40 minutes to load a game from a tape cassette player to a black and white TV set. Scott now writes game reviews for Screen Rant and The Gamer, as well as news reports, opinion pieces, and game guides. He can be contacted on LinkedIn.

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