Sega Infuses Sonic’s Essence into a Chaos Emerald—How Will Nintendo Respond?

This year marks the 35th anniversary of Sonic the Hedgehog, and in true Sega fashion, they’ve decided to go all out with a quirky celebration. Recently revealed, Sega has introduced a life-sized statue of the iconic Blue Blur, claiming it contains Sonic’s DNA encased within what they’re calling a Chaos Emerald. You can check out the announcement video for a closer look.

This fascinating piece of tech comes from Transeeds, a collective of artists, engineers, and scientists. They previously worked on a project that “recreated” the T-virus from Resident Evil, though it didn’t actually contain any real virus. As for Sonic’s DNA, the amount of genuine genetic material is questionable at best. The video touts features like “Sonic biOS,” “Emerald vision,” “boost system,” and “velocity cells,” filled with all sorts of Sonic-themed jargon. To protect this precious genetic material, Transeeds has designed a Chaos Emerald containment system that sits within the statue, reminiscent of the famous mosquito preserved in amber from Jurassic Park. If you’re eager to see this unique blend of science and art, it will be on display at Sega Store Tokyo starting June 23rd.