Sega Europe 's boss Mike Hayes and' Sonic Brand Director 'David Corless explain why the hedgehog is still a powerful symbol

Would you believe that Sonic the Hedgehog is 20 years old? Since bursting on consoles in 1991, the gaming world has immeasurably changed to Sonic still spins. It 'sa remarkable achievement in a fast-paced industry, so that a powerful Sonic ... Brand? Character?

"First and foremost is a Sonic character," says Sega Europe 's CEO Mike Hayes, although the presence of David Corless - whose business card reads' Sonic Brand Director '- suggesting the company is very aware that it 's also.

Neither Mike nor David worked for Sega at the time of Sonic's launch. Mike was working with arch rivals and Mario-creators Nintendo: "Sonic was something we only played to see how the opposition was going."

The success of Sonic clearly echoes back to the old days of console rivalry. "Sega was the archenemy," laughs Mike. "It 's quite ironic that Mario and Sonic came along, [for" at the Olympics "title]. In my day, that would have been unthinkable.

"V Sega, Nintendo has great articles on things like the Mail on Sunday. It was so big, like Coca-Cola vs. Pepsi, Levi vs. Wrangler, the Rolling Stones vs. The Beatles were ... At Nintendo we are more family-friendly, the Beatles and Coca-Cola to Sega 's Stones and Pepsi. They were more cutting edge, Oasis, Blur our, and we played it. There was nobody else in the business and at this point, and we thought that no one else to join. And Then, of course, then came Sony and changed the game. "

While 30-something (and up) players remember these times, it 's seem odd to be considered for younger players that this was ever the case.

"I think part of the problem is that we don 't have celebrities \," says Corless. "We don 't have Brad Pitt, Robbie Williams, the one'. S why we play so much Sonic: Sonic and Mario got you 've only two of the most recognizable characters in the video gaming world ".

The relative lack of newspaper exposure hasn 't hurt the economy, and it' s certainly more mainstream and acceptable - and highly lucrative as a commercial model.

"In the beginning, when I went to dinner with some friends, would do with those children and says" video games? I make sure they play don 't. 'Now it' s 'So what' s the next thing? Do I have to wait one or 3DS? '. If you see that Call of Duty is 2010 's best-selling piece of media, then it' s avatar, then it 's Fifa. For the first three are two video games. The largest disc is nowhere near in terms of volume, let alone sales. "

In order to answer these friends 'questions or predict where Sonic will be in another 20 years, both David and Mike are happy shrug.

"What we want to do in the coming years, Sonic will push" says David. "How do we make Sonic even more relevant for 12 -?., 13-year-olds, but still provide the nostalgia of the older market It 'sa challenge, but definitely a luxury There are very few games IPs where the true"

"Sonic 's applicable to all platforms that' s proven in any case," says Mike. "We 've had have the great success of Apple, PSN, XBLA, all traditional platforms, hand-held and based TV. We take Sonic into a freemium model for a different audience? We have to think how Sonic is more episodic on a tablet, for example, I have no idea - that 's the interesting thing - but I think Sonic will do it because it' s as a symbol ".

• Generations Sonic and Mario & Sonic at London 2012: Sonic the Hedgehog is appearing in two games released in 2012.