'Mr Sega Saturn' lives on via amazing T-shirt

See? I wasn't mad. Now I've got pictorial evidence of a T-shirt that someone else has made, telling you exactly what I've been saying for ages. You must play the Sega Saturn. True, it's actually a translation of Segata Sanshiro's famous "Sega Satan shiro!" catchphrase from the '90s Saturn adverts in Japan and therefore a pleasant yet ironic retro throwback, but I don't care, it's validation enough for me. Check it out:

Above: The amazing new T-shirt, alongside its inspiration, Segata Sanshiro

But who is Segata Sanshiro? Segata (played by Hiroshi Fujioka) was a fictional character used to promote the Saturn between 1997 and 1998. Sanshiro itself is a contraction of 'Satan shiro', which means 'you must play Saturn'. Erm, that's not 'Satan' as in horns, by the way, it's actually katakana Japanese for 'Saturn' with an elongated second 'a'. Yes, now you know. Point is, the guy's got his own catchphrase in his name - that is one cool dude.

Sanshiro's adverts were typically OTT, and featured scenes like our hero using nothing but his head to smash a pile of N64 cartridges. 

Above: If ever two images were destined to be turned into an animated gif, it's these

Sadly, Segata got blown up as he deflected a missile away from Sega's headquarters, leaving the company safe to bring Dreamcast to the world. A selfless sacrifice, but one that turned him into a legend. The brightest flames often burn the shortest...

The T-shirts will be available in late August, but you can pre-order them now from this import site. Better hurry though, Saturn was so immensely popular, they're all bound to sell out in one minute flat. Right? Guys? Helloooo...

21 Jul, 2010