Sega

Sega or "Service Games of Japan" as its otherwise known was formed in 1952, when they produced Coin-Op machines for U.S military units stationed in Japan.

Sega have produced some of the best consoles on the market over the years including the following:

Master System
Master System II
Megadrive (released in USA as "Genesis")
Megadrive II
Game Gear
Saturn
Dreamcast

Sega's mascot, the fantastic Sonic the Hedgehog was created as the result of an internal design competition within Sega in 1990. The winner was Maoto Oshima and came up with the famous blue hedgehog by crossing Mickey Mouse with Felix the Cat. Another entrant in the competition created a fat bloke character who became Sonic's archenemy Dr. Robotnic.