A widespread story on the internet is how Sonic The Hedgehog was originally supposed to be called Mr. Needlemouse before the final name was chosen.
Yuji Naka has recently spoken on the matter and debunked the rumors in their entirety.
As it turns out, the story arose because of a misunderstanding of the Japanese terms.
English speaking fans who translated Naoto Ohshima’s notes, translated the Japanese word to word when that is not how it is meant to be read. In fact, the translation is simply “Mr. Hedgehog”.
Part of the confusion is due to the fact that the Japanese word for hedgehog breaks down into two words,
Needle and Mouse, combined, however, the words translate to the word hedgehog.
Well, that is another internet story debunked.
?According to Naka-san and Okunari-san, the rumored Sonic’s dev code name “Mr. Needlemouse” was a misunderstanding of English speaking fans who translated Ohshima-san’s note “Mr. ?????” word to word by mistake, while it’s supposed to be translated simply as “Mr. Hedgehog”. https://t.co/Rt6xqqhVYv
— ?SonicJPNews? (@SonicJPNews) January 24, 2021
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