SEGA

The SEGA Corporation, pronounced /ˈseɪɡə/ (US/Canada/UK/New Zealand/Australia) and usually styled as SEGA, is a Japanese multinational video game developer, publisher, and hardware development company headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, with multiple offices around the world. SEGA developed and manufactured numerous home video game consoles from 1983 to 2001, but the financial losses incurred from their Dreamcast console caused the company to restructure itself in 2001, and focus on providing software as a third-party developer, exiting console manufacturing completely. However, arcade development would continue unaffected. SEGA, along with their many software studios, are known for multi-million-selling game franchises including Sonic The Hedgehog, Virtua Fighter, Phantasy Star, Yakuza and Total War.

Influence in the McLeodGaming media
As its most successful and popular franchise, SEGA's Sonic the Hedgehog series is the most notable property from the aforementioned video game company to appear in McLeodGaming-related media. For instance, in A Super Mario World: the series protagonist, Sonic the Hedgehog and his friendly rival, Knuckles the Echidna appear as antagonists taking the role of Bowser's castle guardians. Sonic's nemesis, Doctor Eggman, also appeared in the series, yet with a minor but significant role.

The Sonic series were expanded when the original Super Smash Flash was released. With five out of the twenty-eight playable characters hailing from these series, it easily outnumbers every series represented, even Nintendo's Super Mario and The Legend of Zelda series; these characters are:, , , and. It was also the only third-party originated series to gain a stage. The reboot Super Smash Flash 2, saw the return of and  as playable characters (with Super Sonic transioning as Sonic's Final Smash), aside new stages from the series. Knuckles and Shadow were, at one point, expected to return, but as the original roster was revamped, they have yet to be confirmed again. SSF2 also saw the first inclusion of a SEGA franchise that is not Sonic: Samba de Amigo, with the main character, Amigo, appearing as one of the several summon-able Assist Trophy characters, but removed in Beta.