When you think about potential mascots for Sony, there are a ton of candidates, from Sackboy to Astro Bot to Ratchet & Clank. However, in Japan, one character rules over all the others, and it's possibly one you've never heard of.

Toro Inoue, or "Sony Cat" is a small anthropomorphized cat who first appeared in 1999 in the Pocket-Station-compatible PlayStation 1 game Doko Demo Issho, where the goal was basically to give it food and teach it new phrases (sort of like a virtual pet/companion). It later went on to appear in two expansions for the original PlayStation, as well as further games for the PlayStation 2, PlayStation Portable, PlayStation 3, and mobile phones. Though, barely any of these ever made it outside Japan.

As a result, unless you're a diehard Toro-stan, you're probably only familiar with it as that bizarre-looking white cat that confusingly turns up in both Street Fighter X Tekken and PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale, or as a downloadable costume for LittleBigPlanet.

A recent (last month, so we're a little late) video from the YouTuber Dodgy Kebaab, however, takes a much closer look at the character and its mainline games (as well as some of its occasional guest appearances). The video includes plenty of original footage of Toro's many games, as well as information on each entry and what makes them unique.

It's over forty minutes long but it is a great watch if you want to learn more about the overlooked character and how it became Sony's official mascot in Japan. So grab a drink of choice and be sure to settle in comfortably before you hit play!

[source youtu.be]