We've barely recovered from former Sega boss Mike Fischer's character assassination of Sonic co-creator Yuji Naka, in which he was called, among other things, "just a horrible human being" in an interview with Sega-16. But Fischer wasn't done there; he had more specific complaints up his sleeve and revealed a conversation regarding the title of what would become Billy Hatcher and the Giant Egg.
Naka suggested Giant Eggs, but this didn't go over well in the U.S. office, according to Fischer, who says that "to lay a big egg in the U.S. just means a failure." That's why a different name was needed; Sega of America initially suggested Billy Hatcher, but that didn't sit well with Naka, who instead had a remarkable alternative:
"One of the guys on my team said, 'Well, let's call it Billy Hatcher' because it's a hatching game with a cute character. The main character is the boy, not the egg. Of course, Naka-san hated it. We called it Billy Hatcher and the Giant Egg, which he still hated. We at one point - I promise you, I am not making up this story; I have two witnesses! At one point, he visited the U.S. Sometimes, I translated, and sometimes other people translated. He goes, 'Well, I know another name for the boy wearing a rooster suit. Another name for rooster is cock. Can we call the game Giant Cock in English?'"
We doubt the game would have even been released if Naka had got his way, and it would automatically have been rated for adults only. In the end, Naka apparently had to give in, and his Giant Cock wasn't appealing, so the game's final title became Billy Hatcher and the Giant Egg.
