The hedgehog’s game quality may not be what it used to be, but one things for sure: his popularity hasn’t abated. According to Wedbush Morgan Securities’ report on the game industry, Sonic the Hedgehog came in at number eleven in a list of the top 30 most profitable brands of 2008. Apparently, these sales are largely attributed to two games: Mario and Sonic at the Olympics, and Sonic Unleashed.

The iconic blue hedgehog came in ahead of Gears of War, and behind Star Wars.

You can catch the full top 30 list over at the source, Sega Nerds.

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34 Responses

ChaosJ says:
2 July, 2009 at 6:15 pm

And the constant bashing by us fans is amzing considering. And look , it beat gears (I like that it did that) it just says something, we may hate sonic games but sonic as a character is an icon and as much as the fanbase may moan he is still gaming greatness

Barry the Nomad says:
2 July, 2009 at 6:27 pm

Must every article on the current Sonic begin with “The hedgehog’s game quality may not be what it used to be…”?
It’s opinion, not fact.

ProjectZuel says:
2 July, 2009 at 7:05 pm

Even if Sonic’s games decline in quality is position as a gaming icon……….no, a icon in general will not deminish. I don’t like that it beat Gears because Gears 2 was a great game despite its somewhat questionable lag in some online games.

Azukara says:
2 July, 2009 at 8:24 pm

HA! Take that, generic online FPS!

Humble Fellow says:
2 July, 2009 at 9:08 pm

I don’t know… Somehow I’ve got this funny feeling that the next game’s going to be fantastic…

SuperSonic7 says:
2 July, 2009 at 10:05 pm

Ya! I knew Sonic could do it! And, actually Humble Fellow, I have the exact same feelings for his next game. ☆

DarkShadow says:
2 July, 2009 at 10:08 pm

Knowing how strong the sales of Mario and Sonic were, is anyone really surprised?

Stephen says:
2 July, 2009 at 10:20 pm

That must feel like a kick in the balls to all those gears of war nerds

Angel C. says:
2 July, 2009 at 10:21 pm

Ha! Spindash beats chainsaw guns! 18 years & still running fast and going strong. Woo!

Hudson says:
2 July, 2009 at 10:26 pm

Whoo! Sonic and his games rule!

Brad Flick says:
2 July, 2009 at 11:58 pm

You’re bound to be in that list if you release a fuckton of games a year, regardless of quality. I mean, the “Petz” games are horrible, but it’s in the top 30 because there are a lot of them that sucker in parents and kids.

CTOONfan1 says:
3 July, 2009 at 12:08 am

I’m just happy it made it to the top 20! Let’s hope his next games will be better so he’ll go higher up the list.

Kaoz says:
3 July, 2009 at 5:38 pm

Totally agree with what Barry the Nomad said, It really annoys me whenever theres good news, ‘some’ fans just have to bring the franchise down again.

I say well done to Sega and Sonic Team, especially for getting so high up the list =)

Max Gene says:
3 July, 2009 at 7:36 pm

Darn it Brad, stop bringing logic into this, you’re ruining their argument.

“Yay! 5 games beat 1!”

Brad Flick says:
3 July, 2009 at 8:18 pm

I WAS ONLY TRYING TO HELP AAAAAAAAHHHHHH

;)

Humble Fellow says:
3 July, 2009 at 8:27 pm

@Brad Flick: You can help by not being such a sarcastic criticising git.

nuckles87 says:
3 July, 2009 at 9:25 pm

Actually, Brad, these sales where primarily from two games: Mario and Sonic, which as we all know sold the bulk of it’s 5 million copies in 2008, and Sonic Unleashed.

Yes, Nomad, I know it’s opinion. I loved Unleashed and Chronicles. I’m just going with the general consensus on TSS.

Jix Hedgehog says:
4 July, 2009 at 12:42 am

Thank god for the casual gamer :) Now get off Mario Kart and Brawl

Brad Flick says:
4 July, 2009 at 3:05 am

“@Brad Flick: You can help by not being such a sarcastic criticising git.”

Help WHAT, exactly? Sales?

Sometimes, you guys amuse me so much.

Barry the nomad says:
4 July, 2009 at 5:47 am

I get where your coming from regarding the general consencus, but I also think that the general TSS community would agree that Unleashed was a step up from 06. Thus being a rise In quality. In any case, np, I’m just glad TSS has a comments section for discussion.

Edwin Shy says:
4 July, 2009 at 8:06 am

Sonic finally beats Pokemon I thought it would happen one day :)

Humble Fellow says:
4 July, 2009 at 8:10 am

@Brad Flick: Help the fanbase actually. All you seem to do is bring everyone down. I even heard something about you sending an e-mail to Sega saying “Dear Sega, &@%£ you.”

Blash says:
4 July, 2009 at 9:54 am

@Humble Fellow: Nah, that was what he wrote in an article regarding the reveal of Sonic and the Black Knight. He never sent a letter to SEGA like that. Well, as far as we know at least.

DarkShadow says:
4 July, 2009 at 10:01 am

^Is everypne ignoring what nuckels87 said? I don’t see how this is turning into a quality of Sonic argument at all (all nowadays I gues s even the most simple of things have to be this vs this). If you actually read the asources most of the sales are atributed to Sonic Unleashed and Mario and Sonic, with the bulk of the sales coming from Mario and Sonic, which if you recall has sold about 13 Million copies (most of which being in 2008). This is common knowledge, so I fail too see what the big deal is.

Humble Fellow says:
4 July, 2009 at 11:02 am

@Blash: I see… But my point still stands. Ol’ Flicky needs to loosen up.

Hawkz says:
4 July, 2009 at 2:15 pm

@ Humble Fellow: Eat some Humble Pie mate, someone doesn’t have the same opinion as you. Stop being a White Knight, if you are under the impression Brad drills the community, you’re wrong; it’s people like you who flock toward his comments and think they are being the hero that makes us look bad. Take a long hard look at the current situation we find ourselves in. Sorry to say it champ, but our icon is up shit creek at the moment. We may like the character, but face some facts mate, an improvement over diarrhea to solid shit isn’t an improvement to tout as revolutionary.

As for the Sonic Sales, Sonic didn’t beat Gears because it was better, Sega released two games where as Epic only released one. Epic’s one game came so close to taking out Sonic’s two games. End of the day, one game vs one game, Gears takes out Sonic. And M&S has the advantage of appealing to a wider demographic.

Humble Fellow says:
4 July, 2009 at 5:08 pm

@Hawkz: I wouldn’t say shit creek. Unleashed was exellent imo. Black Knight on the other hand can rot in hell.

As for the case of Brad Flick, I know he has his own opinions too, but what’s the point of listening to someone without voicing your own opinions?

That’s exactly what these comment boxes are for, discussion. And I’d like to do that without it degenerating into a flame war thank you very much.

And just for the record, I wasn’t flaming Brad, I was stating an observation.

Brad Flick says:
4 July, 2009 at 6:20 pm

I never sent a letter to SEGA. That’s fuckin’ preposterous… and laughable. XD

And Humble, you were trying to be the next kid in line to try and take me down. You were flaming me. Don’t kid yourself. Here’s the thing about trying to do that though… it doesn’t work.

Humble Fellow says:
4 July, 2009 at 7:28 pm

@Brad Flick: No I wasn’t! At least not intentionally. So if I’ve insulted you, I apologise.

Eggman123 says:
5 July, 2009 at 2:58 pm

nothing new here
the good message here is sega will never stop making hedgehog games if it goes further like this

sonictoast says:
5 July, 2009 at 5:27 pm

So Sonic got 11th place and Mario got 2nd… Was Smash Bros. Brawl counted towards either of their scores? Just wondering. I’ll bet if Brawl was counted towards Sonic’s score he would have been 10th or 9th.

Did Olympic Games count towards Mario too or only Sonic?

Jim says:
5 July, 2009 at 9:09 pm

Good for you Sonic! I felt Unleashed was a great step in the right direction. Here’s to more successful years to come!

Golden~Hedgy says:
8 July, 2009 at 7:55 pm

I agree with Barry The Nomad… the first sentence is an opinion.
No need to bring down the franchise like that.

To me… the Sonic series has been going strong still.
I’m glad these sales are happening. Gears of War sucked anyway. It didn’t fit my taste.

I’m glad that Sega and Sonic Team made it.

STULF the 20X6 Hedgedog says:
16 July, 2009 at 9:09 am

Facts are facts, I will agree with that. I do think, in my opinion, that this should be celebratory. Brad is right, but look at this with a little light.