Google Play Store's Twitter/X Account Goes on a Bizarre Sonic Rambling Spree, Leaving Even Sonic Himself to Question What's Going On

[The DOMinator]

Something I spotted over the weekend, chuckled at, and then forgot about until seeing @Maple Syrup's recent status update regarding it. Not surprised that it wasn't reported here, as it's not really anything newsworthy, but still funny nonetheless, especially if you're a Sonic fan. So, it all began when the Google Play Store's Twitter/X account announced the beginning of a thread:

An odd idea, especially regarding who posted it, but nothing much yet.

So up went the first post. As you can see at the bottom, it was flagged for being slightly incorrect, as Tails wasn't in the original release of Sonic 1 on the Sega Genesis/Mega Drive, only having been added in the mobile remaster. There's also the fact that it mentioned how the titular game was "8-bit GLORY," despite it being 16-bit. But these can all be waved off as simple errors. So far, it checks out.

Then came the second, and the mistake here was a bit more obvious. That's simply not a Sonic design from 1993. That's clearly the Sonic Boom design, which debuted in 2014. The image itself is specifically a screenshot from an episode of the Sonic Boom cartoon. What makes this even funnier is how the post calls Sonic "short king." Out of all the Sonic designs that could be called short, they chose one of the tallest iterations. Even funnier is how the long limbs in particular was one of the many aspects of the redesign that were condemned by fans back when it was revealed. Regardless, the note on the bottom waves off the error, stating how it could've been contributed to Google Play confusing Sonic Boom with the song, Sonic Boom, from Sonic CD, a game that actually came out in 1993. So whatever. Whoever posted this was possibly misinformed or got confused. It happens to the best of us.

Then came the third one, which became even harder to reason for its "mistake." It says how the Sonic in the image is of the hedgehog back in 1996. Clearly though, that's the movie design (well, the redesign anyways), which debuted in 2020. To get into the specifics once again, the aforementioned image is a screenshot from Sonic Dash, as the note on the bottom makes mention of. Furthermore, it lists some actual Sonic games from 1996, which Google Play could've sourced from, but didn't. Although the previous ones could be excused for simple errors, this one is straight up mislabeling. In addition to this, we have a bit more of a random comment added, which says "Are those the MSCHF boots?" It's obviously bringing into question Movie Sonic's unique pair of sneakers that are a tad bit different from Sonic's usual ones. Just in case you were asking what MSCHF meant, it's a company that, amongst other things, makes sneakers and boots. So, what we have is an inconsistent match up of image and context, with some added randomness to it. At least it's just three of these though, right?

In comes the fourth reply. Once again, the image and context don't match up with each other. This is not an image of Sonic from 2003, but rather from 2012's Sonic Jump remake. Once again, the note on the bottom lists some examples of 2003 Sonic games that could've been used for the thread, aside from making the correction. Furthermore, Google Play makes another comment, jokingly posing the question, "Who needs running at the speed of light when you can hitchhike?" Hitchhike? Where'd it get that idea from? Whatever, another random Sonic themed post from Google Play. That's it right? No more inconsistent thread posts? Nope! Here's another one:

Second verse, same as the first. It says "2006 Sonic" when there's clearly a screenshot of Sonic Forces: Speed Battle from 2017 attached. Also, "He goes 3d again"? And yes, before you ask, there's more.

Now we're on our sixth reply. How many are there? What's the purpose of this? Here we have what's apparently "2018 Sonic." Say it with me now. That's not Sonic from 2018. That's Sonic from Sonic 1, back in 1991. Of course Sonic looks weirdly like 90's Sonic, Google Play! At least I can grasp on straws with this one and come to Google Play's defense, even though what I'm about to say more than likely wasn't going through their mind(s). There was a rerelease of Sonic 1 released in 2018: Sega Mega Drive Classic Collection/Sega Genesis Classic, released on PS4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch. So at least that one isn't as incorrect as the others.

This one too is also not completely wrong, being way more understandable than that last bit of stretching the truth I was doing.  Here's "2020 Sonic." Yes, that's Sonic's movie design that debuted in 2020. But that's the keyword: debuted. The image on display here is of a still from the second Sonic movie, released in 2022. So close Google Play. You were this close. This close.

We're finally on the last one, people! The end of Google Play's Sonic ramblings (and likewise my own soon). Here's "2022 Sonic." Just like the last one though, it's a hair off from being completely correct, as the note states on the bottom. Although it's an image of Sonic from Sonic Prime, which debuted in 2022, it's a still from season 3, which came out this year (2024). But in comparison to everything else, this and "2020 Sonic" can be excused. It's not even really simple mistakes. Someone could easily have been referring to either design, and grabbed an image from a later appearance, disregarding the specifics of it all. So, you may very well just consider this being picky. You may even say this checks out, but not quite. If you haven't noticed already, New Yoke City Big is looking a bit wacky over there to the left. There's also some missing characters on both sides of Sonic; here's the original image for comparison:

But whatever, we're done. That's it, no more wacky Google Play Store Sonic thread.

And there you have it. That's what Google Play was up to over the weekend. Despite the Sonic-nerd-like rant I went into, over assessing what were possibly simple mistakes, courtesy of some unknowing individual who means well, this was all admittedly quite amusing. And obviously, I wasn't the only one, in regards to both correcting Google Play's errors and laughing at such an odd ball thing. As many have suggested, this could very well have been AI's doing, having possibly been enlisted by Google to write the thread. Of course, as others have theorized, this could've just been some clever engaging/attention bait on Google's part. I mean, what better way to stir the pot than to incite Sonic fans with an entire thread of misinformation? I mean, every single post got a community note stuck to it. So, if that was the case, then it did its job well with flying colors. And with that, I shall leave you with what was the official Sonic Twitter/X account's response: 

Tell me what you think of this mess.

[Maple Syrup]

For some reason, I can't access Twitter at my house, but this madness is crazy! Wrong facts also?! To quote the Sonic the Hedgehog twitter account, "what are you doing"

[TitansCreed]

I'm always highly entertained at official social media brands trying their hardest to hit relevance by chasing popular topics.

I saw it originally cause Dread retweeted it, chuckled, moved on with my life.

[Rabid-Coot]

Intentionally getting everything wrong is a good way to drive engagement.

[Rabbitearsblog]

Wow....this was weird....

[SupahBerry]

That account could make a thread like this for Mario and it'd basically be:

 

Good thing Nintendo's moving on from the mobile scene

[A super No.1 washedupgamer]

Go home google play, you're drunk.

[Polkadi~☆]

[CrownSlayers Shadow]

Brah, the Community Notes are really in they ass on this. Shit’s hilarious!

[ShadowForever]

CRAZY

And so funny

[MGA_Gamer]

If somebody told me this thread was AI generated, I'd believe them.

What were they thinking?!

[Knight Terror]

30 minutes ago, MGA_Gamer said:

If somebody told me this thread was AI generated, I'd believe them.

What were they thinking?!

They weren't

[Maple Syrup]

Like "1996 Sonic" is just Movie Sonic in the Emerald City! Where are they even going?

[niaco]

 

[Ryannumber1gamer]

I’d say this gives off serious “okay boomer” energy except I’m 99.9% sure this was written by a AI.

[Knight Terror]

4 hours ago, niaco said:

 

Please help

3 hours ago, Ryannumber1gamer said:

I’d say this gives off serious “okay boomer” energy except I’m 99.9% sure this was written by a AI.

Or google is just trolling

[GeAr-DX]

There is no way that ain't AI.

[Agie]

Sonic's response is what we were all thinking. What possessed Google to do this? It was probably AI, since that has to be corrected constantly, but still...

[Lorekitten]

I read a comment stating that if this thread is any indication, AI poses no threat to humanity whatsoever.

[Agie]

2 minutes ago, Lorekitten said:

I read a comment stating that if this thread is any indication, AI poses no threat to humanity whatsoever.

They may say that, but some people I follow always note that this is the worst this technology is ever going to get; it will only improve over time.

Edited May 1 by Agie

[Shiny Gems]

Okay, whose bright idea was it to use AI to talk about the Sonic series like that? I don't know how that even came to be, but I must say, that ain't bright!

[Scritch the Cat]

On 5/1/2024 at 8:40 AM, Agie said:

They may say that, but some people I follow always note that this is the worst this technology is ever going to get; it will only improve over time.

Yeah, this exactly.  AI is going to keep advancing so long as businesses seek new excuses not to pay people money, and it looks like they will.  Probably the only sure way to stop the alarming growth of AI is to repeal minimum wage laws and institute universal basic income to make up the difference, because if that isn't done, human employees will only get less and less desirable to employers.

Also, I think people who are skeptical of claims that AI will threaten humanity are assuming those claims entail things like Terminator or The Matrix.  I don't think scenarios like that are likely.  But something like Wall-E, I could definitely see happening.

As to what this weird X chain is, I'd normally assume it's a troll being intentionally wrong to provoke reactions, but some of the grammar would point more towards AI.

Edited May 7 by Scritch the Cat