According to Wedbush Morgan Securities, anyway.
Coming from Joystiq via SegaNerds comes word that despite most Sonic games receiving luke-warm critical reception, the franchise is still one of Sega’s biggest money makers. In their list of the top 30 most profitable game brands, Wedbush Morgan Securities puts Sonic the Hedgehog just barely out of the top ten at #11, beating out other franchises like Gears of War, Pokemon, Warcraft and Final Fantasy. Not only that, but Sonic is the only Sega property to make the top 30.
All told, Sonic made $168 million last year according to Wedbush Morgan, primarily thanks to the sales of Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games and Sonic Unleashed. The full list is as follows:
1. Guitar Hero (Activision Blizzard) $992 million
2. Mario Brothers (Nintendo) $761 million
3. Rock Band (Electronic Arts) $662 million
4. Call Of Duty (Activision Blizzard) $446 million
5. Wii Fit (Nintendo) $407 million
6. Grand Theft Auto (Take-Two Interactive) $361 million
7. Madden Football (Electronic Arts) $312 million
8. Wii Play (Nintendo) $261 million
9. LEGO (LucasArts) $224 million
10. Star Wars (LucasArts) $180 million
11. Sonic (Sega) $163 million
12. Gears Of War (Microsoft) $146 million
13. The Sims (Electronic Arts) $143 million
14. Tom Clancy (Ubisoft) $130 million
15. Pokemon (Nintendo) $119 million
16. Need For Speed (Electronic Arts) $106 million
17. Warcraft (Activision Blizzard) $104 million
18. WWE (THQ) $103 million
19. Fallout (Bethesda Softworks) $100 million
20. NCAA Football (Electronic Arts) $94 million
21. Tiger Woods (Electronic Arts) $89 million
22. FIFA (Electronic Arts) $79 million
23. Imagine (Ubisoft) $78 million
24. Final Fantasy (Square Enix) $78 million
25. Dance Dance Revolution (Konami) $78 million
26. Metal Gear Solid (Konami) $77 million
27. Fable (Microsoft) $77 million
28. NBA Live (Electronic Arts) $71 million
29. Mortal Kombat (Midway Games) $70 million
30. Petz (Ubisoft) $70 million
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Wow, I’m surprised to see the Sonic series sells more than Pokemon!
I’m also NOT surprised to see Guitar Hero beat out Mario Bros. Activision-Blizzard are a bunch of money whores. All GH games are the same. And don’t give me “they added new instruments to GHWT!” or “They all have new songs!” because every Guitar Hero game has had “Eye of the Tiger” in every damn one!
*Rant over.*
^I don’t think GH3 has Eye of the Tiger. Unless it’s downloadable content, or I missed it. Otherwise, I’ve never seen it.
No surprise seeing Guitar Hero up there. It’s a good game to play with friends. I’m actually surprised to see Sonic beating out Pokemon, but I’m also glad as well even tho they’re my two favourite franchises.
awsome!
Impressive, I say!
One thing I was thinking this days…
Maybe the last Sonic games aren’t that great, maybe it had a bad transition to 3D when compared to Mario. But I can’t see as many tv series and comics about Mario as I see about Sonic! I think that for this other merchandise the Sonic brand should be still more profitable than the rest.
Way to go, Sonic!
the only game (may actully be a series) that annoys me is The olimpic ones! They sell an awful lot ok, this is fine, but its just some gay, crappy Wii game! Like the rest of them! Nah but Nintys E3 in this new GamesMasters mag is promasing! (Hopefully) I know somebody who may be happy this year!!! ME!!! (Cristmas btw)
Sonic > Pokemon = win.
i`m not sure though, but as far as i know about SEGA and Sonic…. I don`t think we`ll ever get a “Just 2D simple speedy Sonic game” because they probabliy can`t be arsed to make simply loads of levels…
and why dosen`t SEGA just listen? no offence but i think companys like ninty are better cause they give the public “decint” games! And SEGA… just makes mostliy stupid retarded ideas….. WEREHOG!!!!! I don`t want it back ever! Only in sports or quick crap games like that on Wii.
point is…. the faster sonic gets in his games….. the more retarded his games will get, plus he just feels like a gay racer now….. he`s just getting too fast! Ruins the whole game series!
SEGA… make aleast a great Sonic game with not just Sonic being fast, but Tails and Knuckles too with real platforming!!!!!!! Like back then….. then watch your sales roar…
http://blogs.ign.com/SEGA_SonicUnleashed/
remember this?
Blue Blur: Watch sales roar? They’re already dang high, you’re just whining because they’re being successful without doing what you want them to do.
Leonardo: …You obviously haven’t seen much, then. Mario has had the same amount of TV shows and comics, if not more.
Wow, not only did Sonic beat out Pokemon, he beat Final Fantasy, Call of Duty, and Fallout. I’m fucking pissed to see Guitar Hero, Rock Band, Wii Fit, and Wii Play on this list though. Also, how the fuck did the PETZ brand get on here, but not Smash, Metroid, Zelda or Halo?
nice!
Haha, its probably because us lot keep buying all the new Sonic games in the hope that it’ll be his “return to form”! But its still good to see that he’s still profitable, since that guarantees a few more years untill Sega finally decide to pull the plug on him. (hopefully, by then he WILL have made a return to being a good series and will live on like Mario)
Hehe, nice Sonic.
alright! way to go sonic!
@blueblur
Were you aware that the whole point of sonic is speed. thats what sega had in mind when they created him to beat mario, but if you really want a very good 2D sonic game thats simple platforming go buy something called sonic rush for the nintendo DS or since you dont like a fast sonic then buy sonic rivals its true 3D and its simple platforming and slow.
but it really pisses me off to see
GTGay
Gaytar Queero
Rock Band(the nickname I had for it would probably get this comment deleted)
Wii Gay
Call of Duty
Friggin star wars
friggin legos
and wii fit
in the top 10.
as much as I play guitar hero and rock band I dont think they should be in the top 10.
I am glad to see sonic beat Queers of Whore.
but it just shows that our gaming community has become corrupt whenever sonic and pokemon dont make it in the top then.
Honestly thats what this should be the top 3 should have been 1.mario,2.pokemon and 3.Sonic
I dont really care though. as long as its sonic I’ll buy it and with the exception of 3D blast on the genesis and Wii unleashed… I’ll love it. yes. I actually liked 06 and unleashed. they are my 2 favorite video games. and I also love the werehog.
Wow, Sonic beat out Pokemon, Final Fantasy, Call of Duty, Fallout, Need For Speed, and Mortal Kombat.
Like my name.
Sonic for the Win!
Holy crap Sonic finally beaten Pokemon ? I thought I`d never see it happen …
You know I think I actually once skipped my sonic obsession for pokemon for awhile, but I was 8
blueblur : I`m glad you agree with me about Sonic Unleashed sequel idea but SEGA doesn`t listen to the fans …
WWOOO 0w0 sonic impressive!
More than Pokemon and Final Fantasy? Something must be off key.
This list fails in so many ways. Lack of real games. Too much shit games that were cheaply made games for people who fucking suck, and don’t know a good game if it killed them. Take off stuff like the Wii series, Guitar Hero, Rock Band, Legos, Petz, and sports games, and I won’t be so pissed off. None of those are real games. How I fucking hate this world.
@SLJCOAAATR / Soul:
This is not a list for the most fun games. This is a list for the games which made the most money for their parent company. Quality and profit are not the same thing, unfortunately.
I know that. I was expressing my loathe at how such crap ass games manage to be so profitable. Hell, with people these days, I could make a game where you just watch a pinwheel spin, and end up being the richest person alive. /:
Mortal Kombat sold more units then Street fighter and Tekken?