Sonic the Hedgehog's Game-Play Hours - 1, 2, & 3

Coffee Beans:
     Sonic the Hedgehog(Sonic 1) was originally released on the Sega Genesis in 1991(June 23, I believe).  Sonic the Hedgehog was re-released through Nintendo's Virtual Console on November 19, 2006.  It was one of the first games available on the service, and is still available for download for just 800 Wii Points.
     Sonic the Hedgehog 2(Sonic 2) was originally released for the Sega Genesis on November 24, 1992.  It was re-released through the Virtual Console on June 11, 2007, and is still available to download for 800 Wii Points.
     Sonic the Hedgehog 3(Sonic 3) was originally released for the Sega Genesis on February 2, 1994.  Sonic 3 was re-released on the Virtual Console on September 10, 2007; and like Sonic 1 and Sonic 2, it is still available for download for 800 Wii Points.

     The game-play data shown below is based on each Sonic game's information provided on the Wii's Nintendo Channel.
     Sonic 1's game-play data reflects 1,416 days of reporting.
     Sonic 2's game-play data reflects 1,212 days of reporting.
     Sonic 3's game-play data reflects 1,121 days of reporting.

So, how much have Wii owners been playing the 2D Sonic games?  Let's take a look...

Click image to enlarge

Approx. Number of Players Reporting Data:
     Sonic the Hedgehog has 95,723 players reporting their game-play data through the Wii's Nintendo Channel.
     Sonic the Hedgehog 2 has 58,437 players reporting play-time data.
     Sonic the Hedgehog 3 has 53,792 players reporting their game-play hours.

Sales Info:
     Sonic 1, 2, and 3 can all be purchased/downloaded for 800 Wii Points, which is the equivalent of $8.  Based on the approximate number of players reporting data for each game, and the cost of each game, here is how much each Sonic game has made from Virtual Console downloads, and the overall total:
   Sonic 1 - $765,784
   Sonic 2 - $467,496
+ Sonic 3 - $430,336
               $1,663,616


     The total "profit" for all three games is definitely not bad, especially when considering the low cost of porting them to the Virtual Console.  Now, from what I understand of the profits on the Virtual Console, Sega would split the total amount with Nintendo, by a certain percentage.  I have heard it's around a 70-30 split, but I'm not sure how accurate that is.  If that is accurate, that would mean Sega keeps 70% of the total, and Nintendo would get 30%.
     Assuming the numbers are accurate, here is how much Sega and Nintendo have made:

• Sega - $1,164,531.20 at 70%
• Nintendo - $499,084.80 at 30%

Thoughts:

     If you're wondering, "Why look at the Sonic data?"  Well, if you don't know or perhaps have forgotten, today(October 11), Sonic the Hedgehog 4 - Episode I is releasing on the Wii's WiiWare service!  You will be able to download it for 1500 Wii Points($15).

     If you haven't seen any game-play from Sonic the Hedgehog 4 - Episode I, you can watch the following trailer that shows some game-play:

     I can remember playing Sonic the Hedgehog on my brother's Sega Game Gear, but I have not played and beaten a Sonic game in many, many years.  The last Sonic game I beat was Sonic Adventure on the Dreamcast.  I purchased my Sega Dreamcast the day the system released, on 9-9-99, and Sonic Adventure was the game I purchased with it that day.

     It seems in recent years, the Sonic series has taken a lot of heat, for not being able to get the game-play elements correct, or adding features that feel unnecessary.  I personally can't speak for any of the recent Sonic games though, as I don't own any of them.

     I think the game-play data for the Virtual Console Sonic games is good, but not as high as I expected them to be; especially Sonic 1 since it has been available on the Virtual Console to download since the Wii released.  I think it will be interesting to see how Sonic the Hedgehog 4 - Episode I is received, and what fans of the Sonic series think about the game.

Questions:

     Are any of you Sonic fans?  If so, do you plan on downloading Sonic the Hedgehog 4 - Episode I on the Wii today, or are you planning to wait for the Xbox 360 or PS3 version?  

     I don't plan on getting it yet, as I have a backlog of games I am currently going through, slowly but surely...and I'm hoping Sega will eventually release all the "Episodes" on a disc.

If you need a Wii Points card, you can see it linked on Amazon.com below: