Sonic The Hedgehog - A Little Ball of Energy in an Extremely Handsome Package

[Berto]

Sounds like SpongeBob and TMNT coming to Sonic Racing CrossWorlds





https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5bCW0_6jg_c

The person who leaked screenshots and the title Sonic Racing CrossWorlds is back and this time they are promising the inclusion of both the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and SpongeBob Squarepants. While it does sound like an odd inclusion, SEGA does have a healthy business relationship with Paramount. Sonic Racing CrossWorlds is ...

Article: https://mynintendonews.com/2025/06/01/sounds-like-spongebob-and-tmnt-coming-to-sonic-racing-crossworlds/

[Berto]

Nope, never played it. My phone is a bit old. It has Sonic Dash and MLP:FiM game, but that's it.

I feel sad that this game was kinda ignored by fans.
They say they hate free to play micro transactions and online requirement, but when SEGA and Gameloft released this game like a full console release (no online requirement and no micro transactions), no one pays attention.
It's also cheap, only $2.99.
No wonder SEGA is back to F2P again.

[Mystic Monkey]

I feel sad that this game was kinda ignored by fans.
They say they hate free to play micro transactions and online requirement, but when SEGA and Gameloft released this game like a full console release (no online requirement and no micro transactions), no one pays attention.
It's also cheap, only $2.99.
No wonder SEGA is back to F2P again.

Oh wait... I remember Sonic Runners Adventure now, it's all coming back to me! I never played it because I didn't want to.

While yes, Sonic Runners was a freemium game, people still put the effort in partaking in the various events and earning various characters to play as. They spent real-life money on red star rings which went into buying more exclusive content.

Then Sonic Team announced Sonic Runners is shutting down. Thus, all that time, effort and money spent on the game... gone. With nothing to show for it.
While there were complaints about it, Sonic Team got off scot-free due to terms of services bullshit.

Then Sonic Team released "Sonic Runners Adventure" which not only had the balls for a price tag, but neither had nor allow any of the content players had in Sonic Runners to be ported over.

The reason why no one paid attention to was it was not because of lack of freemium jingles, but because it was a clean slate! Why the f**k close down Sonic Runners only to start again with Sonic Runners Adventure?
The answer is simple. To market the same shit to us again.

And the thing is, Sonic mobile games are still doing this to a degree. Sonic Speed Simulator has characters dressed up as pirates, pop stars or gold style, costumes that have little to no relevance or reasons from mainstream Sonic games. But these costumed characters end up in Speed Battle and now they're in Sonic Rumble, because giving a character some cosplay and calling it an event is enough to get players to put time, effort and money into it.

Because at the board meetings, "time" players spend having fun on their mobile games is just as an important factor (or at least second to) as "money" to them.

Sonic Team: "Look at how many hours this one player put into Sonic Speed Simulator!"
That one player: *Has to destroy 600 badniks from a specific zone where they have high hit-endurance, just to get half-way in earning a skin*

[Berto]

Oh wait... I remember Sonic Runners Adventure now, it's all coming back to me! I never played it because I didn't want to.

While yes, Sonic Runners was a freemium game, people still put the effort in partaking in the various events and earning various characters to play as. They spent real-life money on red star rings which went into buying more exclusive content.

Then Sonic Team announced Sonic Runners is shutting down. Thus, all that time, effort and money spent on the game... gone. With nothing to show for it.
While there were complaints about it, Sonic Team got off scot-free due to terms of services bullshit.

Then Sonic Team released "Sonic Runners Adventure" which not only had the balls for a price tag, but neither had nor allow any of the content players had in Sonic Runners to be ported over.

It's not Sonic Team, it's Gameloft.
And since it's a third party, they can't release it for free, plus they had to share their profit to SEGA too.
$2.99 is fair price.
SEGA themselves doesn't want to ressurect Sonic Runners again
It's not gaining them profit so they got to move their resources to something else in order not to lose any more money.

The reason why no one paid attention to was it was not because of lack of freemium jingles, but because why the f**k close down Sonic Runners only to start again with Sonic Runners Adventure?
The answer is simple. To market the same shit to us again.

No, the reason is not that simple. Keeping the game online costs money.
That's why it's ending its service in order to not lose any more money.
Every mobile games with online function is like this. Every one of them.
Sonic Runners is no exception.

And the thing is, Sonic mobile games are still doing this to a degree. Sonic Speed Simulator has characters dressed up as pirates, pop stars or gold style, costumes that have little to no relevance or reasons from mainstream Sonic games. But these costumed characters end up in Speed Battle and now they're in Sonic Rumble, because giving a character some cosplay and calling it an event is enough to get players to put time, effort and money into it.

Because at the board meetings, "time" players spend having fun on their mobile games is just as an important factor (or at least second to) as "money" to them.

Sonic Team: "Look at how many hours this one player put into Sonic Speed Simulator!"
That one player: *Has to destroy 600 badniks from a specific zone where they have high hit-endurance, just to get half-way in earning a skin*

That's the nature of F2P games. And if it works, then it works.
See the top 10 games on mobile, they are all F2P games.
Either you waste your time or your money.

[Mystic Monkey]

No, the reason is not that simple. Keeping the game online costs money.
That's why it's ending its service in order to not lose any more money.
Every mobile games with online function is like this. Every one of them.
Sonic Runners is no exception.

"We can't afford to keep Sonic Runners going!"
...
"Sonic Runners Adventure anyone?"

That's the nature of F2P games. And if it works, then it works.
See the top 10 games on mobile, they are all F2P games.
Either you waste your time or your money.

Just because it's successful, doesn't mean it's moral.

Video games you purchase have the "market life" for about a year or two, but at least it's top quality and not trying to make you buy anything given the game has all the content. The very least the company may sell you DLCs which may extend the market life, but quality is expected from these DLCs.

Freemium games have a much longer "market life" but at a cost at not being a "full game". It will have enough content to be passable as a '90s game but they will provide mediocre content every week or fortnight in order to entice players to stay.
Not saying all mobile or freemium games are bad, but they're simply not as good or as quality as actual video games. The "popularity" of freemium games is more over how long the developers can keep the players attention for over whenever the player genuinely likes the game or not.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zqk9V0fBl7w

[Berto]

"We can't afford to keep Sonic Runners going!"
...
"Sonic Runners Adventure anyone?"

I thought it was clear. The first one requires money and resources to keep the online server alive, and the sales from the game is not enough to cover it.
The later doesn't need a dedicated server. Just release once and be done with it.

I would instantly buy if SEGA released offline version of SEGA Heroes or Idola Phantasy Star Saga.
Not just for $2.99, but for full price console game, $40.
The gameplay is fun and the story is entertaining. That's what matters.

Just because it's successful, doesn't mean it's moral.

Video games you purchase have the "market life" for about a year or two, but at least it's top quality and not trying to make you buy anything given the game has all the content. The very least the company may sell you DLCs which may extend the market life, but quality is expected from these DLCs.

Freemium games have a much longer "market life" but at a cost at not being a "full game". It will have enough content to be passable as a '90s game but they will provide mediocre content every week or fortnight in order to entice players to stay.
Not saying all mobile or freemium games are bad, but they're simply not as good or as quality as actual video games. The "popularity" of freemium games is more over how long the developers can keep the players attention for over whenever the player genuinely likes the game or not.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zqk9V0fBl7w

It's not moral.
Game companies is just like any other corporation.
Their main business is getting profit as much as they can.
They don't care about moral.

Freemium model's the Bait-and-Switch that works.
First, anyone could play it because it's free.
But later when they had spent too much time in the game, the urge to spend money will come.
And suddenly they spent in freemium items that costs a lot more than just buying a console game.

[Berto]

Tails finally joins Sonic in Melee as a brand new fighter in this new Akaneia Build patch!









https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vmjd1R3a0OU

General
- Adjusted bones on all extra costumes to help avoid desync issues
- New character select portraits for all fighters courtesy of CSProject
- Playlists no longer play in Adventure mode
- Results Screen is now enabled by default

Fighters
- Added King Dedede: King Dedede now presides over Melee!
- Added Tails: Definitely not a dream. Tails joins Sonic in Melee!
- ...

Link: https://github.com/akaneia/akaneia-build/releases

[Mystic Monkey]

I thought it was clear. The first one requires money and resources to keep the online server alive, and the sales from the game is not enough to cover it.
The later doesn't need a dedicated server. Just release once and be done with it.

I would instantly buy if SEGA released offline version of SEGA Heroes or Idola Phantasy Star Saga.
Not just for $2.99, but for full price console game, $40.

I see, so it was a change in servers that were both more dedicated and more easy to manage.
The gameplay is fun and the story is entertaining. That's what matters.





[/quote]But couldn't original Sonic Runners be ported to the new servers and allow customers to keep their earned content? ... Or the very least, allow customers to have their original content ported over to SRA?

It's not moral.
Game companies is just like any other corporation.
Their main business is getting profit as much as they can.
They don't care about moral.

Freemium model's the Bait-and-Switch that works.
First, anyone could play it because it's free.
But later when they had spent too much time in the game, the urge to spend money will come.
And suddenly they spent in freemium items that costs a lot more than just buying a console game.

True. It's just something that can'tbe helped... unless consumers accept that freemium games are not worth it, in which case we're a bit too in the thick of it to pull out.

[Berto]

I see, so it was a change in servers that were both more dedicated and more easy to manage.

They don't need any dedicated server right now since it's an offline game.
Initial launcher submitted into platform holder and save data was saved into google play account / apple ID account.

But couldn't original Sonic Runners be ported to the new servers and allow customers to keep their earned content?

That new server alone is a new problem.
It has to be maintained again then, need a dedicated team for it.
And those team and server need to be paid monthly while customer only paid once and never spent money again.
The game's gonna losing money soon rather than earning money.

... Or the very least, allow customers to have their original content ported over to SRA?

They can't.
Online gaming data is massive and hard to deal with especially if it's taken out from the server.
Back then it's even worse.
Even me back then in Sonic Dash, the currently running one, couldn't restore what I earned when I changed my phone.
They could only restore my red rings, but not all characters I unlocked (only some of them).

True. It's just something that can'tbe helped... unless consumers accept that freemium games are not worth it, in which case we're a bit too in the thick of it to pull out.

It's already a good thing we don't ate their bait. It's a modern "quick dopamine getters" that's hard to escape from.

[Berto]

Sonic Speed Simulator - Extreme Rider Sonic and Amy!

🛹Extreme Rider Update + Eggman Season 9 Fastpass 💥

◉ Extreme Rider Event! Travel to Metal City and Unlock Extreme Rider Sonic and Amy
◉ Fastpass Season 9 FT Eggman theme rewards: Overclocked Metal Sonic, Eggrobo and More!
◉ Golden Egg Wave 13 Golden Egg FT Chrome Style Rouge and Luminosity Jet Skins
◉ SALE UPD! New Riders Skin + Mount Bundles + Gold Mega Bundle + Werehog and Doom Shadow on sale

Link: https://www.roblox.com/games/9049840490/EXTREME-Sonic-Speed-Simulator

[Berto]

Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds – Release Date Revealed, SEGA & Atlus All-Stars Join the Race!













https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kaX1ePcbU6g

During the Summer Game Fest 2025 livestream, SEGA unveiled a brand-new gameplay trailer for Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds, highlighting new racers from across SEGA and Atlus franchises. Familiar faces such as Joker (Persona 5) and Kasuga Ichiban (Like a Dragon) join the race, alongside exciting guest characters like Hatsune Miku and Steve from Minecraft. The trailer also revealed a new Minecraft-inspired track and confirmed that Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds will launch both digitally and physically on September 25, 2025. Pre-orders for ...

Article: https://segabits.com/blog/2025/06/06/sonic-racing-crossworlds-release-date-revealed-sega-atlus-all-stars-join-the-race/

[Mystic Monkey]

They don't need any dedicated server right now since it's an offline game.
Initial launcher submitted into platform holder and save data was saved into google play account / apple ID account.

That new server alone is a new problem.
It has to be maintained again then, need a dedicated team for it.
And those team and server need to be paid monthly while customer only paid once and never spent money again.
The game's gonna losing money soon rather than earning money.

They can't.
Online gaming data is massive and hard to deal with especially if it's taken out from the server.
Back then it's even worse.
Even me back then in Sonic Dash, the currently running one, couldn't restore what I earned when I changed my phone.
They could only restore my red rings, but not all characters I unlocked (only some of them).

It's already a good thing we don't ate their bait. It's a modern "quick dopamine getters" that's hard to escape from.

True. Perhaps SRA is better off a lost cause. And besides, Speed Battles is still a popular mobile game to this date.

Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds – Release Date Revealed, SEGA & Atlus All-Stars Join the Race!













https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kaX1ePcbU6g

Article: https://segabits.com/blog/2025/06/06/sonic-racing-crossworlds-release-date-revealed-sega-atlus-all-stars-join-the-race/

As much as I want Werehog Sonic...  I'll wait until it goes on sale. And even then buy the standard edition. I'd rather choose my DLC characters than just be given ones I'll hardly touch.

[Berto]

True. Perhaps SRA is better off a lost cause. And besides, Speed Battles is still a popular mobile game to this date.

If we are talking about number, Sonic Dash is still SEGA's most downloadable mobile game every month, followed by Forces Mobile.
But if we are talking about money, Sonic mobile games is still way lot more behind Proseka / Hatsune Miku: Colourful Stage.
Both Sonic Dash and Sonic Forces mobile combined earned around $100K to $200K every month while Proseka / Hatsune Miku: Colourful Stage is around $7M to $10M every month.

As much as I want Werehog Sonic...  I'll wait until it goes on sale. And even then buy the standard edition. I'd rather choose my DLC characters than just be given ones I'll hardly touch.

I don't think I'm gonna buy this game day one. I'm still sour for buying Team Sonic Racing day one back then.

[Berto]

Explore the Dream in style - collectible outfits have been added to Sonic Dream Team! ⭐🌙

Unlock character skins for the whole team in the latest update, available now on Apple Arcade.

Source: https://x.com/SEGA/status/1933102038310633620

[Berto]

Sonic Speed Simulator - Extreme Rider Sonic and Amy Trailer!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ouj0ViBfSsM