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What does "MTC" mean? And what are "MTC1" and "MTC2"? I'm new around here, so would be grateful if someone can explain it to me.

Not really. Sonic and TCOTW are currently in a tight race for the top spot.

Sonic Mania sold over 1 million copies. Which is more than Sonic Forces (which I think was around a half-million), and is very profitable considering its low budget (since Mania is a fan-made game). But that's still nowhere near Mario or Pokemon numbers, with Mario Odyssey and Pokemon Sword/Shield selling over 16 million each. Even frickin' Crash Bandicoot Trilogy sold 10 million. Sonic just isn't in the same league anymore, sales wise. So it's safe to say Sonic just isn't the blockbuster video game franchise that it used to be. Yet at the same time, Sonic has been expanding beyond his core video games, into free-to-play mobile games, cartoon/anime shows, and comic books. That's how a new generation of kids got introduced to Sonic. While much of the mass media and social media kept trashing Sonic for his core games flopping and struggling, they overlooked his success in expanding beyond his core video games.

You guys are greatly under-estimating Sonic's brand power. Sure, most of his games have been struggling for the last two decades. His games barely manage to sell 1 million copies each, which is nothing compared to the 10 million+ that each Mario and Pokemon game sells. So it might give the impression that Sonic is just a has-been who is irrelevant today. But there are plenty of hints that Sonic is still a power-house today. Back in the '90s, Sonic was one of the most widely recognized characters, rivaling Mario and Mickey Mouse. While his brand power has diminished since then, there's always been a large dormant population who still recognize Sonic and have fond nostalgic memories of him from the '90s. And then there's a new generation of kids who have been introduced to Sonic over time in other ways. For example, the Sonic mobile games. Each Sonic mobile game routinely pulls 100 million+ free downloads. Then there's the Sonic cartoons, which have been fairly popular with young kids. And then there's the Sonic comics, which have a cult following. So it was really only a matter of time before the right Sonic product came along to ignite a large dormant Sonic fanbase and Sonic-recognizing general population.

Almost forgot about the Resident Evil movies. But I'm not aware of Capcom being directly involved in their production. In contrast, Sega is directly involved in Sonic's production. Sega's CGI studio Marza Animation Planet is one of the three production companies behind Sonic. That's what I mean about Sega making their entry into the movie industry.

This. Sega has always been the underdog of gaming. They were the underdogs who managed to dethrone Nintendo. But then became the underdogs again when corporate giant Sony entered and drove them to near-bankruptcy. And since then, Sega has been reduced to making games for Sony, Nintendo and Microsoft consoles. Now with their entry into the movie industry, Sega (with Paramount) have managed to pull off one of the biggest cinematic underdog comebacks with Sonic, a disaster-in-the-making that could potentially launch the first blockbuster video game movie franchise. A feat that Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo have never been able to pull off with all the money at their disposal.

In 2014, Pokemon drew 96.9 million viewers in India. In 2016, Pokemon was one of the world's most widely streamed shows on Netflix. As of 2019, the Pokemon anime is aired in 169 countries around the world. As of 2019, the first episode of Pokemon was watched over 200 million times on Chinese streaming platform Tencent Video.

Exactly. The anime is basically promo for the games, cards, merchandise, etc. The Pokemon anime is still widely watched by kids around the world. As adults grow out of the anime, a new generation of kids get introduced to Pokemon through the anime. That's the entry point into the franchise for most people, who then go on to buy the games, cards, merch, etc. In China alone, Pokemon has been watched by hundreds of millions. And in India, Pokemon has nearly 100 million viewers. And that's just two countries. Across the world, Pokemon's viewership could be anywhere from hundreds of millions to possibly even a billion.

Not true. The anime is far more popular than the games. The anime is aired in 169 countries around the world. The number of people around the world who've watched the anime completely dwarfs the number of people who've played the core games.