how is this a victroy, these are SHIPPED not sold, and these are the 3ds and WIi U versions and Sega themselves said sales are low, its right there in the OP

Calm yourself.  It reviewed like crap; Sonic has been on the down slope for a long time and it's on the freaking WiiU.

Like I said, relatively, this could've been a hell of a lot worse.  Like Wonderful 101 worse.

nonsense Sonic Generations did better in the same time frame. Matter of fact, scratch that 3DS version of Generations better than 3ds version of LW and that sold better than WIi U version for comparison sake. So by even SOnic standards its doing poor. Wii U has low install base sure, not 3DS though.

Lets not forget that they make the most money off a game in the first few months, even if they manage to leg out, what does that mean if most of the sales come from bargain bin? Not much.

EDIT: and just for the fun of it. it seems like VGC is actually overtracking both version in the US

I am calm, im just pointing out that you are wrong. Sonic has not been on a down slope. Generations sold well, becasue it was a well received game. If the game is well received it will move copies, simple as that. 

Sure it could have been worst, but comparing a SONIC game to a new IP in some niche genre is not a victory by any spin of the imagination, if anything it makes Sonic look worse as he shoulnt even be mentioned in the same breath. 

Okay.  I don't actually really care that much.  I was just trying to be positive, since we've seen far worse bombs this year.

But it seems I was wrong.

Colors and Generations were both well received and both sold well.

Then again Secret Rings and Unleased weren't and they sold even more.

The problem is the Wii U install base and the fact this game went up against Mario, there will only ever be one winner there.

DKC will have the same problem, throw in Rayman and the Wii U has had to many platformers is a short amount of time. Its like releasing a so-so FPS in the same month as CoD, Halo etc, its just dumb.

Why Nintendo didn't get retro back on Metroid is a mystery to me, they need to grow the install base by appealing to a wider audience, but thats another debate all together.

fair enough, but there is a line between positive and realistic

there was like a 2 month gap between the release of Sonic and Mario i really dont think the latter played a factor in the former's failure as there was enough time in between the two.

neither Sonic nor Mario are renowned for your launch-window sales. They were competing in the same holiday, and the one with godly reviews and a stronger brand presence probably edged out the one with wildly varying reviews and a weaker brand.

SOnic had a month headstart, if people wanted Sonic they would have bought it. Saying Mario had anything to do with it is an excuse, as it wouldnt explain the bad launch sales for the game, both versions. ANd Mario had a MUCH bigger opening. Doubt it would have done much better even without Mario there. It wasnt like there was a new Mario game for 3ds and that version did better.