Sonic the Hedgehog has had a rough outing in the past years and previous games, but those that are actually excited about the (according to Sega) new and improved game on the Xbox 360 or the Playstation 3 consoles will have to wait awhile before getting their hands on it.

It seems that when Sega originally announced the game they had planned to release Sonic Unleashed across all platforms simultaneously, but plans have changed. The Wii and PS2 versions hit shelves today, but the Xbox 360 won’t see a release until next week, November 20th, and the Playstation 3 fans that want their Sonic fix will have to wait until December.

The news of a staggering release structure is an interesting format, but for Sega it may be one of the smartest moves they could make. As we know the Sonic the Hedgehog release on the 360 and PS3, was a tough outing and the Wii game, Sonic and the Secret Rings, saw a mixed bag of reviews, but the game was much better received than the Sonic game on the other next-gen consoles.

By staggering the release Sega attacks the markets at the right times. For the Wii and Playstation 2 we have seen a lull in game releases so a release of Sonic now, makes it one of the bigger titles to hit for each console. The 360 and the PS3 have seen an influx of games released in the recent months so pushing the title back to weaker times may result in a better showing for the game. We sure are hoping that is the case, because with Sega’s promise to return to the fast paced gaming that we came to expect from Sonic in the 90s, anything less than a solid title would be yet another slap in the face to the fans.