What funk is SEGA in?

Recently, SEGA has been a case study on how to take one of the most memorable franchises in video game history -- Sonic the Hedgehog -- and funk it up. What goons are working on this flagship title? Has the company outsourced the design and development to Bob's Games (famous for its slogan of "Video game maker: one call, that's all!") or something? Just take a look at some average reviews scores of recent series games:

• Sonic the Hedgehog, PS3 - 67% (Likely to drop even further after more reviews.)
  

• Sonic the Hedgehog, Xbox 360 - 48%

• Sonic the Hedgehog Genesis, GBA - 35% (They can't even port a classic?)

• Shadow the Hedgehog, multi - 51%

The one shiny beacon amongst an apparent slew of garbage is Sonic Rush for the DS (83%). And it's not just the Sonic franchise that seems to have taken a considerable slide in quality; the argument could easily be made for other Sega developed and published games. So what gives? How does one of the greatest game developers of all-time take such a nose dive? And is there any correlation between ditching its hardware business? Regardless, run little Sonic. Run far away from your status quo.