After playing Sonic for the wii and seeing Sega Rally, I think they've stopped mass producing junk to capitalize on names and are actually focusing on making games that are addictively fun.
With the attention to detail sonic received (which I didn't think possible, especially after 'shadow'), one can hope that they'll do something good with their other franchises.
I mean, Virtua Fighter has been a highly acclaimed fighter, and it's because of the attention to detail. Maybe it's the trickle down effect? Maybe they're finally seeing that hardcore sega fans, sega's bread and butter, expect more from them now that they're multiplatform?
I don't know. They sure figured something out, though, with that Sega Rally.