I agree that some "horses" need to be put down.

We really need more fresh material.

YES

How would they do Pac-Man Vs. on WiiWare when you need a GBA to play as Pac-Man. Split screen would ruin that game.

But I love Sonic so much I just... oh who am I kidding.. they need to stop the joke before it gets too old

Sonic should of got put down on there first 3D game

As long as Mario games are fun, I could not care less if he appears in 1,000 games. The character on the box should not be the deciding factor of whether or not the game is good.

Mega Man. The first handful of games were incredible, but since they've added Soccer, Zero, Star Force, Battle Network, or NT Warrior or any of the other suffix titles?

Maybe I'm missing something, but I would like to see a Mega Man game akin to the New Super Mario Bros. ideology.
8 bosses with the last name "Man". Great music. Great side scrolling. It may never be as good as the originals but it would be a far sight better than what's being offered up these days.

Still sad... the best looking sonic game to come out in a while looks to be SSBM. And is made by Nintendo...
Scary

They think Burnout is getting BETTER???!!!?!???

What a lame list. I agree with some but Tomb Raider has a lot of potential still in the right creative minds and I don't think Pacman needs to go anywhere. They don't make much games for him anyway and when they did it was a great C.E. version!

What I'd like is for the games that suck now to go back to their roots and make it better. Not just rehashing the crap that doesn't work (really aren't gamers vocal enough?) and emphasise what does.

I dind't get the new Nights game yet, but I hear that this is how Sega screwed up the pooch?

No more Smash Bros? Psha.

what about sequels that fell off years ago?
more specifically, I'd buy the shit out of a new Adventures of LOLO for the wii.

I agree with Tony Hawk.. the first games were excelent, really innovative.. but after the third game.. they just got repetitive.. nothing really new..
And I agree that Nintendo uses Mario too much, but most Mario games (even some being really ridiculous) continue to be fun, and continue to sell, Mario Strikers for the Wii and Mario Hoops on the DS are really good games.
And Resident Evil getting better? RE4 really gave new life to the series, but RE5 is looking the exact same thing with different zombies :/

@Mechapixel: I don't know, Sonic RPG looks pretty awesome but the newer platforming versions of the game are pretty awful.

I don't agree with MoH - author needs to play Heros and Heros 2 - best thing since Frontliine.

Also need to play the suckfest known as Umbrella Chronicles - not for the better.

Pac-Man is like salt - can't have gaming without some version of Pac-y.

If you need new material, stop buying the old stuff. They only make those stuff because you make a profit (aka LIVING) from franchises while making new stuff like Zack and Wiki are a risk. If consumers were moke akin to new stuff instead of "lets buy a new issue of Superman while playing final fantasy 2349859857" stuff like this won´t happen.

But most people like to buy their pair of shoes and food on the brand and restaurant they already know cuz they are afraid that the new stuff sucks.

Damn I made another annoyed-writer-artist post, sorry for that but I can´t cointain myself when the subject is this one.

This is definitly a huge issue with the video game industry, pac man and sonic get whored out like some english step-sister and games that deserve proper sequels like Chrono Trigger &chrono cross, Xenogears and vagrant story (to name a few) get nothing.

Please put Sonic to bed, Sonic Team/Sega. You used to know how to make great Sonic games in the 90s but somewhere along the way to the 3D era you dropped the ball and lost it in a slimy sewer. For the sake of people like me who grew up on Sonic, just let it die.

Spyro [...] we could also add Crash Bandicoot [...] And all of those look like a Halo sequel compared with the licensed properties for products such as Bratz and movies such as "Alvin and the Chipmunks." Video games for children are repetitive and unimaginative, poorly written and prone to glitches [...]

Video? Games? For? Children? 'Scuse me? All that article lacks is a mention of R&C, SSB, Sonic, Mario, - wait. He did mention those.

Could this guy please drop dead? :( He's insulting videogame franchises that dominated and created an entire era...let alone saved his cocky ass from the videogame crash which therefore enables him to write about this industry in the first place.

Well, Guitar Hero 2 was, undoubtedly, better than the first one, but Guitar Hero 3 pales in comparison to either, IMHO. Still, I think the series still has plenty of life in it.

As for some series that should either retire or take a long hiatus, Sonic the Hedgehog tops my list. The last good one that I bothered playing was Sonic Adventure for the Dreamcast, and that's saying something.

Odd how Megaman's not on the list and how Mario is.

I mean, don't get me wrong, I like that guy, but everyone is saying that he should go, and nobody really says that Mario should.

I think it has to do with the quality of the games more than the actual characters in the games.

A game is not really made up of its characters, but its gameplay.

Pac-Man and Tony Hawk need to be put down. Sonic I think might have a good game let in him, and Who wouldn't wanna see an HD rendered Laura Croft????

Come on... They can't just kill Sonic on a bad note. Then again, each time I get my hopes up that they might not totally screw it up, they manage to make it even worse...

I disagree with the Mario assertion. Yes, Nintendo should make more new IP, and yes he does appear in a lot of spinoffs that don't really need them, but a large portion of those are fun and well-designed, so there's nothing wrong with them. If he had restricted it to Mario Party, however, I would have whole-heartedly agreed.

And he does mention Sonic in the same comment as Spyro. Once Sonic Chronicles is out (because I basically am in love with anything Bioware makes), I honestly wouldn't be bothered in the slightest if Sonic never appeared in another game.

In another words when you buy something new there´s a chance that you´re making something new as well, and helping the market grow. When you buy something ffrom a franchise you´re making a rich getting richer. and only that one.

@kylenalepa: Guitar Hero II was the best. Im so sad at what happened to Casey Lynch in III. :x

Its unfortunate that the series seems to have been run into the ground with the changing of the guards that took place from II to III. :x

Sonic and Mario have to go. Its sad to see something you grew up with get thrown into crap like the olympics and stuff just to sell a few copies.

Yeah, I disagree that Resident Evil gets better with every game, its hard to gauge now anyway what with Act 0, the shooting games, etc. RE3 was not nearly as good as 2, IMO, while 4 is arguably better than either, but there is no guarantee 5 will be better than that.

MegaMan...wow putting him down really is like taking Old Yeller out back, its sad but it needs to be done.

None of the series listed annoys me to the point where I care if they keep doing it over and over. If people play it, it sells, they will make another one. This should bother me because....? The list of "getting better" does highlight games series that are newer, so they will weed out these old hogs if they can't shape up and compete. Nothing lasts forever, or we would all be playing Adventure 2008 on our Atari 790000s.

Aw, give some credit to EA. The most recent Medal of Honor was a very good game, despite the WWII-era genre itself getting long in the tooth.

With bricks and knives, please.

@BruzeWayne: Hell yeah, Adventures of Lolo isn't on the VC yet is it? I love that game.

Grand Theft Auto franchise has been getting better? I think that stopped with GTA3, since then it has been a slow march backwards to me. Mario and Zelda, definatly need to go. Two franchises that can only be still made to keep Nintendo afloat in hopes that third party developers will bring something actually "new" and "innovative" to any of their consoles.

I'm not going to entirely agree with Mega Man before 8,000 more people say it.

I do however think it's getting hilarious how far away they are getting from the original Mega Man character in that same universe. ZXA is a really good game, but I just think it's diluted to know that you are so far from relation to the original megaman it's annoying.

I still love the games, it's just you have to wonder how far they can take it away from the original Mega Man or even X at this point.

Ive played GH1 and 3 very mildly, I dont own and do not care to own any of them, to me they seemed identical with different songs and a different looking controller, how is that improvement? Granted like i said i havent played them much but still they might as well release one game and a shit-ton of songs to download.

Finally.
Somebody agrees with me.
I said the same exact thing he said about Mario a week ago, and people were calling me an "idiot", a "fag" and a "moron", and now people are either agreeing with him, or at least politely disagreeing.

I agree with GUIZZY. if Sonic is gonna be put down, he should at least have one last "huzzah!" before so. call me crazy, but a next gen side scroller would work out great. remember Castlevania: Symphony of the Night? while it might not have been "next gen" at the time, it certainly was an amazing game, if not one of the best PS1 games to be released. and after all those crappy 3D attempts... it was a nice return to a comfortable, entertaining, and fun formula.

I'm surprised Sonic didn't make the list. He doesn't need to die though, he just needs to have a game done right. I miss the days of great Sonic games. I even miss the mediocre ones... I just want one that's not abysmal.

Smash Bros. and Mario need to go more than Madden?Really?

@prophet23: Hey to be fair, you did get Xenosaga on PS2...and alot of remakes of other square games...that makes up for it right?

*ducks*

Damn Chrono Trigger rocks, I think I have to go hook up my SNES now.

Put down Sonic the Hedgehog first! That is an old horse that won't produce!

franchises that need to retire?

Anything made by Sega that's not called "Virtua Fighter"

Mega Man

Street Fighter (sorry but I'm not feeling IV so far)

Tony Hawk

@sadkermit: Dude Heroes 2 sucks ass.

Terrible animation in multi-play, glitches, piss poor hit detection, terrible AI, terrible scripted events....no way MoH gets a pass. Put it out of its misery

@Kirbytheslayer: Punch the Penguin and Win a Prize!: It's a shame that people have to be so close-minded and insulting. I do agree with the Mario sentiment. Super Mario Galaxy? Awesome. Super Paper Mario? Ok, that's enough. Mario Party, Soccer, Olympic Games, etc? That's a bit too much.

Well, Mario is out of the question, he's the heart, nay, the spirit of Nintendo. In fact, I'd love another Paper Mario, call me crazy. 'sides, the guy has been around forever, and represents the essence of gaming, even having the basic outline of good vs evil and all that jazz.

Sonic, though in same category in regards for Sega...well....I don't know anymore. My all time favorite 3D Sonic game has and always will be Sonic Adventure 2: Battle. Decent-crap music, Chao-raising, which was, let's be honest, kind of addictive. And even the 2-Player battling. The levels were great, too...somewhat, for all of them. Drifting off topic, here, I know, but unless I hear a Sonic Adventure 3 for Wii over the sound of the loading shotgun, I don't know. May be time to put ol' Yeller down.

Pac Man is an obvious choice, along with Mario Party, Tony Hawk, and, brace yourself...Final Fantasy. The name may be practically legendary for the biz, but after 13 (not to mention extra side-stuff), it's just like taking Dragon Quest (Warrior) and glueing a Final Fantasy with a random number to it. Practically none of the FF titles coexist, and you'll know it's just a money-cow after 20 comes. Give it a unique name or something.

Guitar Hero hasn't quite reached that point yet. But when the time comes, they may be smart enough to change the name...y'know...to be fresh or something. Just pray it won't be lame.

I also agree to take out MoH. We only need one all around memorable military game. But that's just me.

To add, Megaman. Classic is the greatest, but since they added all these Zero's and Alphas and Omegas and hoo-what, it's lame.

@天人:

Yes, he does need to be killed off. The last eight years have proven to us that Sonic Team has lost their talent.

Another important question is why havent some GREAT series been re-vitalized.

Mario continues to be fun.

I don't see why he needs to go when that's true.

Sonic should live on forever.

@DaiMacculate:
I would kill/die for a Chrono remake and I enjoyed Xenosaga, I really did but it was not what i was anticipating that it was going to be. I never even got to play the third installment so i dont know how it turned out but the first 2 where great sci-fi rpgs, but when compared to gears it just breaks my soft lil heart

@Witzbold:

Or why some series have been repeatedly disgraced as time goes on such as the terrible Mana games after SD2 and 3.

Die Tomb Raider, die.

If Hollywood expects us to keep soaking up Rambo, Rocky, Die Hard, Star Trek, etc. why should the Game Industry have different expectations?

I for one want to see how/if Laura's jugs sag with the ravages of time across Tomb Raider X and XV. If they don't, then we know for sure she had some work done!

They will die as soon as people stop buying them.

I would argue that the Guitar Hero series is getting better, particularly with the addition of the original artists and downloadable content.

@Witzbold: i agree... what about General Chaos for Genesis? that was an amazing game. so amazing, i'm almost second guessing myself of whether or not we need a remake... and as i've said before, what about another Mutant League sports game? as a young boy, murdering the referee for no good reason always brought a smile of satifaction to my face.

If Tony Hawk bothered to return to its less realistic roots and become that skater where you pull off impossible stuff if you're good enough, it would have a place in the current market. I mean, what happened to outer-space levels and tearing up a cruise ship - and what was even wrong with it when we did?

cough*madden*cough

what is this guy a moron, mario sells a ton, as do all the properties that mario is in, retire him, you might as well ask Nintendo to stop selling the Wii and DS

@aeonpulse: VECTOR MAN! i remember seeing a sneak peak waaaaay back when for a ps1 or 2 vector man but he looked like master chief.

@Witzbold: I know! I've said it before, and I'll say it again: Guitar Hero 3 feels like an imitation of Guitar Hero or Guitar Hero 2. It's the Vii to Nintendo's Wii.

Also, as for games that need to be revitalized, I'd kill for a new Power Stone or Dino Crisis. Let's