There are times when I wish some game companies would wake up and see they’re milking gamers to death. No, I don’t mean pulling on our udders as if we’re some bovine property in their fields of consumerism. I mean, as if we need a million sequels to one franchise every year or two. Believe me when I say I’m satiated quite nicely, thank you, on your current offerings, and you’re starting to venture into the territory of glut and overkill.

Let’s chew the cud on an example, such as Assassin’s Creed. Ubisoft isn’t known for overkilling but it seems like there’s been an Assassin’s Creed title every six months lately. Before the critical triumph of the first sequel, AC was a franchise that couldn’t buy a mention in the gaming press without talk of how the first game needed work. Well, we got work, didn’t we? And then some, because there’s now Assassin’s Creed, AC: Brotherhood, AC 2, AC Revelations, AC: Bloodlines and AC: Altair’s Chronicles. This is all in the span of four years, from 2007 to 2011. I’m all for some assassination and improved sequels but this is a bit much Ubisoft.

Another culprit is Capcom. I have long been skeptical of the ridiculousness that is Capcom and Street Fighter rehash as well as the milking of Resident Evil. Capcom, for all of its classic status that it loves to strut around when it comes to anniversaries of its franchises, has mastered the concept of milking a franchise to death.

Just ask Keji Inafune about Mega Man the next time you see him.

While we’re on the subject of glut, Nintendo isn’t too far behind with multiple Mario and Zelda games.

It’s true that these characters can launch a system with a decent game, and most Mario/Zelda games are pretty good. But where does it end? Mario is up to Galaxy in terms of title, and Zelda is going to run out of ways to tell the story of Link saving Hyrule/Princess Zelda one day.

And while we’re at it can someone please let Nintendo know that simply adding two or three things to a game does not mean it can be rehashed and sent out like a proper release? Mario Kart and Animal Crossing teams, we’re looking at you.

And please, for the love of all video games and sacredness, let’s let Guitar Hero die a dignified death and stay dead. If there’s never another game in that series and it’s retired as Activision promises, the video game world won’t be needing a mechanical milker again for a while.

Let’s let the 2 percent store-bought stuff do its job instead of running our favorite franchises in the ground with sequelitis.

 

Lyndsey Mosley is editor in chief of Gaming Insurrection. She can be reached by email at
editor@gaminginsurrection.com

It’s time to stop milking game franchises