When should you end a series?

[Ironic]

You should only ever stop a game franchise, when it stops becoming fun, and it stops doing new/different things. For instance, i loved LoZ:The Wind Waker, because it was new and good. I dont see the point in 1000 3d Mario's or Sonics.

I liked mario sunshine though.....

 

[IamQ]

After the second game.

The first game is always a test, and if the test works well, they make a sequel improving, what has to be improved from the first game.

Once you make a third game it gets out of hand, because in most cases it's just more of the same in new areas.

 

[Woem]

You should end a series when it becomes nothing like it's former self that people liked, and has completly jumped the shark numerous times.

Nailed it.

I agree, Fallout 3 should never have happened. Oh that's not what you meant? But the voices in my head... they... but...

 

[Woem]

After the second game.

The first game is always a test, and if the test works well, they make a sequel improving, what has to be improved from the first game.

Once you make a third game it gets out of hand, because in most cases it's just more of the same in new areas.

Yes, who needed gems like King's Quest 4, Space Quest 6 or Leisure Suit Larry 7 (Love For Sail).

 

[ChromeAlchemist]

Mario and Zelda are franchises. They shouldn't die because people still like them.

The same goes for Sonic, he shouldn't die because it instils into people hope that it will once again return to it's 2D roots, it's former glory.

Max Payne isn't a proper franchise, however a third title is fine for it. I am absolutely fine with Max Payne devs changing the persona of the character for the sake of story development, in fact I applaud it. It was fine for Prince of Persia, however the most recent one shouldn't have been made in my opinion.

The problem is changing a character's persona to rake in any extra sales one can, that isn't a good thing. Mario has went from 2 platformer, to 3D platformer, to bloody space traveller. The guy still has relevance and appeal, because he is a mascot that grows with the younger generation into adulthood. You don't kill mascots and franchises unless they are ailing, and Mario and Zelda are far from ailing.

-snip-

I don't think Bungie are making any more titles after Reach, for example Halo Wars was created by Ensemble Studios, so after this one it's out of their hands. It is definitely one of the most expansive FPS stories around though. And I do have something else to say (not necessarily to you, but in general)...

Contrary to popular belief, Yahtzee isn't God. He is a narcissistic game critic who has opinions of games many others do, but has a cult following because he wraps all of these opinions into humour, and when someone is humorous, their opinions soon become law almost. And his biased opinions of genres irritate me.

 

[Canadamus Prime]

Ideally sometime before it hits this point:

When it starts to whore itself to everybody out there, and oversaturates the market with its bastard offspring.

It's hard to pinpoint the best time because it varies from franchise to franchise, but if you're staining yourselves for new ideas then it's time to end it and try something new.

 

[bobbobberson]

It depends on how story based the series is for example Mario doesn't have enough story that there is any reason for ending it other than it no longer being fun. However some games have a stronger story component and end up being killed by it getting just to be completely ridiculous with spin offs and a story that barely makes sense and is filled with contradictions and general illogicality. However once a series gets into terms like re-born resurrection the next generation and other terms like that it most likely at this point is completely dead anyways and you just haven't realized it yet.

 

[Arrogancy]

A series should end at the perfect time, that is a difficult point to find. When the series reaches an ultimate climax and can't top it, or come close, that, to me, is the time that a series should end.

 

[IamQ]

After the second game.

The first game is always a test, and if the test works well, they make a sequel improving, what has to be improved from the first game.

Once you make a third game it gets out of hand, because in most cases it's just more of the same in new areas.

Yes, who needed gems like King's Quest 4, Space Quest 6 or Leisure Suit Larry 7 (Love For Sail).

I assume you are sarcastic? If you are, then I can tell you that I've never played any of them.

 

[Woem]

After the second game.

The first game is always a test, and if the test works well, they make a sequel improving, what has to be improved from the first game.

Once you make a third game it gets out of hand, because in most cases it's just more of the same in new areas.

Yes, who needed gems like King's Quest 4, Space Quest 6 or Leisure Suit Larry 7 (Love For Sail).

I assume you are sarcastic? If you are, then I can tell you that I've never played any of them.

I'm not being sarcastic. I've played almost each game of those series, and those are my favorites, along with KQ6 and SQ4. I even played through Leisure Suit Larry 1 again last month. The EGA version, not the VGA one.

 

[Akai Shizuku]

A series should end, in my opinion, when there's no more good ideas the developers have for it.

Is This sarcasm?
Counter-point: Sonic the hedgehog: The developers probably think every made game after the second game was a great idea.

For their wallets, maybe; but what about for the series itself?

 

[Veylon]

I don't know. Expecting a company, or even an individual, to say no to money is a bit unrealistic. You don't get sales by not making games/books/movies.

I believe that every game should be self-contained, so such a series can go indefinitely. Final Fantasy and Dragon Warrior do this fairly well.

Book and movie series have real starting and ending points outside the scope of one work, so they should be wrapped up and let the characters go. The setting can be reused, but it seems a bit cruel to break up the hero's happy ending for the sake of yet another sequel.

 

[Guitarmasterx7]

when the fans start disliking it. I can't recall seeing a series go from loved to hated to completely redeeming itself. Unless the developers really do not have plans or intentions to make a sequel and they can produce games that entertain its respective audiences, I don't see a reason why series should end.

 

[I Max95]

as long as the games are good it doesnt have to end but is the games are bad like how sonic is now i say they should scrap it

 

[doomngloom]

When it starts losing money. So many people forget that all these things they love were created to make a profit.

This.

I'll complain about Guitar Hero: Nickleback as much as anyone, but the fact is, if games like Guitar Hero, Mario, Zelda are still selling, there's no reason to end the series. Compared to movies, there's way more room for videogames to keep expanding the universe and reinventing themselves in the process.

Look at Metal Gear Solid. It would appear the main story arc is over, but they've got pretty much countless opportunities to release various spin-offs and prequels. And as long as the games sell, why should they stop?

 

[WrongSprite]

When it's old enough for every character to have died from natural causes.

 

[geon106]

If you look around today, or just look at any message board anywhere, you will see people complaining that their once-favourite series has been ruined forever, voicing loudly their hopes that the games will fail horribly and that the creators will die in a horribly painful accident involving chickens. To be honest, I think that a series should end either when the creators feel that they need to take it in a different direction, changing the tone or adding completely new features that have become popular, or if they are simply remaking exactly the same plot as the previous installments. Cases in point: Max Payne and Mario. I believe that Max Payne should have ended with 2, but a sequel is being made, ditching the film noir feel and changing the hero to a generic thug, and adding the dreaded cover system. Banjo-Kazooie is another obvious case. Mario should also be retired (Zelda or Sonic would make equally good examples, unless they make a sequel to Majora's Mask), and the reasons for this can be found anywhere on this message board. What are your ideas about this?

Well my fiancé said GTA should have died out and that 4 should be the last but i think if a series is going good then don't stop. Esp as games like GTA continue to add new features in every game even tho the concept is the same.

As for mario, well the thing with Mario games and similar is it is pretty much completely the same, hardly anything changes at all and when you've paid hard cash for it you expect lots of new features.

I do hate what they do with games like that(i mean like whats happening with Max Payne), if your doing something right, keep doing it. Why change a good game and add something like a Gears style covering system? Just because every game seems to be doing that(a feature i hate btw)

But i'll never be a happy gamer until ID Software remake the original Quake

 

[Manji187]

Honestly, the ending to any series should be thought up from the beginning. If you at least plan for it to end at some point, you can kill it off gracefully before it overstays its welcome.

Kind of like what is happening with Resident evil right now...they don't really know where they want to take it. With RE4 they killed the "survival horror" but introduced the fast paced action which turned out to be a welcome change. With RE5 they just press the repeat button while adding Sheva (which is nice in coop, not as AI).

In terms of story... resident evil might as well have ended with the fall of Umbrella but I guess as long as Wesker is around they'll keep shitting out a new game every 3 to 4 years. It just hurts cuz if they continue like this...it will definitely seem like RE was written by Timmy, age 14 (yes, that's ZP). Heck, RE5 definitely was.

 

[SomeUnregPunk]

A series should end, in my opinion, when there's no more good ideas the developers have for it.

Is This sarcasm?
Counter-point: Sonic the hedgehog: The developers probably think every made game after the second game was a great idea.

For their wallets, maybe; but what about for the series itself?

some of their ideas before they turned the sonic series into a 3d game was pretty good ideas.
The knuckles cartridge idea that allowed you to use knuckles in the past sonic games were cool. the sonic game that had you timewarp whenever you went too fast in game was kinda of cool but confusing gameplay. But the whole idea of bringing Sonic into the 3d realm was a stupid idea and I wish they ended the series and just tried something new.

This is not to say all 2d games turned into 3d suck, look at the metroid series now and you'll find the game transitioned nicely.

 

[Akai Shizuku]

A series should end, in my opinion, when there's no more good ideas the developers have for it.

Is This sarcasm?
Counter-point: Sonic the hedgehog: The developers probably think every made game after the second game was a great idea.

For their wallets, maybe; but what about for the series itself?

some of their ideas before they turned the sonic series into a 3d game was pretty good ideas.
The knuckles cartridge idea that allowed you to use knuckles in the past sonic games were cool. the sonic game that had you timewarp whenever you went too fast in game was kinda of cool but confusing gameplay. But the whole idea of bringing Sonic into the 3d realm was a stupid idea and I wish they ended the series and just tried something new.

This is not to say all 2d games turned into 3d suck, look at the metroid series now and you'll find the game transitioned nicely.

I'll have to agree, though I don't think putting Sonic into 3D was the problem. Rather, I think the way they implemented it is the problem, and I think there's some time left (if only a little) before Sonic's dead to fix it.