200°

Editorial: The 7 Most Defining Current-Gen Franchises

The Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and Nintendo Wii have all seen a fair share of sequels and franchises from the past revisited. What were some of the new franchises that made an impact in this console generation? Game Freaks 365's Cliff Bakehorn breaks down the seven video game series that he believes made the biggest mark since the launch of the Xbox 360.

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gamefreaks365.com
Chuk54843d ago

That article pretty much nailed it.

However, I think the Mass Effect series is easily one of the best 3 franchises of this gen.

Kewl_Kat4843d ago

I disagree. For better or for worse, the Modern Warfare franchise is the most defining in the list. "Defining" doesn't necessarily mean it's the best, but it means that the franchise has influenced plenty of games this generation. I'm not a fan of the MW franchise (not a hater either), but I can see how it has affected current-gen games.

Captain Qwark 94843d ago (Edited 4843d ago )

id have to agree with your definition completely. however if we want to talk best i would say mass effect is number 1 imo followed by dark/demon souls

KentBlake4843d ago

It's a pretty good list, but I think inFamous and Mass Effect should be there.

Rageanitus4843d ago

Uncharted! is number 1 IMO. It is the only game this gen that has actually modernized the platform genre, and at the same time take advantage of making a game cinematic.

linkratos4843d ago

See, this is where many people will disagree. The only way it modernized platforming is by making it super easy for really young players. It is a great game, but not because of platforming. It's pretty embarrassing compared to games like Mario Galaxy and Ratchet and Clank.

The thing that makes Uncharted innovative is its cinematics, nothing about its gameplay.

creatchee4843d ago

I would have liked to have seen Mirror's Edge and Little Big Planet 2 - ME for using a first person perspective in ways unheard of at the time and LBP2 for the sheer amount of user generated content and different gametypes that could be created.

dorron4843d ago

I think Uncharted and Assassin's Creed should score higher than Portal or Bioshock in that list...pobably at the two top spots.

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70°

Portal with RTX Update: Now With DLSS 4 & RTX Neural Radiance Cache

Today, Portal with RTX is being upgraded with DLSS 4 with Multi Frame Generation, multiplying framerates, as well as the transformer model for Ray Reconstruction and DLAA, enabling even better image quality. Portal with RTX is also adding RTX Neural Radiance Cache (NRC), a neural shader that improves indirect lighting, as well as a bevy of performance optimizations.

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store.steampowered.com
110°

Assassin's Creed: The Argument For a Total Franchise Reboot

Assassin's Creed has been hard done by in the past several years despite its success, and as messy as it could be, it might be time for a reboot.

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gamerant.com
lucasnooker113d ago

They already did that in 2017 with origins. I don’t think a reboot is on the cards when Ubisoft is about to go down under lol

I hope the splinter cell remake sees the light of day before the company closes

Inverno112d ago

I doubt they'll be closing, but they are primed to be eaten up by a bigger comp. Also 2017 was nearly a decade ago, it could use another reboot or rather it should just be retired.

RaidenBlack112d ago

Origins was the reboot.
But that also alienated the original AC lovers, abit. Not everybody adores the perma-change of the IP to be vast RPGs.
What I instead propose is, alternate between Valhalla/Shadows type AC RPGs and Mirage/ACII like non-RPG releases.

PrecursorOrb112d ago

It’d be nice if they made parkour feel new

monkey602112d ago

Put the series to bed, It's tired! Revisit your stagnant properties.

Profchaos112d ago

What do you do when you've already milked everything dry

Noskypeno112d ago

What is old might feel new again. A new splinter cell with semi open levels but still having a linear structure (not just one giant open world) that have multiple paths to complete the objective but still have stealth be the main priority would feel fresh, especially with modern graphics and military gadgets .

FinalFantasyFanatic112d ago

I agree, from anecdotal evidence, all franchises eventually stagnate, it might be a good time to start something new.

PRIMORDUS112d ago

"it might be time for a reboot." No it might be time to put this shit to rest for a few yrs. A good 4-5 then come back.

Profchaos112d ago

Total franchise reboot. This ac game is basically the hail Mary to keep Ubisoft alive if this fails the share price will be so low they will be forced to sell and likely absorbed into another org as the Ubisoft name carries almost no weight.

Don't get me wrong they will end up selling after ac regardless but it will be the difference of getting the deal they want vs the deal they don't

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260°

Gears Of War Creator Urges Devs To Make Single-Player Games Amid EA's Live Service Focus

Gears of War's creator has spoken out against the trend of turning established franchises into live services, urging developers to focus on single-player experiences.

Relientk77137d ago

I agree with Cliff for once.

Single player games > GaaS

JEECE136d ago

Too bad he didn't have this opinion when he chased trends with Lawbreakers. Or when he chased trends with Radical Heights.

Popsicle136d ago (Edited 136d ago )

He learned from the mistake or he wouldn’t be advocating for more single player experiences. I find this refreshing in a world where we often see people so stubborn that they tend to double down on a mistake which results in making things even worse. Seriously, good for him!

JEECE136d ago

@Popsicle

Oh for sure, better late than never. And better to somewhat own up to your mistakes, rather than just blaming your release window, or advertising partners, or gamers lol.

anast136d ago

@Popsicle

Of course we will never know his intentions, but it's hard to believe he is just a naive agent that is learning from his mistakes.

-Foxtrot137d ago

He could have done one himself after Gears of War but he did Lawbreakers…look how that turned out.

RaidenBlack137d ago

Not converting Jawbreakers into F2P was the final nail in the CliffyB coffin.

Knushwood Butt136d ago

Jawbreakers would have been a better name! Heck, I might just go and trademark that right now.

BISHOP-BRASIL136d ago

@Knushwood

Aren't those a kind of candy already?

coolbeans137d ago

You're missing the point. His studio's short lifespan is what *inspired* him to make this comment in the first place.

-Foxtrot137d ago

Oh I know the point...I'm just stating the obvious and how stupid he was in the beginning to jump on a trend he had no real experience in. A first person hero shooter with heavy GaaS elements is a lot different than the multiplayer in Gears of War.

He'd have been better creating something like Gears of War again, a great single player story and a good online mode.

coolbeans136d ago

-"A first person hero shooter with heavy GaaS elements is a lot different than the multiplayer in Gears of War."

I mean... you're kinda muddying terms when Gears has always had a strong multiplayer component. Even if I grant you that, Cliffy B started cementing himself at Epic with Unreal Tournament, which was among the earliest shooter series to have "proto-GaaS elements" (downloadable maps, cosmetics, special editions that bundle stuff together). Lawbreakers and Radical Heights (were it finished) weren't major career shifts to him like they would be for, say, Fumito Ueda.

Regardless of that, it's still kinda useless to state the obvious when CliffyB himself made his comments with the benefit of hindsight already.

136d ago
CrimsonWing69136d ago (Edited 136d ago )

Look, these a-hole publishers can do this, in fact I want them to, so they can f*ck around and find out and fail hard scaring away everyone else from doing this live service push.

This industry is run by some of the dumbest corporate pieces of sh*t I’ve ever seen. They spend stupid amount of money with literally nothing that stands out from games from the previous generation (look at Arkham Knight to the $200 mill Suicide Squad comparison vids), you’re overpaying devs, and you focus on games as a service to milk consumers that a lot of them grew up off traditional games. We’re not idiots, we sniff this sh*t out and won’t touch it.

So, what’s your answer to not getting a ROI? Raise game prices and double down on GaaS so you can suck your consumers dry. That model only works for some games and even then how in hell do you expect it to work with multiple games!? They’re ruining the damn hobby with this corporate greed.

Cut back on dev budgets, cut back on how much your staff is getting paid, until sales for games bring in a profit. That’s the answer and make some games that feel like there’s passion behind them, not some cookie cut up game that feels like the entire existence behind it is to offer as little as it can with repetitive bullsh*t and selling off all this content throughout its life. It’s gross.

anast136d ago

I agree with every point here.

Redemption-64136d ago

Games do bring in a profit, it's the greed that is killing the industry. Here is a fact, live service games overall make more, significantly more money than single player games

What you should be asking is executives not wanting continuous growth or firing them. Saying devs should be fired when those who are fitting the bills and setting unrealistic expectations would make things worse. What do y9u think would happen if they released say, 30 single player games and over half of them fail? You are going after the wrong crowd.

DankSinatra136d ago

About time he learned. I guess he finally stopped blaming everyone else and took accountability for his mistakes and realized that people really don't care that much for trends or live service.

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