SW VOTE: What is the greatest game franchise of all time?

SYSTEM WARS VOTES 2014

Three years ago, I posed this question to all of you- what is the greatest game franchise of all time? And System Wars collectively voted, then, and we got our answer, but it's been three years. A lot of things have happened in the last three years. Resident Evil went to shit, Far Cry was revived, Assassin's Creed went to shit, then somehow came roaring back, same with Diablo, Uncharted's last two games failed to live up to the promise of the series' high point with Uncharted 2, God of War got a title that degraded its quality, Fire Emblem and Persona broke into the mainstream, Zelda lost a lot of standing with Skyward Sword, then managed to regain it with A Link Between Worlds, Halo and Gears of War both eroded with their newest installments, Mortal Kombat had a successful revival, and so on and so forth. My point is, it's been way too long, and what was the answer then is not the answer now. Three years later, a lot of things have changed, and I want to see what System Wars votes as the greatest game franchise of all time as of now.

So, we'll do this the old way. In this thread, you'll name your top three game franchises of all time. Make sure you list them in order.The first franchise on your list will be awarded 50 points. The second one will get 25 points, and the last one will get 15 points. The order you list your favorite franchises in is therefore very important- it will determine the points for the final tally.

There aren't a whole lot of restrictions to how you can vote, but please keep the following in mind-

• Remember to have only three franchises in your post. If your post has more than three franchises listed, the first three listed will be counted towards the tallies, and anything after that will be disregarded. If it has less than three franchises listed, then the post itself shall be disregarded.
• A franchise must have had at least two games to qualify as a franchise of series. The Last of Us is not a series. Bully is not a series. The Wonderful 101 is not a series. Bayonetta is (at least as of now) not a series.
• Meta franchises are not a thing, and will not be counted. What do I mean by a meta-franchise? Well, for instance, consider Xenogears, Xenosaga, and Xenoblade. Technically, they are all part of the same 'meta-franchise.' Or consider Ico, Shadow of the Colossus, and (if it ever releases) The Last Guardian. They are again a part of the same meta franchise. But meta franchises are not properly defined game series. They share some thematic elements, but otherwise lack the mechanical and/or narrative continuity that makes a game series a game series. Please don't vote for meta-franchises, as those will not be counted.
• If you edit your post, please make sure to make a note of the edits you made, otherwise only your original post will count towards the tally, and your edits will not reflect towards it.
• You need to have a post count of at least 50 posts for your vote to be eligible.
• Finally, you have until 12:00am CT August 19, 2014 to get your votes in. That's a pretty long time, so make sure you get your votes in!

Got it? It's not gonna be hard, really. But with all of that said, it's time for me to get my votes in. Here goes:

1. The Legend of Zelda
2. Pokemon
3. Mario Kart

Time for you to vote! What do you think are the greatest game franchises of all time?

LEADERBOARD

1. The Legend of Zelda: 2495 points
2. Super Mario: 2060 points
3. Grand Theft Auto: 1010 points
4. Halo: 975 points
5. Final Fantasy: 780 points
6. Metal Gear: 680 points
7. Mass Effect: 465 points
8. Metroid: 405 points
9. Pokemon: 365 points
10. Dark Souls: 340 points
11. Half Life: 290 points
12. The Elder Scrolls: 280 points
13. The Witcher: 145 points
14. Super Smash Bros.: 140 points
15. Sid Meier's Civilization: 140 points
16. Shin Megami Tensei: 130 points
17. Fallout: 145 points
18. Resident Evil: 105 points
19. Dragon Quest: 105 points
20. Megaman: 90 points
21. Uncharted: 85 points
22. Battlefield: 80 points
23. Advance Wars: 75 points
24. Assassin's Creed: 75 points
25. Pikmin: 65 points
26. Star Fox: 65 points
27. Knights of the Old Republic: 55 points
28. Fire Emblem: 55 points
29. Persona: 50 points
30. Tomb Raider: 50 points
31. Warcraft: 50 points
32. Streets of Rage: 50 points
33. Tales: 50 points
34. Timesplitters: 50 points
35. NHL: 50 points
36. Dota: 50 points
37. Mario Kart: 45 points
38. Sonic The Hedgehog: 40 points
39. Bioshock: 40 points
40. Gears of War: 40 points
41. Age of Empires: 40 points
42. Baldur's Gate: 30 points
43. Call of Duty: 25 points
44. Legacy of Kain: 25 points
45. Devil May Cry: 25 points
46. The Sims: 25 points
47. Far Cry: 25 points
48. Max Payne: 25 points
49. Donkey Kong: 25 points
50. Command and Conquer: 25 points
51. Wizardry: 25 points
52. Macross: 25 points
53. Suikoden: 25 points
54. Dark Forces/Jedi Knight: 15 points
55. Fear Effect: 15 points
56. Metro: 15 points
57. God of War: 15 points
58. LEGO: 15 points
59. Phoenix Wright: 15 points
60. Shadow Hearts: 15 points
61. Max Payne: 15 points
62. STALKER: 15 points
63. Crysis: 15 points
64. Deus Ex: 15 points
65. Counter Strike: 15 points
66. Ultima: 15 points
67. Crash Bandicoot: 15 points
68. Forza Motorsport: 15 points
69. Gran Turismo: 15 points
70. Kingdom Hearts: 15 points
71. Yakuza: 15 points
72. Diablo: 15 points
73. Batman: Arkham: 15 points
74. Saint's Row: 15 points

Tallied up to Post #342. Last tallied at 10.17am 8/21/14 CT.

1. Grand Theft Auto

2. Final Fantasy

3. Metal Gear Solid

No surprise to see Charizard with 3 Nintendo franchises:-P

1. Super Mario

2. Megaman

3. Metroid

Lol What a twist?

Mine are,

1. GTA

2. Assassins Creed

3. Witcher.

3. MGS

2. TES

1. Mario

I guess....not really sure.

Apparently GTAV was not the right jumping in point, because I do not understand that series topping lists. What I got was a rather bland sandbox that gave me little reason to play with any of it's shit.

@Gamerno6666: @Netret0120: Believe it or not, I didn't have three Nintendo franchises at the top three years ago =p As for this time around, I was seriously debating having franchises like Persona, Assassin's Creed, Uncharted, Mass Effect, or Civilization in my Top 3, but then I figured I enjoyed individual games from those series more than I enjoyed those series overall, so I ended up going with franchises that I have consistently had fun with for the longest time.

Grand Theft Auto is probably the most consistent franchise in quality.

To add a few different games to the mix.

1. Halo
2. Mass Effect
3. KOTOR

1) Zelda

2) Smash bros

3) Halo

1-Mass Effect

2-Halo

3-Elder Scrolls

1. Super Smash Bros.
2. The Legend of Zelda
3. Super Mario

1. Advance Wars

2. Legend of Zelda

3. Uncharted

Halo

Far Cry

Your posts need to have three franchises listed to qualify.

I'd have to go with

1. Legend of Zelda
2. Mass Effect
3. Final Fantasy (ugh to think FF would be a lot higher if it wasn't for that shyt FF13 saga)

Wish I could put MGS, ES and The Witcher up there but it was hard to choose that 3rd spot.

1. Super Mario

2. Dragon Quest

3. Fire Emblem

1. NHL
2. Super Mario
3. Halo

1. Zelda
2. Super Mario
3. Metroid

1. Super Mario
2. Pokemon
3. Final Fantasy

1. Super Mario

2. Halo

3. Grand Theft Auto

1. Streets of Rage
2. Sonic the Hedgehog
3. Dark Forces/Jedi Knight

sorry I could only think of 2 lol

You must be an extremely harsh critic if you've only enjoyed 2 series ever..

No you see I don't get much time to play videogames anymore so these are the only two that I have played.

1. Dark Souls

2. Elder Scrolls

3. Age of Empires

1. GTA
2. Elder Scrolls
3. Half-Life

People always seem to be wanting more of these more than any other game I see people wanting.

What does this mean for the Souls series? Demon's & Dark share mechanic continuity but are strictly considered two different franchises by the creators. Which I suppose answers my question. Anyhoo:

1- Grand Theft Auto

2- Advance Wars

3- Halo

1. Shin Megami Tensei
2. Dragon Quest
3. Super Mario

1) Halo

2) Kotor

3) Mass Effect

1. Soul series

2. Metal Gear

3. The Witcher

1. Super Mario

2. Legend of Zelda

3. Elder Scrolls

1. Elderscrolls

2. Legacy of Kain

3.Fear effect

1. Super Mario
2. Mass Effect
3. GTA

1. The Legend of Zelda
2. Final Fantasy
3. Super Mario

1. Super Mario

2. The Legend of Zelda

3. Civilization

1. GTA

2. Mass Effect

3. Uncharted

1- The Legend of Zelda

2- Metroid

3- Pikmin

1. Souls (Dark Souls)

2. Assassin's Creed

3. Metro if it counts as a Franchise. If not, Batman Arkham.

1. GTA

2. Call of Duty

3. Halo

1. The Elder Scrolls

2. Super Mario

3. GTA

1. Super Mario - I have never played a series that has had three games I would believe worthy of a perfect score.
2. Legend of Zelda - Even though some entries in this series weren't as good as others, this has still been one of the most consistently great franchises out there.
3. Mass Effect - The third game did a few things I didn't like, but that doesn't change how I feel about this franchise.

By the way, Charizard, you have Super Smash Brothers on the leader board twice.

Legend of Zelda

Shin Megami Tensei: Persona

Final Fantasy

Do SMT games count differently from Persona, and what about the Souls games. What about Mario

PS you're fat

Bubble Bobble.

1. metal gear
2. Half Life
3. Zelda