We now take you to a break in the action for this!

So I'm reading up in the News, and there is a story about EA Games, talking about how New Burnout, Skate on the way.

I'm finally starting to get fed up with it. What am I getting fed up with? The constant rehashing and pushing of game series' to the brink of failure. Why do I say that? Well, let's take a look at a couple of examples, starting with my all-time favorite racing game, Need For Speed.

First of all, my favorite NFS game so far was Need For Speed Most Wanted, which, by chance, is the second highest rated NFS game, coming up behind the excellent Need For Speed: High Stakes, which I used to have back in the day. Now, why did I find Most Wanted the best you ask? Most Wanted had everything that the Need For Speed franchise has been famous for, and more. I own every Need For Speed game since Need For Speed: Hot Pursuit 2, and the one thing that has made me keep buying them, is the premise of cops. While the races were excellent, and with Most Wanted began the amazing cinematics, one of the biggest things that kept most people coming back was the fact that it was the only racing game that also involved amazing police chases, with very good AI. But ever since then, they've been spewing a NFS game out ever single year. I bought Need For Speed Carbon, but not only did they completely remove the fact that police chases were mandatory, but they also took the difficulty level and spiked it in BOTH directions. Now, EA even admits the fact that their latest game, Need For Speed ProStreet, which focused on LEGAL street racing, and eliminated police altogether, did not sell as much as their previous versions have, and that they will be going back to the roots of the franchise for Need For Speed 2008 (working title). While I think that's great and all, because ProStreet was the FIRST Need For Speed game I haven't bought so far, I think that they need to start taking more time to make their games. I would be happy with one Need For Speed game once every two or three years. No matter how much I love the franchise, when you make drastic changes like they did, and quickly release it, it turns out to be more of a flop than anything.

But that wasn't all. Following in the heels of Burnout Paradise, EA says that they are ALREADY working on their next installment of the Burnout series. In my opinion, this is way too quick, especially if they are planning on releasing it a year from now. Let's be honest, the jump in technology we've received lately has vastly improved our games. The Burnout series now has amazing graphics, an open world with realistic crashes, and an instant online option which throws you into a deathmatch with eight other humans from around the world. But, what more can you add, without barely hearing what your fans want? With the game just released, I'm sure there are people critizing it already, but, with just that, I cannot see how one can make another full game, and still have enough new content to make it worth the $60 that we have to pay now.

Following all of this, they ALSO announced a new Skate game, so far titled Skate 2. While I also think that Skate was a revolutionary game, bringing in the new features of, once again, an open world, freedom of movement with the analog sticks, and an online leaderboard, I just can't see them giving the game enough new content to call itself another full game. I would rather see this as something such as an expansion pack or something. I just can't see another full game made off of this franchise especially.

Finally, EA announced that they were going to make a sequel for the popular RPG Mass Effect, made by EA-owned BioWare. What really gets me isn't the fact that they are making a sequel, because I've heard of way too many games that, might not NEED a sequel (see: Assassin's Creed), but are getting one because they want to continue the franchise and hope to make much more money on it. No, it isn't that that gets me. It's a quote from EA Games President Frank Gibeau which states that Mass Effect, "will be a franchise for [EA] for a very long time.", after it was originally being rumored to be just a trilogy. Here's my beef with that. Sure, you've got an amazing game, and you want to make new features and continue the game going forever, but, unlike some series' (see: Final Fantasy (XIII), in which the story, characters, and overall game is completely different with each continuing release, this game is the same game, just with added features, maybe a new character or two, and some new weapons. But, this is no MMORPG, and doesn't have a complete world that people will play in for hundred of hours, so I am slightly confused on how they can keep a game going for more than three. I am already skeptical, and am praying that it doesn't go any further, about Halo (3)'s claim to just be a trilogy, not including spin-off's such as Halo Wars, which ties into a whole 'nother discussion about the destruction of an amazing franchise with the overpopulation of games that spawn from it's story/setting/etc. (see: Final Fantasy VII: Dirge of Cerberus... and all the rest of them).

So, in conclusion, I am really becoming disappointed with the whole idea of cranking out a new game for either a) a franchise that did extremely well in the beginning, and doesn't leave room for another, b) another game in a series which is different, but hasn't had the time to be worked on enough to make it unique, or c) just to make more money, because they figure, "Hey, people liked the first one, we'll just change some of these places, and they'll love it all over again!".

Thank you for reading. ~ Weasel