Sequel Rights!

Franchises or game series are a mixed bunch, on the one hand you get the "ever improving" God of War series, or the "miles better than the original" Assassin's Creed 2. On the other hand you get the "declining with speed bumps" Tomb Raider series or the "flogged to death" Need for Speed set of games.

However, without sequels we wouldn't have got AC2 just like we haven't got a follow up to Mirror's Edge, a game with so much promise that wasn't fully delivered on. There are a few games I've played that didn't quite make it which would benefit from a sequel, or six months more dev time, to make them truly great.

Sequels can allow developers to refine their ideas and include the full picture of the original concept.

Or you can churn out a yearly iteration of the same old game.

Yeah, I do think the key is what differences warrant the sequel, based on the individual game. You get FIFA, which is very gradual change in gameplay, but the stats change; some sequels are drastic changes; and some are just another episode in the story.

I would like to see rarer sequels, and larger/more frequent downloadable content, if the game isn't really going to change yet.

Still, the important thing, I think, is variety. Not just across "franchises", but between sequels - and also variety between "franchises's" sequels can't be that bad a consquence. Anyhow, I suppose it's all just one big lesson in how to make better games... (Even if it takes a long time to learn :P)

@tyrion You make some great points, some of which I would have liked to have expanded on in my article. Unfortunately if I'd done that, then the piece would have been well over 3000 words.

It is a shame that Mirrors Edge wasn't given another try. As much as I got infuriated with the game and the hundreds of retries towards the end, getting it just right was exhilarating. (Plus I quite enjoyed listening to Metallica's 'For Whom the Bell Tolls' on sections where I kept dying repeatedly. Oh I am droll...)

It just rubs salt into the wounds when utter dogs of games like Kane & Lynch and Army of Two are given sequels just because the publishers put so much money into creating and publicising their new IPs, and they want to recoup their losses.

Liam