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    Default What system spawned the most games that lead to franchises that are still alive today?

    My first thought was the NES, but also, the PS1 has to be up there. And if you count the arcade and/or PC, those have gotta be up there. But if were talking strictly console gaming, the NES has...

    Zelda
    Metroid
    Final Fantasy
    Dragon Warrior
    Castlevania
    Mega Man
    Duck Tales
    Bomberman

    Tempted to count Metal Gear but credit goes to the MSX for that one even if it didnt come out in North America.

    Megami Tensei was first released on Famicom so I dont know whether to count that as an NES release. Same with RBI Baseball and Fire Emblem.

    PlayStation:
    Resident Evil
    Twisted Metal
    Crash Bandicoot
    Spyro
    Gran Turismo
    Tony Hawk's Pro Skater
    Tomb Raider

    Feel free to add to these lists. Im sure the arcade class as a whole would outnumber both PS1 and NES but Im not as familiar with those games, and same for PC.

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    Grand Theft Auto should really be added to the Playstation list.

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    I don't see why you wouldn't count NES and Famicom as the same system, especially if you're grouping all arcade games and all PC games together, even though there's all sorts of different hardware behind those. On that note, Bomberman started on Japanese computers.

    Anyway, as far as classics go, I think NES takes the cake, but when considering any long-running series, it gets a lot trickier. Pretty much any home console with mainstream success has seen the origins of lots of still-active series.

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    Quote Originally Posted by fluid_matrix View Post
    Grand Theft Auto should really be added to the Playstation list.
    PC I believe

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    In your list, Mario is Missing(pun intended.)
    Everything in the above post is opinion unless stated otherwise.

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    Quote Originally Posted by kupomogli View Post
    In your list, Mario is Missing(pun intended.)
    Mario Bros. started in the arcades.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Aussie2B View Post
    Mario Bros. started in the arcades.
    Plus the home versions were first released on the Atari 2600. Not sure if we should be counting Donkey Kong as the first Mario game either, that had lots of home ports before the NES.

    Silent Hill should be added to the PS1 list.

    Did anything else popular start on the Gameboy besides Kirby? There's a vast library so I assume there should be more.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Aussie2B View Post
    Mario Bros. started in the arcades.
    "What system spawned the most games that lead to franchises that are still alive today? "
    Everything in the above post is opinion unless stated otherwise.

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    Quote Originally Posted by gbpxl View Post
    PC I believe

    Was it originally on PC? I just remember playing it on my PS1 BITD. Still have it somewhere too.

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    Quote Originally Posted by gbpxl View Post
    Duck Tales
    Im curious what the thought process is with including Duck Tales?
    "Game programmers are generally lazy individuals. That's right. It's true. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise. Since the dawn of computer games, game programmers have looked for shortcuts to coolness." Kurt Arnlund - Game programmer for Activision, Accolade...

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    Some thoughts: I think listing some of these games as franchises is a bit of a stretch. Duck Tales isn't a franchise, nor is Twisted Metal really. Even Crash Bandicoot and Spyro are more just remastered versions of the old stuff. I wouldn't consider these franchise titles.

    I also equate Tomb Raider with the PC more so then any console.

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    DuckTales got two releases on NES and two on Game Boy, plus a semi-recent release, so I think it's fair enough to consider it a franchise (though one that was idle for a loooong time). I don't get the argument for Twisted Metal, Crash, and Spyro not being franchises. Those three all have a ton of releases.

    Granted, with a couple of those, we're talking about the most recent releases being like 6, 7 years ago. Personally, I think "still alive today" would mean a release within the last couple years, or at least on the current gen systems, not the previous gen.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Aussie2B View Post
    DuckTales got two releases on NES and two on Game Boy, plus a semi-recent release, so I think it's fair enough to consider it a franchise (though one that was idle for a loooong time). I don't get the argument for Twisted Metal, Crash, and Spyro not being franchises. Those three all have a ton of releases.

    Granted, with a couple of those, we're talking about the most recent releases being like 6, 7 years ago. Personally, I think "still alive today" would mean a release within the last couple years, or at least on the current gen systems, not the previous gen.
    Agreed

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    I guess my confusion was with defining the phrase "spawn a franchise" as "creating a media franchise". Where one could say the first Sonic game on the Genesis lead to the creation of a media franchise that consisted a series of games, multiple animated series, comic books, board games, a film, and so on.

    I tend to see the term "game series" used more when just talking about the games, while "franchise" is a much broader term. It was not the Duck Tales game that was responsible for "spawning" it's franchise so that game alone in the list was throwing a wrench into my thought process.
    "Game programmers are generally lazy individuals. That's right. It's true. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise. Since the dawn of computer games, game programmers have looked for shortcuts to coolness." Kurt Arnlund - Game programmer for Activision, Accolade...

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