Just my view of what the greatest franchises are, based on what series I have played.

10. Doom
With the player known as “The Marine”, players get to kill hell-spawned creatures and save the Earth. This series brought the FPS (First Person Shooter) games into the mainstream.

9. World of Warcraft
This MMORPG (Massive multiplayer online role-playing game) has set records such as 8.5 million subscribed players and has made millions of dollars more through subscription fees.

8. Elder Scrolls
This series is most well-known for its innovative storylines and sandbox-style gameplay. It has spawned over 10 games / expansion packs since 1994.

7. Madden
Since the very early 90’s, this football franchise is the longest running sports series that spans over half a dozen consoles, beginning with the early Nintendo. Gradually over time, as systems and graphics improved, so did methods of gameplay, such as build-a-stadium and franchise mode features.

6. Mortal Kombat
This game series almost brought out the creation of the ESRB (Entertainment Software Rating Board). It also introduced a brand new “fatality system” where you could murder your opponent in a number of ways.

5. Grand Theft Auto
Another controversial series, GTA has attracted the attention of various politicians, searching to make regulations and banning of the game in differing states.

4. Star Wars
While the early Nintendo and Sega consoles may not have contained many strong titles (exceptions include TIE Fighter and Rouge Squadron Series), Lucasarts has made many noteworthy games over the past few years. Memorable titles include the Battlefront series, LEGO games, Jedi Knight and Jedi Outcast series, and perhaps the best of them all, which takes place thousands of years before the movies, the Knights of the Old Republic series, which allows a new, innovative, “choose your destiny” style of gameplay.

3. Halo
As one, if not the best FPS, Halo revolutionized the way we play games. With currently only two games to date, and a third scheduled for release late in 2007, the Halo franchise has broken sales record compared to the entire entertainment industry. Not only has Halo 2 sold $125 Million worth on just the first day of its release, it became one of the most successful games online over Xbox Live.

2. Sonic
The blue, fast-paced hedgehog with counterparts Tails and Knuckles have saved the world from Dr. Robotnik since the early 90’s. Despite the defeat of Sega in the home consoles war, Sonic has been able to live on through third party support and spin-offs such as Tails’ Adventures and Shadow the Hedgehog.

1. Mario
The most successful franchise in video game history is without a doubt the Mario series. At over 20 years old, Mario has continuously put out quality of games from a number of different genres. Some examples besides the basic 2D rescue-the-princess style of play include golf, tennis, Mario party, Paper Mario, and the ever popular brawling series of Super Smash Bros.

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