Let me start by saying: I'm an old school gamer. I started playing games in 1990 on the NES and I KNOW the meaning of "Nintendo hard". Not that I'm bragging, I'm sure there's lots of older and better skilled gamers on this site. I say this because over the years, I have seen franchise after franchise waste away with the sands of time. Passing into memory and eventually... myth. A lot of younger gamers will look at me and say "WUT?" when I mention games like Star Control, Phantasy Star or Rocket Knight Adventures.
I suppose this is partly me just reminiscing about the great games that we have lost but I am tired of seeing great franchises go to waste and so, even if none of these games get announced at E3, I want to let it be known that there is still at least one dude on the interwebz that still loves these games and wants more of them!
I'll mostly mention franchises that have been forgotten/ignored. I won't be mentioning high profile series' like Half-Life, Chrono Trigger or Star Fox since those are well known and you almost can't go a week without someone whispering rumors about those juggernauts of the gaming world. I also won't mention franchises that are getting spiritual successors like Banjo Kazooie>Yooka-Laylee, Castlevania>Bloodstained or Mega Man>Mighty No. 9 since they are still with us in some form (thankfully).
And now, my top 10 franchises that are missing in action:
#10 Prince of Persia
I loved this series and still play Sands of Time and Two Thrones every so often. One of the great platformers of all time. There are lots of reasons to hate the Assassin's Creed franchise but the fact that it killed Prince of Persia is mine. My contempt for Ubisoft grows every year that another PoP game goes unannounced.
#9 Earthworm Jim
Goofy Comedic Platformers are all the rage these days with the likes of LittleBigPlanet and Rayman tearing up the sales charts but Earthworm Jim started the trend and is still one of the best games of the 16-bit era. This franchise holds a special place in my heart with it's well animated sprites and AMAZING soundtrack.
#8 Shining Force
Nowadays fans of tactical RPGs mostly talk about Fire Emblem, Final Fantasy Tactics and Valkyria Chronicles but for most Americans, our first taste of this genre happened on the Genesis with Shining Force I & II. Having recently played through the whole series, I can say that Shining Force is every bit the showstopper that Fire Emblem is. The fact that this series died has me facepalming in Sega's direction. The fact that Sega let Valkyria Chronicles become handheld only has me raising my middle finger. Seriously Sega, F U!
#7 Command & Conquer/Red Alert
My very first taste of the RTS genre and an absolute obsession with my family and friends. I can quote Kane's lines from memory and tank rush your base in less than 5 minutes. EA deserves a lot of the hate they get simply because of the disaster that was C&C 4. May it never be spoken of again...
#6 Lucasarts Adventure Games
I'm bundling these together since they are all made by the same guys. Monkey Island, Full Throttle, Day of the Tentacle, Grim Fandango, The Dig and many other classic adventure game series' have been missing for a long time. Thanks to kickstarter, some of these have made a comeback but the fact that there was never a Full Throttle 2 or Maniac Mansion 3 leaves a sour taste in my mouth. Hopefully, Disney can better manage those assets.
#5 Star Wars Rogue Squadron
Far and away my favorite Star Wars video game series. I probably played more hours of these games on my N64 and GameCube than any Nintendo first party game. The fact that the mediocre Rogue Squadron III was the last we saw of this series is just WRONG! Where the hell is this series? Why was Lucasarts more interested in making terrible games like The Force Unleashed and Kinect Star Wars than more of Rogue Squadron? I seriously hope Disney runs a tighter ship.
#4 Star Control
A lot of people are excited for E3 because they want to see the first glimpses of Mass Effect 4. But for me, the title of best open galaxy sci-fi RPG series was already taken back in 1992 with Star Control II. Mass Effect borrowed (and even stole) wholesale ideas and concepts from Star Control. The reason that Star Control still holds such a high place in gaming history for me is the humor. Mass Effect is a glum, joyless adventure in comparison. Stardock recently bought the rights to Star Control and the thought of a new StarCon game has me 1000X more excited than seeing ME4.
#3 WarCraft
As great as C&C and Red Alert are, Warcraft was the trendsetter and more polished series. This series is definitely not forgotten but it is ignored. Unfortunately, Blizzard pays more attention to StarCraft and World of Warcraft than to the next Warcraft. Hopefully that will change soon as I have a huge love for this series. The upcoming Warcraft movie has me breathing heavily as I await it's trailer.
#2 Advance Wars
Fire Emblem has been getting all the love lately and I am ecstatic about that but poor Advance Wars has almost disappeared in response. Intelligent Systems needs to start work on another ASAP. We haven't had an Advance Wars game release in 7 years!
#1 Tenchu
Quite possibly the most forgotten stealth series out there. The bloody assassinations, the dark feudal Japanese setting and the epic boss fights once made this series my all consuming obsession. I loved replaying the missions just to try to go through and kill everyone without them even seeing me. The mission editor had me creating new and more devious missions to kill through. The first 3 games were so special to me that I even stopped caring about Metal Gear Solid after MGS2 left me underwhelmed. Please bring this stealthy bloodbath back!
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Of course there are many other worthy franchises that deserve another shot. Most of these disappearances are due to legal issues or corporate stupidity (see: Capcom & Konami). It's truly a sad thing that so many of these will never see another sequel:
SHOOTEMUPS like R-Type, Truxton, Thunder Force, UN Squadron, Axelay, Desert Strike Series and Gradius.
PLATFORMERS like Shinobi, Bonk, Ghosts & Goblins, ActRaiser, Out of this World, Skyblazer, Gargoyle's Quest/Demon's Crest, Shatterhand, Vectorman, Rocket Knight Adventures, Metal Warriors, Crash Bandicoot, Klonoa, Conker's Bad Fur Day, Spyro, Jak & Daxter, Super Monkey Ball and Ape Escape.
RPGs like Phantasy Star, Lunar, Ultima, Wizardry, Breath of Fire, Wild Arms, Lufia, Earthbound, Arc the Lad, Suikoden, Legend of Dragoon, Vandal Hearts, Brave Fencer Musashi, Baldur's Gate, Icewind Dale, Neverwinter Nights, Parasite Eve, Grandia, Valkyrie Profile, Skies of Arcadia, Vagrant Story, Shadow Hearts, Jade Cocoon, Dark Cloud, Lost Odyssey and Rogue Galaxy.
COMBAT SIMS like Wing Commander, MechWarrior, Star Wars X-Wing/Tie Fighter, Colony Wars, FreeSpace, Crimson Skies and Freelancer,
RUN & GUNS like Commando, Gunstar Heroes and Contra.
BEATEMUPS like Double Dragon, Final Fight, Streets of Rage, River City Ransom, Batletoads, TMNT and Guardian Heroes,
STRATEGY GAMES like Herzog Zwei, Laser Squad, Dune, Dragon Force, Age of Empires, Ogre Battle/Tactics Ogre, Homeworld, Front Mission, Commandos, Freedom Force and Silent Storm.
FIRST PERSON SHOOTERS like Doom, Quake, Duke Nukem, Star Wars Dark Forces/Jedi Knight, Turok, Unreal, TimeSplitters, No One Lives Forever, Brothers in Arms, Prey and Perfect Dark.
THIRD PERSON SHOOTERS like Wild Guns, MDK, Syphon Filter, Mafia and Zone of the Enders,
RAIL SHOOTERS like Virtua Cop, Time Crisis and Panzer Dragoon.
ACTION ADVENTURE GAMES like MediEvil, Legacy of Kain, Shenmue, Fear Effect and Onimusha.
FIGHTING GAMES like Rival Schools, Bushido Blade and Power Stone.
ADVENTURE GAMES like Starflight, Gabriel Knight and Beneath a Steel Sky.
PUZZLE GAMES like Lemmings and Katamari Damacy.
Thanks for reading and reminiscing. What are some of your forgotten favorites and what do you hope is revealed at E3?
Nagoshi Studio’s YouTube channel with the Gang of Dragon trailers appears to have been removed following reports that NetEase will stop funding.
Dear team,
Xbox has always been different.
We started with a simple idea. Games should bring people together through shared experiences. That led to the first Xbox in 2001, Xbox Live in 2002, and new ways to connect, from friends lists and achievements to parties and play across devices. Today, Xbox reaches over 500 million players around the world, with some of the most important franchises in entertainment.
re-evaluating exclusivity 💀
PS players will need to go back to pretending to dislike Xbox games
Or meaning since it’s doing so good they might just do everything day 1.
They didnt say re-evaluating their multiplatform approach.
🤣🤣🤣 Xbox is so dead. I know you scared🤣🫵ӿ 97;
Even when the topic is strictly Xbox he can't stop talking about PlayStation. Xbox has basically become the hate of PlayStation... and not much else.
Hurt over video games 🤣🤣
Lmao we all grew and got jobs but apparently you stayed home broke 🤣🤣.
Man I love loyal dogs like you. MS kicked Spit and slapped you around but you still come back on all 4s.
Good little boy 🤣🤣
My only question is what games are PlayStation gamers gonna play now? They don’t really come out with new games anymore. I’m looking forward to wolverine, but after that then what?
Lmao
There’s no way after everything it’s going back, the damage is done
What you are seeing now is the new management telling what the core fanbase (aka…you) want to hear so they are pumped full of hope and are more likely to invest in the next Xbox console
When Phil took over after the awful Xbox One reveal he did the same thing, he told people what they wanted to hear for damage control.
It’s crazy people are getting suckered into this again.
FWIW..... wasn't the new management speaking to the other staff.... not so much us (regular folk)?
And you'll now go back to again thinking exclusives suddenly matter, that multiplatform is no longer the future, or that revenue from multiplatforms doesn't matter, like all you flop flopping xbox grifters lol.
The whole post just sounds like the previous phil corpo slop talk to me, whole thing reads like a nothing burger lol.
“re-evaluating exclusivity”
She also said this.
“The model that got us here won’t be the one that takes us forward.”
I don't know if they have a model anymore it's flipped so many times since the xbox one reveal
There's a bunch just like him but that's what happens when some rely on dreams, hope and wishful thinking. lol
"pretending"? Bro gears hasnt broke 1mil on ps5, and starfield hasn't passed 200k, Hellblade 2 was even stated to be a financial disappointment in sales on its own console, let alone ps5. Im not saying people don't like them, but they certainly aren't setting the community on fire, Forza may be different tho
Xbawx is ''re-evaluating exclusivity''... Translation: After throwing all sort of crap to the wall to see if something sticks but clearly nothing worked, we, including our lord ''in charge'' Phil came to the conclusion that exclusives indeed do matter so please forget if we ever said otherwise.
Yup, I feel it in my gut, next gen belongs to xbox, PS6 is cooked...
Someone can’t sleep after those 5 million forza games PURCHASED by PlayStation owners🤣 🧌 💥
Well with the decreased price of gamespass even with cod off it there is no way it is profitable given the cost of making their 1st party games (not if you actually include that cost in gamespass costs which they typically dont but should) they will just make a loss without the sales on
If they go back to exclusive games it at least shows that they are finally getting it. They would be turning down immediate money for something that will potentially workout in the long term.
Only issue is they've already opened Pandora's box. A lot of their base has moved to PC or jumped to PS. So will be a long road to get back on track.
We have been saying this from day one exclusives are a must if you are going to be selling hardware look at Nintendo and Sony before Jim Ryan. That's the proven formula. You had some that were deluded and blinded by loyalty accepting that multiplat was the future and that MS was merely getting ahead of where the industry was headed, but at least they can finally see the light and agree with what everyone has been saying for a decade+
True, blame it on the rabid fanboys. MS can do no wrong and spinner this multiplatform move. While the actual fans moved on.
I feel like with the new Xbox coming they are hoping to bring back those old fans and then if it goes well. Bring back exclusives.
If the new console is performing like series x and one. Naw they staying multiplatform.
Actual fans dont move on... they can add to their hobby while waiting for the next new release. If you believe what you typed then I guess PS fans moved on too.... you know, since its been a Sahara for 1st party games this gen.
Funny world where Sony is pro consumer and Xbox is not? At least according to what you loyalists have been saying all this time 🤭
@itveds For how many years have you been doing this sad stuff? For how many years have you been creating fake accounts to troll? For how many years have you always been cl vnn
Pathetic incels with nothing better to do than argue over a box... Because they don't have any good games to play on theirs, obviously. If your precious box is so special, why don't you shut the fuck up and go play it?
I think it's too late, xbox sales were diving even before ABK, they got even worse since then even long before the full multiplatform push. I'd be surprised if they even went back to timed exclusivity at this point, Helix is basically a PC and is going to be expensive, they already struggle to sell cheaper xbox consoles, it will be low volume and they'll have a very small 'console' base to sell to, which has already been conditioned to just play via gamepass anyway.
I don't see them removing PC from the equation. Considering MS has a heavy enough investment in the PC market, it would be foolish to abandon them. I could see them taking away games from PlayStation or ensuring they are timed exclusives at the very least. Say what you will but if Call of Duty ends up becoming a timed exclusive to Xbox machines, that would hurt PlayStation, don't pretend like those games don't sell millions.
They would lose out on a lot of CoD sales tho. Doesn't PS make up most of the sales?
Their lifeline of solely the Xbox consoles is dry. Good-Great games on a 1st party scale can't be made at a loss so willingly - sent to the Xbox to only sell limited copies.
They invested billions scooping up studios and need to start making returns.
Sucks that nearly every company is publicly traded and have to be so shareholder biased but that's how it is.
Their words are strong but it'll take time to see what their actions accomplish. Lowering the cost of Game Pass and taking CoD off of it was a good clear start.
More like, allot of their base just played game pass. So now they need to encourage them to start buying again.
Despite all of that, it's clear that Microsoft's Xbox division is broken beyond repair.
PlayStation is currently draining money on flop after flop. It's Sony that needs to re-evaluate their strategy
Wonder how much money was lost on perfect dark, hellbalde 2, 300 million lost revenue
by putting cod on gamepass. The recent Jason schrier news that Xbox has cancelled dozens of projects, spent 70 billion just to see Xbox sales further collapse and gamepass see little growth.
The fact is this has been PlayStation's most profitable generation and they are making loads of money and selling plenty of consoles and games. While MS won't give you any sales figures or profit numbers for Xbox, says it all really.
It isnt. But I dont think they mean in 'games', rather, footprint.
They own the OS but as far as gaming is concerned, Steam dominate. I imagine the VAST majority of people who use the Xbox app/launcher are PC gamepass subs. No ones buying their 3rd party PC games through Xbox PC.
Insider Gaming writes: "Marathon was one of the best-selling video games in March 2026 in the United States. On Wednesday, Circna released the best-selling games of the month, and it featured six new releases along with two games returning to the top 20 after previously falling out."
Is it April fools day again?
The game is dead.
EDIT: the numbers are fudged. “digital sales on Nintendo and Xbox weren’t included in the data”
well it's not on Switch / Switch 2.. so their number would be zero.
The game had a decent launch however the userbase numbers are dwindling on Steam.
“ Is it April fools day again?
The game is dead.
EDIT: the numbers are fudged. “digital sales on Nintendo and Xbox weren’t included in the data”
Does it hurt you to hear a SONY game was BEST selling ?
You gotta let go of those OBCURED feelings 🤷🏿
I mean the only reason MLB was the best selling title was because it was multi-platform. Likewise with Marathon. Will ring true for MS games. Only Nintendo titles are truly flexing their muscles when they chart as they are only to be found there.
It's kinda funny how this Obscure guy lives rent-free in your head. lol
Does Phil also live there?
It's kinda funny how this Obscure guy lives rent-free in your head. lol
Does Phil also live there?
I’m sorry did you wrote something smart ?
Or are you trying to to be funny because you failed at both
Now kid run to mommy legs the grown ups are talking.
Don’t bother writing anything I will not respond to a bratty child like you
Yeah sure, yet the player count is no where near what they want for a AAA game with so much money behind it
Why people are trying to spin this game like it’s done overly amazing is baffling to me.
It won’t even be a blip on peoples radars by the end of the year .
You must me typically wrong cuz those Steam chart numbers (AKA where the game sold the MOST) is less than what Hunt has, and Hunt didn't cost $500 million to make lol
No tomba love?? But great blog btw!! did they make a Tenchu game on the 360 ?
River City Ransom oh Yeah! Loved that game. How about Astyanax? Loved that game on the NES. Power Stone would be crazy online multiplayer and Rival Schools would be cool. They need to make a sequel to Star Gladiator/Plasma Sword too. A new Suikoden would rock as well. Oh and Jedi Power Battles...
You remembered Rogue Galaxy!
Would love to play :Crashbandicoot, Jax, Gradius,R-type , Battle Arena Toshinden, G-Darius ,Double Dragon,Final fight,Street of Rage, TMNT, Earthwormjim, BattleToads,Gunstar hero, Contra, sidescrolling Castlevania, Metroid, Raiden project , Metal Slug.