The Top 5 Video Game Franchises (and their legacies)

Nothing gets a gamer quite as excited as the next foray into a popular series. For the most part, it’s because they are almost guaranteed to be epic; because the developers realize how much weight is put on their shoulders to craft something excellent, but also because they realize that there is the potential to continue selling massive quantities of games. While “Top 5″ lists are always opinions and are therefore subject to change, the current top five video game franchises have sold a combined total of 645 million copies. But what do these grand numbers say about these series and, for that matter, our industry?

Last on the list, but not least, considering that this franchise has sold eighty million copies, is the Need For Speed series. NFS demonstrates that there will always be a market for both arcade-influenced games and sports games, particularly car racing. While The Sims sold millions by focusing on the desire to live out unfulfilled fantasies of the more human variety, the NFS series leaves an important reminder as its legacy: no matter how down-to-earth a person is, just about everyone would love to drive a pimped-out car three hundred miles an hour before crashing it into traffic just for the hell of it.

Coming in at #4 is Final Fantasy, having sold eighty-five million copies so far. For a game that was supposed to be Square’s final hurrah, it’s certainly left an impressive legacy. A compelling plot, jaw-dropping cutscenes, breathtaking game play, and Hollywood-caliber production values are all conversation staples whenever the next installment of Final Fantasy gets brought up. The release of Final Fantasy VII and subsequent installments took the RPG genre from a mostly-niche group of loyal fans and morphed it into one of the premier ways to launch a console, beef up a lineup in times of fiscal lag, and generally make lots of money. When consoles are hitting a dry spell, more often than not they look to either the action or RPG genres to keep a console going until other heavy-hitters are ready to hit shelves. That change in perception can be attributed to Final Fantasy and Final Fantasy alone.

The Sims franchise takes the #3 spot, having sold one hundred million copies so far. The Sims‘ legacy can best be described as a constant reminder that one of the chief reasons gamers play games is the ability to live vicariously through someone else. It’s one of the main reasons “god games” are so popular. While the stereotype of the lazy dork that can’t get the ladies is rapidly evaporating, at the end of the day no one’s perfect. So why not take yourself out of your world and into a virtual one? Live out your fantasies in a way that you are absolutely in control of, where all your problems can be solved by going back to the main menu and selecting ‘new game’? The Sims was the first game to fully explore that possibility, and with 100,000,000 copies sold so far, the numbers speak for themselves.

The need to “catch them all” has resulted in the Pokémon franchise taking the #2 spot, with estimated sales going into the one hundred eighty million range. Despite the fact that not much has changed since the inaugural Red and Blue versions (aside from heaps and heaps of new pokémon and a few gameplay tweaks), new Pokémon games continue to be gobbled up by droves of young gamers and plenty of dedicated hardcore fans that have been there since the beginning. Pokémon continues to show the power of the youth gamer: even if these boys and girls have no disposable income of their own, they’re still able to convince their parents to buy games en masse. Pokémon forever displayed just how massive the youth culture in gaming really is, an impressive legacy that shows no signs of stopping.

Standing atop the (Mushroom) Kingdom as the #1 video game franchise of all time is the Mario series, having sold an estimated two hundred million copies. Shigeru Miyamoto’s brainchild has left a legacy of quality games, quirky spin-offs, and massive amounts of dollars. Need to launch a system? Use Mario. Need to develop a sports game even though you don’t have any license to use authentic athletes? Mario. Want to make sure that whatever you touch turns to gold? Mario. Mario’s legacy is simple: sometimes all it takes to revitalize an industry single-handedly is some quirky music and addictive game play. Mario will continue to set the standard and prove that it doesn’t take hyper-realism and oceans of blood to make a game fly off store shelves.

The current “Top 5″ premier video game franchises each speak volumes about the state of the industry. Sometimes it takes massive plot twists and epic production values to guarantee a large return, and sometimes all it takes is one slightly-obese Italian plumber. Kids love to play games and know how to get their parents to help fulfill their needs, while more adult gamers crave to live out their unfulfilled fantasies in a controlled setting, whether it’s getting married and settling down or crashing a $500,000 car into a string of other $500,000 cars. In the rush to create the next big gaming franchise, producers and developers alike would be best served to look at the impressive legacies of gaming’s top franchises and realize a key truth about the industry we all know and love: no matter your genre, imagination is everything.