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We're not entirely convinced you can get too much of a good thing -- a lifetime supply of Ben & Jerry's sounds pretty infallible -- but you can definitely get too much of a bad thing.

Take, for instance, the following video game franchises. At one point or another, these were industry-leading properties with bright futures and enormous potential. Then, it all went wrong.



Sonic the Hedgehog

Remember when Sonic was awesome? Neither do we. We're not sure what's more puzzling -- the fact that they keep making terrible Sonic games, or the fact that Sega keeps using the tired blue blur as its official mascot. Other than the recent role-playing game Sonic Chronicles, there hasn't been a truly fun Sonic game in about a decade. That's about nine years too long. Speed kills.

Dance Dance Revolution

Okay, we'll admit that DDR did a lot for getting kids into shape, and we tip our cap to Konami for getting it into schools. But for a game that's merely a decade old, why are there six hundred versions?. Ultramix, Universe, Unleashed, Supernova, Extreme...can anyone follow this? We cannot, which means it's time to rein it in for a few years and let everyone catch up. Maybe by then we'll have learned some new moves, too. Is the Electric Slide still cool?



Crash Bandicoot

Another throwback mascot who can't take a hint (the lifespan of the Eastern Bandicoot is only three years, you know), Crash Bandicoot is having a harder time retiring than Evander Holyfield. While his games aren't quite as lousy as Sonic's, they're just as meaningless, doing little to advance the platforming genre and mostly stinking up the sales chart. And as the revenue dwindles, so does our interest in appreciating the good times we had with the onetime Sony mascot. Wow, yeah, he IS old.



Leisure Suit Larry

Old-school adventure gamers might light up when they see the name Leisure Suit Larry, but my, how the times have changed. His embarrassing last game, Magna Cum Laude, was widely considered the worst game of 2004. Which, of course, means only one thing: make another one! The next offender, Box Office Smash, is due out in 2009, although Activision/Blizzard mercifully swapped his leisure suit for a straightjacket and put the game on indefinite hold.



Need For Speed

You know your racing game series is in trouble when you start promoting the live-action talent and awful illegal street-racing plotline more than the actual racing, but you know your racing game series is on life-support when even the live-action talent can't save the game from poor reviews and low sales. Such is the fate of the overdeveloped Need For Speed franchise, but unlike the other games on this list, rumor has it that this junker is headed back to the shop. Let's hope it stays there.

Yahoo

 

there hasn't been a truly fun Sonic game in about a decade

Bowie

 

Remember when Yahoo was amazing? Neither do I? They are outsearched by Google. Hotmail, GMail, and AOL all provide better mail services. I'm not sure what's more puzzling -- The fact that you refuse to die even though your stocks are through the floor or the fact that you still believe it is 8 years ago and in your hayday. Other than Microsoft wanting to buy you there has been no glimmer of hope for your site as it has been shrinking and getting more and more useless.. so much so that you make bad video game reviews to draw attention. That's ALSO about 9 years too long. Stupidity Kills.

Neo Metal Sonic

Dec 29 2008, 09:09 PM

I think Yahoo just makes up useless news about this and that! And I bet yahoo is wrong about the sonic part- There will be a another Sonic game oh say somewhere in the middle on January 2009, I hate yahoo they make false rumors