It seems nowadays, companies like to milk their franchises as much as possible to earn more money. In some cases that will work, if it's some really major franchise such as Mario or Final Fantasy. Another exception could be if there's a trilogy or some compelling storyline in a series such as Halo or Half-Life.

But it other cases, it's just plain wrong. For example, when Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter came out, it was amazing. Some of the best experiences that I've ever had for the 360 were from that game. And then one year later, comes GRAW2. Basically the same exact game, similar storyline, with the same gameplay with a few exceptions. Nothing excited me about this. It was a rehash of what made the game good and really didn't add anything new to the experience. That doesn't even scratch the surface of what makes sequels bad.

Games like Guitar Hero are excellent. When they brought it to the Xbox 360, I thought it would be great. Downloadable content would seem like the way to expand the experience. Did this change anything? No. They released 3-song packs for a lot of MS points each, most from the original Guitar Hero. And then they are now going to release Guitar Hero 3. It doesn't make any sense to me. Nothing compelling could be added to the new game to make it worth buying a whole new package. All they need to do is do some DLC, and do it right. Offer a song per $1, so you can pick and choose. Maybe offer a new game type or some new flashy visuals update, and it would be fine. But now it is turning into another case of sequels gone bad. And with Rock Band coming out, do people really want another version of Guitar Hero?

The same could be done with Madden or other sports games. All they need to do is have an Ultimate Madden game and release a large DLC package each year. Include some new rosters, the only new mechanic they added since its previous iteration, and fix what people were complaining about from the previous version. They could even charge $20 for this new DLC and it would be a bargain compared to what's happening to EA Spots right now.

In an attempt to sum all of this up, I want you all to think before you say, "OMG, I'm waiting for an announcement of Crackdown 2 or Dead Rising 2, or (Insert game title here) 47!!!! It's going to pwn all." Let the classics be the classics. Games like Dead Rising or Gears of War only really need one game to be special. Make room for new IPs and new games that will really push the limits of innovation instead of a rehash of the same game you have played once before.