Game Franchises: What happens when the father leaves?

HeatShadow

Hope everyone enjoyed the unusual title. Razz

Just not I was reading on Planet Megaman that Keiji Inafune is leaving Capcom to head his own, albiet smaller and still owned by Capcom, company. One of the questions posed by the article is: what's going to happen to the Megaman franchise if its creator leaves? Oddly enough, this is something I've been hearing often.

Rumors are already abound that Hideo Kojima will be leaving the Metal Gear Solid team (for good this time!). Keiji Inafune might be leaving control of Megaman in the hands of another. And I'm sure nobody expects Shigeru Miyamoto to hang around forever.

So the question that I want to get opinions on is this: if the creator of a game franchise leaves or retires, what do you think would happen to the franchise itself? Do you have an optimistic outlook, that the franchise would flourish under new direction? Do you have a negative outlook, that the franchise will be warped beyond recognition by whoever comes in and takes the reigns next?
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Rock Miyabi · Posted: Wed Sep 13, 2006 1:24 pm Post subject:

Well, I'm sure that there are plenty who would demand that the franchise end if they don't have control, but there are others who would enjoy seeing it continue. While not videogames, if you look at some traditional newspaper cartoonists, after the father passes on or decides to quit drawing, their children sometimes do continue the comic. Blondie is a good example of that. When it's somebody who knew the creator or was a big part of their life, I think it can be a good thing. They often know the creative direction their predecessor would go for, but usually they can add their own ideas to keep the franchise fresh and able to thrive.

On the negative side, back to games, Xenogears/Xenosaga is a perfect example. It was supposed to be what, 9 total games like George Lucas originally planned 9 Star Wars. The franchise changed companies, the creative team was disbanded for the most part, and it makes it look like a total mess, while seemingly disrespecting the creator's aspirations. In this case, I think it was a wife/husband team. The wife got axed but the husband stayed on, but he doesn't neccesarily have enough control to alter what's already been messed up in the story, since it sounds like most of those other episodes won't become games. I forget exactly the entire story. But it's something like that.

It's really hard not to be skeptical when a series changes hands, but it would really depend on a case by case basis. They say change is good, but that doesn't mean everybody's gonna like it. I would hope that, in the Rockman franchise case, Inafune will still be keeping an eye out over his beloved Blue Bomber, but if somebody can reinvent the franchise for the better, I've got no problem with that. And if it sucks, we all call for his head! Laughing

Kidding. You need to have a good balance of what originally drew in all the fans who bought the games, with something that keeps the series fresh and exciting.
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Hardcore Hecxz · Posted: Wed Sep 13, 2006 2:35 pm Post subject:

Hard to say what will happen if Kenji leaves, and honestly you cant blame the guy. I mean Megaman might be his 1st son, the game that put him on the map but he must move on to higher platorms and new ideas for a newer generation. Like Dead Rising for example proves that Kenji still has potential and could continue on to make new and innovative games.

As for Megaman.....he will always be Capcom. He a icon for them. Capcom will I believe will have a new headliner for the series, and he will try and carry it on still being faithful to the original source.

Possibly with a new forerunner for the series, Im pretty sure about 60% that we will see the end of the Original and the X saga, we will see where they end, that is what I at least believe, but we all have our opinions

To you Rockman, Megaman.....Good Luck to ya!
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Viewtiful Starman · Puzzle Game Addict Age: 37 Joined: 14 Mar 2005 Posts: 708

From what I've heard, Metal Gear Solid might actually be ending with 4, so it could be timed around the same as that...

Anyhow, I think that it depends on the situation. I've seen things get worse as a result (Garfield, although that's sort of a different case), stay more or less the same (err... okay, can't think of any specific examples here XD) or even get better, on occasion. (Pokemon Special manga, IMO)

So it could go pretty much any way.

Shadow.EXE · Posted: Fri Sep 15, 2006 9:15 pm Post subject:

We saw what happened when Naughty Dog left its first franchise, Crash Bandicoot, behind. They've had countless sequels that just can't measure up to the quality of the original 3 PS1 games.

I'm really hoping that the Mega Man series will stay strong and continue to do well, even if Keiji Inafune does leave. You never know, maybe he'll continue to help Capcom with Megaman. Whatever happens, I hope Keiji knows what he's doing.

xfyrethespooky · Posted: Sat Sep 16, 2006 1:29 pm Post subject:

you would think that the games wouldn't have the quality they would have if the creator leaves. like with the X series, when Keiji Inafune left that, and 6 came out, the series didn't have the kind of story that drew me in anymore. it just got really weird.

so, my answer to your question is, the series will probably keep going, it just won't have the originality that it had before.
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Broken Goggles · Posted: Sat Sep 16, 2006 6:34 pm Post subject:

If there's lots of money to be made, the series should live on. I just can't imagine what Nintendo's franchises would be like without Miyamoto. :/ As for Megaman, I just don't know anymore. I use to love the X series back when I was little, but it just started to slowly die on me after X5. It seems that the more sequels there are in any Megaman game, the faster my interest for it dies. Sad

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Sai-kun · Posted: Sat Sep 16, 2006 9:17 pm Post subject:

Yuji Naka left Sega to form his own company: Prope. What the hell a Prope is, I dunno. But they'll still be working together occasionally. That's good :<
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Synchro-Kun · Posted: Sat Sep 16, 2006 9:38 pm Post subject:

The sad truth is that these nowadays, the "father" of these series pretty much don't do anything much to the series itself anymore. Heck, maybe them leaving the company to make a game with a team him/herself will be a better idea.

That said, if Inafune really leaves Capcom, I am guessing they'll just keep going. That said, the series itself pretty much has lost most of the originality. As for SEGA, it's the same; exception of the GBA games and possibly Sonic Rush, all the new 3D games really remind me nothing of the games back when it's on Genesis; the only thing that I really find original is the regular three trio and the rings; everything else is pretty much removed. Heck, they even removed the Electric Shield starting Sonic Heroes. What a waste.
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Zippo · Posted: Mon Sep 18, 2006 5:33 am Post subject:

The "father" or creator of a series leaving can always be a turning point for a series, however, often enough, the production company owns the rights to the characters and trademarks, and continues to produce games. Take Masahiro Sakurai, this world's one true God; the father of our beloved Kirby. He also created Earthbound and Super Smash Bros while working with HAL. He had become weary of HAL just making sequels, so he left. Even though he no longer works with HAL, they will still make Kirby games, and they'll be good.
Humerously enough, instead of letting HAL make the 3rd Smash Bros game, Nintendo tracked down Sakurai and said "Hey, we want you to make the next Smash Bros game. Take this cash and this office, make your own new team of developers, and go for it."
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Unknown Neo · Posted: Mon Sep 18, 2006 1:48 pm Post subject:

Hey, he did good work with it and they know it. So hey, why not.

AngelfanA16 · Posted: Mon Sep 18, 2006 2:16 pm Post subject:

When Tetsuya Nomura retires, all hell will break loose. No more Final Fantasy! Someone may take his place, but it won't be the same. Just look at the differences in the second and third Harry Potter movies.
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xfyrethespooky · Posted: Mon Sep 18, 2006 6:20 pm Post subject:

Unknown Neo · Posted: Tue Sep 19, 2006 1:45 pm Post subject:

Yeah. The company was going bankrupt and this was supposed to be their last game.