Not sure if this thread has been done before but...... since this is a slow period of video game releases and I probably won't buy another game until September when Borderland 2 comes out....

Metal Gear franchise (NES games and Solid series) is the best franchise ever.  My personal favorite but also Metal Gear games are all critically acclaimed.  Mario comes close (but had some mediocre spinoff games - Mario is missing).  And so does Zelda.  Halo.  From this generation, I would throw Uncharted and Gears of War, but both have only 3 games thus far.

Gonna have to say Mario. The fact that the series manages to keep releasing such high quality titles and maintain sales for this long is phenomenal.

Mario is the face of gaming.

Metal gear, god of war and uncharted for me :)

I can't pick one favourite, I love Civilization, Grand Theft Auto, Uncharted, Resident Evil (up until 4), Fallout, Portal, Pokemon, Resistance, Battlefield... and plenty of others. There is no way I could pick just one of these franchises as my all-time favourite.

Of course Mario is synonymous with gaming, but The Legend of Zelda is the only franchise where I think every game is awesome. It also the franchise which is home to the only game I ever gave a 10/10 rating, though some others came close.

So, I voted for Zelda!

For people who don't know much about gaming or Mario fans, that is.

I would say every gamer has their own different array of characters they immediately associate with video games, for example, a PC-only gamer is more likely to think of Gordan Freeman before Mario.

Up to this day i'll vote Final Fantasy but i guess that within two more years and another disaster further my opinion will change indefinitely...

Some people have seen alot of games yet still choose to say that Mario is the predominant IP of the industry. It's a fair statement worded that way.

I would say thought that as an IP it doesn't represent all genres and styles, but as much as 1 IP can serve as a face for the industry, Mario would be the best fit even if some of us don't see it that way it would be a majority concept.

Personally? :( Very hard to choose. I would have to say Final Fantasy.

So, I don't know much about gaming when I say Mario is the most famous video game franchise?

Give yourself a break.

Would it? Maybe 15 or 10 years ago, but now? Call of Duty and maybe Halo or GTA seem to be more relevant in popular culture than Mario nowadays. There are 30 million bros out there that'd think of Captain Price or SOAP before thinking of Mario when the words "video game" come to mind, and that's just one franchise. Anyway, this is kinda going off topic, but it could make for an interesting wall thread if you wanna continue the discussion! (@THE1 as well)