I agree with this actually. Same applies with movies as well. Indiana Jones is a good example. 

I always say to people, however, no matter how bad they made a game or a movie, it doesnt take away from what has already been made. We will always have that. 

Yeah - what's happening with lot of game IPs is very similar to modern curse that goes something like "I hope your favorite book gets adapted by Netflix" (or Amazon)

Classic seems like a bit of stretch but I suppose the expansions are basically full games if you're still actively playing. Haven't played a new expansion since Legion though.

Cool thread idea!
What I realized is there's sometimes a big difference between the last actual release and the last release that catered to my personal tastes. For example:

• Starfox: 10 years since Starfox Zero but almost 30 years since Starfox 64 (Jesus!)
• F-Zero: There were GBA games and one for NSO but F-Zero GX was released roughly 25 years ago
• Sonic: Always gets new games but Sonic Adventure 2 was released more than 25 years ago
• Metroid (3D): Prime 4 released last year but Prime 3 was roughly 20 years ago
• God of War (old style): I actually don't know what the last release was, but definitely over a decade?

Other franchises: 

• Elder Scrolls: 15 years lol (not counting Oblivion Remake)
• Resident Evil: Basically now
• 3D Zelda: 3 years
• Starfox Adventures: about 25 years
• Mario Kart: 1 year
• Nier (mainline game): 8 years
• Uncharted: Latest mainline new release (Uncharted 4) was 10 years ago

Starcraft - 9 Years. Not including remasters or expansions - 16 years
Ace Attorney - 2 years. Not including re-releases - 5 years
Advance Wars - 3 Years. Not including remakes - 18 years

There are a lot of examples of games that are are part of a series where I do not enjoy the majority of games from that series. Since later releases of those games are not games I like. Diablo, Heroes of might and Magic, Fire Emblem and even Zelda is part of this group. Even if some of my favorite games of all time are in the series, I cannot view them as favorite series anymore if that make sense.

Damn, didn't realized that it's so long already for Burnout.

Well, I guess this could be part of the retro forum considering the answers

Somehow missed this post. Yeah, so many got butchered:

Command & Conquer: Dead to me after Tiberium Sun.

Might & Magic: IX was so unfinished it's not worth it. And X: Legacy is in Ubisoft's Ashan universe plus horrible railroading mechanics, so not great for me either.

Heroes of Might & Magic: II through IV were great, then Ubisoft got their fingers on the license and fu it up more and more with each release.

Fallout: Loved the old top-down entries, and even to a lesser degree the Brotherhood of Steel spinoffs. But of those that came after only New Vegas was worth playing for me.

Dragon Age: Origins and Origins - Awakening were great, but what came after was shit. Except maybe the Veilguard, which apparently is somewhat of a return to form, but it's too little too late for me.

Diablo 1 and 2 were great, but it went downhill fast after that. At least they didn't fuck up the Ressurected remake of Diablo II compared to the horrible reforged of Warcraft III...

Jagged Alliance 1 was great, 2 was exceptional, and what followed was mediocre. Haven't tried 3 yet to see if it can live up to 2, but I have my doubts it can do so fully.

Master of Orion I was good, II Outstanding, III trash.

Battle Isle 1 and 2 were a great challenge, 3 great in general (apart of the acting from the programmers in the FMVs, which was terrible), but 4 tried to turn the turn-based wargame in a real-time with pause thing that simply couldn't work properly.

And while not butchered, the next 2 have some issues I want to address:

Serious Sam and was dumb action through and through, especially the War sequences. But with newer releases it introduced things that other shooters made that just ain't Serious Sam, like sprinting and especially aiming down sights, hence why I prefer the original TFE and TSE.

Tropico meanwhile had a great first entry, a chaotic second one, and stagnating ones after that. While those that came from 3 onwards weren't necessarily bad, they were so much easier (especially the logistics) if you played the original that there's simply not much of a challenge.