Franchise Forecast: Syphon Filter, Crash Bandicoot, Dino Crisis

Some series are huge and everyone knows they will continue and get new games. Series like Call of Duty, Grand Theft Auto and Mario will always have new games coming out. But other franchises are not as certain. Some game franchises have gone dormant or faded away. And now people are wondering: Will we get a new one?
And I’m here to look at all the evidence and data (Which means lots of Googling) and figure out the chances of a new game in your favorite series actually happening. Sometimes what I find rates high on the “Possibility-Meter ®.” Other times...well some things are just not going to happen.
Either way let us see what the chances are of a new...

Syphon Filter: Will Gabe Logan Return?

If you owned a Playstation 1 in the late 90s-early 2000’s you probably saw or even played a Syphon Filter game. If you didn’t play any of the Syphon Filter games here is a quick summary of them. You play a badass special agent who shoots people and saves the day. Also you have a tazer.
They were simple games compared to the games of today, but actually had a fairly diverse cast of characters and locations. The games also dealt with terrorism, biological weapons and bombings. These were uncommon things to see in games at that time and I remember as a nine year old kid thinking “Man, this is some really serious adult stuff.” It wasn’t. But it was still cool.

Since the last game was released in 2007 for PSP (and re-released on PS2 in 2010) fans have been wondering when, if ever, we will get a new Syphon Filter game. And... I have some well... less than great news.
A new Syphon Filter doesn’t seem likely. Not impossible, stranger things have happened. But while there have been rumors of a new game, the series didn’t sell well and the creative director of the games, John Garvin, basically (SPOILERS) killed Logan off in the last game released. He also sounds tired of the series and wishes to move on.
On top of all that I’m not sure how much demand there is for a new Syphon Filter game. So while it could happen, I doubt it will.

Dino Crisis: Is The Series Alive? Or Extinct?

I love dinosaurs! I really do. I am super excited for Jurassic World and a while back I wrote about how there aren’t any dinosaur games anymore. They just don’t make dino games anymore. So I would LOVE a new Dino Crisis, as would fans of the series. But reality is a much harsher judge than me. And sadly reality is who writes this series. (Actually it’s me, but reality is emailing me stuff and shaking it’s head at me as I write this.)
The reality is that Dino Crisis never set the world on fire like Resident Evil did. The Resident Evil series is huge, with a giant fanbase, tons of spin offs and even movies. Dino Crisis never reached that level of success. Instead what fans got was a shitty Xbox game, Dino Crisis 3, and a decent light gun spinoff game.

Since the release of Dino Crisis 3 in 2003 for the Xbox there has been very little, actually nothing, in the way of official Dino Crisis news. There have been rumors but rumors are easy to make up and hard to deny. And then you have the fact that Capcom has admitted that Dino Crisis 3 was a mess and that they don’t have a huge interest in bringing the series back.
Plus, Capcom is in a weird place. The company seems focused on Resident Evil, Street Fighter and Monster Hunter. Which isn’t surprising after games like Lost Planet, Dark Void and Remember Me sold poorly. Capcom seems content to stick with well known franchises and sadly Dino Crisis isn’t one of those. So for now Dino Crisis will remain buried alongside a T-Rex Skeleton.

Crash Bandicoot: Will The Mask Wearing Marsupial Get A New Game?

Looking at The Last of Us it might be hard to believe that Naughty Dog use to make games like Crash Bandicoot. (They also made this thing...Which is not as fondly remembered.) But yes the studio that brought you The Last of Us and Uncharted use to make a colorful platformer starring an Australian marsupial. They also made a kart racer. Actually they made two kart racers.
Since those days Naughty Dog have got a better logo and have created some of the most successful and critically acclaimed games of all time. These games have had more mature themes and more violence and Naughty Dog have stopped making Crash games. But Crash Bandicoot games kept coming out. Different studios made over a dozen games. Some actually sold really well and received good reviews. 2010 saw the release of the last Crash game, Crash Bandicoot Nitro Kart 2, an iOS racer. Since then nothing but rumors about the future of the franchise. Activision has control of series and while it was rumored that Sony had bought the IP, that was false.

However, Sony has made it clear that they are interested in a Crash Bandicoot revival. And Naughty Dog have also talked about making a new Crash Bandicoot game. Fans seem excited about a new game, so I feel like a new Crash Bandicoot game could happen.
Honestly this could be a few years away. It could also be a year away and it’s going to be announced at E3 this year (2015.) Sony helped bring Grim Fandango to PS4 and is also helping to bring Day of The Tentacle back as well. So it doesn’t seem like a crazy idea that Sony might fund a new Crash Bandicoot game.
I’m not sure WHO will end up making or funding the game. Maybe Activision will incorporate Crash into Skylanders or get someone to make a new game entirely. Or maybe Sony will work with Activision and fund a new Crash game on PS4. But I have a feeling Crash will be returning at some point in the not too distant future.