prowll said:
Half Life. The first one was fantastic, the second was ... meh, and I think Valve is finding that the support isn't there for a third. (Yes, I'm aware that there is a rabid fanbase for it. I'm also aware it's a SMALL rabid fanbase. Sorry guys... it's over. Let it go.)
I don't see how you got there. A quick google search (which for some reason yielded a top result from feb. 2011) provided sales figures for HL2 at 12 million units, by feb. 2011, which is to say, probably more by now.
Now, while I enjoyed the first game, and loved HL2, I've never played episode 1 and 2, and I'm not at all one of the "rabid fanbase", but I really don't see why they wouldn't continue a series that sells that well.
Source: http://www.forbes.com/forbes/2011/0228/technology-gabe-newell-videogames-valve-online-mayhem.html
Oh, and on topic, the Super Mario franchise.
One of my favorite games ever, which I still enjoy greatly to this day, Super Mario 64, was awesome. Sunshine, interesting, but not even close to the top of my list. Still commendable for trying something new. Same with Paper Mario, which I really enjoyed. And Galaxy, which was great fun. After that though, I feel like it's just been rehashes and remakes of the old stuff, and the old guy doesn't deserve that. The quality is still Nintendo, which is good, but it's still just the same old stuff with new graphics.