mistercrayon wrote:

I don't like the term franchise. Last time I checked a franchise meant a brand or company that licences out its name and business model in exchange for cash. In most cases the term franchise is a wholly inadequete name.

I think it's acceptable in certain circumstances.  Mario isn't just a character in a side scrolling platform.  He is a mascot, but the universe and cast of characters is a franchise in the sense that the characters span a series of different games and genres.  Mot of what we're seeing here are just series rather than franchises, but I think if we go there we'll get bogged down in pages defining the line between them.