It looks as if unofficial video game versions of Monopoly are becoming a fad. I could not be more pleased. When I first saw Fallout Monopoly, I thought it was the coolest Monopoly ever, though I’ll admit, that’s not much of a feat. Tommy LeRoy must have thought it was cool too, because it inspired him to design and build a Mass Effect Monopoly game. A lot of the replacements are perfect, the train stations are Mass Relays and Jail is “Dead in Space.” I really hope this trend continues, although what better franchises could you pick after Fallout besides Mass Effect? Maybe StarCraft, although I’d really like to see a Mechwarrior Monopoly. Or Commander Keen. I doubt that’ll ever happen though. Maybe that’s for the best.

The new millennium has been mighty kind in terms of fruitful franchises. Some older, niche works have received revitalizations while other equally niche works have risen up to help fill out the greater cornucopia that is, shall we say, geekdom. But which of these newcomers really has the strength to stand up over time like the old standbys? That’s the real question here.

So, here’s the criterion: To be considered, the franchise must have some kind of multimedia, multi-platform presence. Basically, each franchise must have three different forms of media involved, be it comics, manga, film, video games, anime series, or something similar to those listed. Call it the equivalent of the triple threat; some franchises have the ability and some do not.

All of these have that quality in spades.

Batman: Arkham City Trailer (GameTrailers)

Mortal Kombat Trailer (GameTrailers)

Thor: God of Thunder Trailer (GameTrailers)

Guillermo Del Toro’s Insane Trailer (GameTrailers)

Resistance 3 Trailer (GameTrailers)

Mass Effect 3 Trailer (GameTrailers)

Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Trailer (GameTrailers)

Ray Larabie has given more thought than most to the question of how to make fonts and video games work together. Formerly an art director at Rockstar Toronto and currently the mastermind behind Typodermic Fonts, you may know Larabie’s font designs from games like Grand Theft Auto, Red Dead Redemption, Dragon Age: Origins, and Mass Effect. Geekosystem recently got the chance to talk to Larabie about his favorite retro gaming fonts, why screens make type design harder, and the infernal prevalence of Handel Gothic in every sci-fi game ever:

This anime still comes from what I would call an unlikely source. Or at least a source with unlikely inspiration. The image comes from Dante’s Inferno: The Animated Epic, a series of anime shorts inspired not by Dante’s original Divine Comedy, but by the video game Dante’s Inferno.

Also mysteriously in existence is Halo Legends, an anime series based on the Halo franchise. Because when someone says “film adaptation of the Halo franchise,” the first thought I have is “anime.”

And now this morning brings the announcement of yet another anime adaptation of a western video game: Dragon Age. Like all these other game animes, it’ll be direct-to-video, with a 2011 release date.

While I find this trend to be downright odd, there’s undoubtedly some potential. Halo, at least, has a sufficient fan base that there could be an audience for the anime, and it’s not a stretch to guess that there would be overlap in the anime and Halo markets. But Dante’s Inferno and Dragon Age are each a bit of a stretch to justify. But who knows, they might be great.

Which brings us to the bulk of our exercise. Here are 10 Western games that I know would make for sweet anime adaptations, ranked from how much I would salivate over it, in ascending order:

Legendary Pictures is really justfying its name. With Batman Begins, The Dark Knight, Watchmen, and The Hangover under its belt and Inception (giddy dance) coming in July, what could the studio possibly do in the future to make itself even more awesome.

This.

Legendary has obtained the rights to none other than Mass Effect, BioWare’s wildly successful, crazy-awesome franchise surrounding Commander Shepard’s exploits vanquishing evil aliens and protecting the universe.

Well, this was inevitable. The abysmal tedium of Mass Effect 2‘s mining segments has been well-known since initial reviews of the game came out; however, the minigame has now inspired minor nerdcore sensation Kabuto the Python (above) to pen a rap about his frustration with BioWare’s design choices.

Sample lyrics: “I used to rock microphones, rhymin’ in the stadium/These days I launch probes, mining for palladium/Slouched at my console crying from the tedium/I contemplate relations with the slimiest of aliens.”

Video below: technically NSFW, but if your boss doesn’t care about your listening to tracks about Mass Effect at work, we don’t think the obscenities per se are going to be an issue.