Licensed games don’t always turn out so good. TV or movie companies hire a game developer to turn their property into a popular video game to increase the exposure their show/film receives but it almost never works out.

In the last few years Rocksteady has made Batman video games good again and Tell Tale has put out the amazing The Walking Dead video game series which is still (brilliantly) unfolding.

We can’t help but wonder if there is a chance for some other TV shows (other than The Walking Dead) that deserve video game treatment and which ones could actually end up good. These are the five television shows we hope to see get the video game treatment in the future.

Breaking Bad

Breaking Bad has characters that would fit well into a video game. You have the DEA trying to capture the best crystal meth cooks in America. How is that not a compelling case for a video game? Walter White and Jesse Pinkman could be the two characters you play as in what would be a linear adventure game much like L.A. Noire.

There wouldn’t be a lot of combat but there could be the occasional shoot out with DEA agents or Mexican drug cartels. Players could control Jesse for more action packed parts of the game and use Walter for slower puzzle segments that advance the story.

In addition to that we would love to see a mini-game where you play as some of Jesse friends moving meth on the streets in order to make money. This could work similar to how selling drugs in Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars did in that some parts of town would pay more at certain times. You could even take out rival dealers to increase your monopoly over the meth market in game and use that extra money earned to unlock new content.

We can also envision a terrific Hitman type part of the game where you play as Gus Fring’s right hand assassin Mike and try to eliminate targets without getting caught.

Eden of the East

You may not have heard of this anime but it has a good cult following. Eden of the East follows a young man who is one of 12 people picked by a mysterious person named Mr. Outside. These 12 people are given an insane amount of money to use to turn around the fortunes of Japan.

If any of these 12 contestants should stop trying to use their money to make Japan return to it’s former glory they will taken out by one of the others who plays the role of the Supporter.

Instead of playing as the anime’s main character Akira Takizawa players could use a different, new character with the goal of returning Japan to it’s former glory by the orders of Mr. Outside. There would be high speed car chases and some hand to hand combat but most of this would be story driven gameplay.

Puzzle solving via the signature Seleção cell phone could be engaging because it would make players have to be creative with how they alter the course of the game. When the phone is used players would speak to Juiz who can literally make anything happen. You could order missile strikes to change how the people of Japan feel about homeland security, purchase a hospital and lower medical costs for the poor or anything else you could imagine.

You could even become a Johnny Hunter like the woman pictured above and use your money to rid Japan or rapists and murder the ones that continue to escape jail.

The idea would be that when the player finally runs out of money the game ends regardless of their choices and the main story ends. This could give players replay value because they could blow all their money once and die in the end. Start over and try to help citizens until you run out of money. It could work similar to Harvest Moon or Pikmin but instead of being limited by time or days your money and how you spend it determines how quickly you get to the end of the game and we’d hope to see multiple endings depending on your actions.

Dexter

A Dexter video game is a little bit easier to imagine. It could combine the detective mechanics of the Condemned series while using the stealth elements of Manhunt. You could even have moments where the game plays out like Sneaking mode from Metal Gear Online where two teams of 8 players play as cops and criminals trying to defeat each other while one independent player controls Dexter Morgan as he tries to gather evidence from the shoot out or capture a particular player without getting caught.

We aren’t counting the Facebook Dexter video game or the iPhone game from a few years back. We’d prefer to see the Dark Passenger given the full console treatment with a sprawling sandbox to catch murderers in.

Archer

If anyone makes a game based off FX’s hilarious animated comedy Archer it should be TellTale. They are known for having superb humor in their games and Archer would be best as a point and click adventure game like the Sam & Max series.

So long as the entire cast does the voices of the characters players could travel to Russia to thwart competing Spy agencies. And of course the game could be unpredictable and force a lot of chase scenes or unbelievable fights on the player as Sterling Archer is known for messing up good situations and accidentally making them more violent and comical.

Sons of Anarchy

FX strikes back with another TV series that would make an awesome video game. Sons of Anarchy could easily be imagine as a clone of Grand Theft Auto IV: The Lost and The Damned. That isn’t a bad thing per say.

The game could feature an open world with various missions. Biker races and deathmatch modes could make for fun with buddies online. It could even resemble a modern Road Rash with high speed biker combat using fists, guns, chains or bats. C’mon Road Rash-style Sons of Anarchy video game? Sounds good to me!

These are just five of the TV shows we think would make terrific video games. Maybe you don’t agree with them or you do. Is there a TV show out now (or in the past) that you think would make an excellent video game? Leave a comment below with your pick!