Having lived through all eras, I've seen some very good and very bad hardware/software/Coin-op companies. I do apoligize if this has been brought up before, but what companies do YOU consider the best and worst?
For me, just a few of each:
WORST: LJN, Color Dreams, THQ, APPOLO, DATA EAST, Exotica, Tiger, Laseractive, and the company that made Halloween/ Texas Chainsaw massacre for the 2600...just to name a few!
BEST: NINTENDO, SEGA, The REAL "Atari", Imagic, Activision, COLECO, Mattel, UNIVERSAL, SONY, WILLIAMS...just to name a few.
(These lists are in no particular order, so don't shoot me!)
Other loves/hates and why?
Best/Worst game companys?
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JustLikeHeaven1
- Posts: 2971
- Joined: December 31st, 1969, 7:00 pm
Best/Worst game companys?
I'm not sure if you are talking about publishers or developers...but I will list some of the best developers in the Biz.
Nintendo - Nobody tops Nintendo in terms of quality games. Say what will you about their business practices, but there is no denying the fact that their games are legendary.
Planet Moon Studios - A great small developer that has more creative talent than most companies dream of. They have completely original games, that feature awesome settings, memorable characters and classic gameplay.
Bungie Studios - Bungie creates games that are of the highest quality. Before they brought the world Halo they established themselves in the PC industry with great titles like Myth.
BullFrog - A now defuct studio, Bullfrog had some of the most creative minds in the Business back in the 90s. Bullfrog was responsible for games like Syndicate, Theme Park, Populous and Dungeon Keeper. Sadly this talented studio was bought by EA and never heard from again.
LionHead - Former Bullfrog head Peter Molyneax started this ambitous studio. So far every game they have created is bursting with original ideas. The execution might be a little off, but they have some of the best concepts in the business.
Blizzard - They probably has the best track record of any developer in history. Proof postive that if you give creative minds long enough time, a top notch product is always produced. Blizzard has an impeccable track record and all of their games sell millions of copies. Just as a test go walk into your local EBgames and ask for a copy of StarCraft or Diablo II...I guarentee they still sell those games. Having a 8+ year shelf life in a gaming store is unheard of these days.
Young company to watch - Double Fine - Double Fine are the people that brought the world the critically acclaimed Psychonauts. Double Fine is made up of ex-LucasArts folk who had some of the most wacky innovative games in the late 80s / early 90s. Watch out for them to deliever something special in the future.
Developer on the decline - LucasArts - What was once a bright beacon of creative talent is now just another soulless corporation. LucasArts is completely focused on creating Star Wars games (90% of their games anyway) and they have abandoned their innovative roots from yesteryear.
Nintendo - Nobody tops Nintendo in terms of quality games. Say what will you about their business practices, but there is no denying the fact that their games are legendary.
Planet Moon Studios - A great small developer that has more creative talent than most companies dream of. They have completely original games, that feature awesome settings, memorable characters and classic gameplay.
Bungie Studios - Bungie creates games that are of the highest quality. Before they brought the world Halo they established themselves in the PC industry with great titles like Myth.
BullFrog - A now defuct studio, Bullfrog had some of the most creative minds in the Business back in the 90s. Bullfrog was responsible for games like Syndicate, Theme Park, Populous and Dungeon Keeper. Sadly this talented studio was bought by EA and never heard from again.
LionHead - Former Bullfrog head Peter Molyneax started this ambitous studio. So far every game they have created is bursting with original ideas. The execution might be a little off, but they have some of the best concepts in the business.
Blizzard - They probably has the best track record of any developer in history. Proof postive that if you give creative minds long enough time, a top notch product is always produced. Blizzard has an impeccable track record and all of their games sell millions of copies. Just as a test go walk into your local EBgames and ask for a copy of StarCraft or Diablo II...I guarentee they still sell those games. Having a 8+ year shelf life in a gaming store is unheard of these days.
Young company to watch - Double Fine - Double Fine are the people that brought the world the critically acclaimed Psychonauts. Double Fine is made up of ex-LucasArts folk who had some of the most wacky innovative games in the late 80s / early 90s. Watch out for them to deliever something special in the future.
Developer on the decline - LucasArts - What was once a bright beacon of creative talent is now just another soulless corporation. LucasArts is completely focused on creating Star Wars games (90% of their games anyway) and they have abandoned their innovative roots from yesteryear.
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bluemonkey1
- Posts: 2444
- Joined: December 31st, 1969, 7:00 pm
Best/Worst game companys?
Best: Llamasoft, Sega, Psygnosis (now Sony Liverpool), Cavedog, Westwood Studios, Nintendo, Ubisoft (whichever team does Rayman), Epic, iD, Psikyo, Team 17.
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McTom
Best/Worst game companys?
Sega - Sonic series and so on
Nintendo - Mario, Zelda and so on
personal favorites:
Maxis - SimCity series
LucasArts - oldstyle adventures
Nintendo - Mario, Zelda and so on
personal favorites:
Maxis - SimCity series
LucasArts - oldstyle adventures
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Steerforth
Best/Worst game companys?
I'll only add some companies that I didn't see already listed.
Sierra! Back in the day, they made some stellar adventure games. Loved Space Quest, Kings Quest, Goldrush, etc. When their games outgrew our computers specs in the early 90's, I was one bummed kid. Now it's all freware and shareware.
I used to think Rare was the best company ever in the N64 era. In retrospect, they are pretty overated. Banjo Kazooie and Goldeneye are both 5 star games, but their respective sequels both fell flat. They have some other fair games, but I do not like the DKC series, the camera is just too zoomed in for me. It seems more like memorizing the stages than pure platfroming, ala Mario. I remember the first time I played Mario 64, I hated it. Couldn't even land on the gombas! I ruled at 2-d Mario, got frustrated by this new thing, and didn't even give the game a chance. With Banjo, I had no such preconceptions, and had a blast. I finally figured out how good Mario 64 was through the DS, then rediscovered the non dumbeddown original, and sold my DS copy after I got 150 stars twice. It was much harder getting 120 on the other, and more fun.
Sierra! Back in the day, they made some stellar adventure games. Loved Space Quest, Kings Quest, Goldrush, etc. When their games outgrew our computers specs in the early 90's, I was one bummed kid. Now it's all freware and shareware.
I used to think Rare was the best company ever in the N64 era. In retrospect, they are pretty overated. Banjo Kazooie and Goldeneye are both 5 star games, but their respective sequels both fell flat. They have some other fair games, but I do not like the DKC series, the camera is just too zoomed in for me. It seems more like memorizing the stages than pure platfroming, ala Mario. I remember the first time I played Mario 64, I hated it. Couldn't even land on the gombas! I ruled at 2-d Mario, got frustrated by this new thing, and didn't even give the game a chance. With Banjo, I had no such preconceptions, and had a blast. I finally figured out how good Mario 64 was through the DS, then rediscovered the non dumbeddown original, and sold my DS copy after I got 150 stars twice. It was much harder getting 120 on the other, and more fun.
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a1
- Posts: 3032
- Joined: December 31st, 1969, 7:00 pm
Best/Worst game companys?
[QUOTE=Steerforth]
I used to think Rare was the best company ever in the N64 era. In retrospect, they are pretty overated. Banjo Kazooie and Goldeneye are both 5 star games, but their respective sequels both fell flat.
[/QUOTE]
Rare never made a sequel to Goldeneye.
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Adamant1
- Posts: 2088
- Joined: December 31st, 1969, 7:00 pm
Best/Worst game companys?
Perfect Dark was kinda-sorta presented as one, but it ddn't exactly fall flat 
No one has mentioned Enix yet? Yeah, sure, they've fused with Square now, but ther line of games has always been vastly superior to the Square lines.
And buh, no mention of Capcom either? Come on, people.
No one has mentioned Enix yet? Yeah, sure, they've fused with Square now, but ther line of games has always been vastly superior to the Square lines.
And buh, no mention of Capcom either? Come on, people.
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Bartman
Best/Worst game companys?
Here is some or all of my list of good companies that were good back then and possibly today: Nintendo Sega, Capcom, Sony, Konami, Namco, Midway, Ubisoft, Activision, Id Software, Rockstar Games
Here is some of the bad: Acclaim and it's side companies, Disney today, Wisdom Tree (unlicensed company for NES) Bandai, THQ,
Here is some of the bad: Acclaim and it's side companies, Disney today, Wisdom Tree (unlicensed company for NES) Bandai, THQ,
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Steerforth
Best/Worst game companys?
Yeah, I counted Perfect Dark as a sequel to Goldeneye. I was mucho-hyped for that game, but I thought the single player campaign was very blah. They overdid it with the graphics, it is a curious thing but I think the best looking N64 games are the ones who did not try to do too much, SM64, and GE among them. I didn't care for the voice acting or the story either. It wasn't a complete disaster, but it did not come close to living up to Goldeneye, in terms of level design and overall feel.
I've posted that I don't play violent games, this was back late high school when I did. I still enjoy playing Goldeneye once in a while, I will admit, nothing like the skill needed for a good FPS. The more relistic they get, the less interested I am. I guess that is a fine line and probably hypocritical of me. But when you load a game full of unnecesary and generic cussing and core, it IS a different expierence than GE. PD is pretty tame even by today's standards. Also I had a GC instead of an Xbox or PS3, so not many of those games came down the pike anyway, and EA Bond games were not so good, I think.
I've posted that I don't play violent games, this was back late high school when I did. I still enjoy playing Goldeneye once in a while, I will admit, nothing like the skill needed for a good FPS. The more relistic they get, the less interested I am. I guess that is a fine line and probably hypocritical of me. But when you load a game full of unnecesary and generic cussing and core, it IS a different expierence than GE. PD is pretty tame even by today's standards. Also I had a GC instead of an Xbox or PS3, so not many of those games came down the pike anyway, and EA Bond games were not so good, I think.
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