I'd be hard pressed to put anyone above Bioware. Too many amazing RPG's. Neverwinter Nights, Mass Effect 1 and 2, Knights of the Old Republic, Dragon Age:Origins, Baldurs Gate 1 and 2, Jade Empire. What says you?
Played them all, and loved them all. Bioware definitely is my top choice for RPG devs. For others I will also mention Valve up there as well. Half Life, Half-Life 2 both were amazing games with IMO some of the best add-on content ever for any FPS. Then you have Team Fortress Classic/TF2, Portal & Left 4 Dead/L4D2. The original Day of Defeat was pretty damn good as well for its time. Im hard pressed to put any FPS developer above them. One could argue ID, but when you look at Wolfenstein, Doom, and Quake....is there really much different between them? Give them credit for being pioneers for sure, but Valve seems to have much more versatile uses for the genre and are constantly pushing the envelope.
Good call on Valve. You forgot one of the greatest multiplayer games of all time though, Counter Strike.
Nah I didnt really forget it-CS was an independent mod for Half Life. I was in beta for the CS modification since B2.0, and I remember the developer for it was a college student at the time and some of his buddies who(thanks to valve) was able to create by far the most successful mod ever because Valve distributed their source code with the purchase of Half Life. He ended up getting rich of selling the CS brand to valve, and hopefully whenever they get around to it....knowing valve, Counter-Strike 2 could be something special.
Which is true. CS was such a great mod though I personally consider it its own game, which it was with CSS. I do wish Valve would get on with CS 2 already though.
Brownie points to whoever recognizes this entire list without Googling: Yuuji Horii Treasure Quest Team Ninja Koji Igarashi id Quintet Valve Armor Project Shu Takumi Hideo Kojima Level 5 Banpresto Inticreates Monolith Soft Rockstar North Valve didn't make Counter-Strike, they simply hired the guys who made it and bought the rights alongside.
As much as I enjoyed CSS, there really wasnt much difference at all between it and 1.6 outside of the physics based engine. Which, dont get me wrong- I love the source engine and it made CS continue to be relevant, but merely improved bullet physics and a few minor tweaks to equipment/map design isnt what Im hoping for out of CS2.
Criterion and Codemasters are two I personally like, though there are better developers out there (Bioware was already mentioned).
Not familiar with Criterion. Operation Flashpoint from Codemasters is a brilliant game, not much of a fan otherwise though.
Blizzard deserves kudos. They have to be mentioned with the elite, even by some who dont necessarily enjoy the fantasy settings they are famous for. Lost Vikings on SNES/Sega, Warcraft I-III, Diablo I-II, Starcraft, and now with WOW being the behemoth that it is these days....They earned their place in my list obviously. Their games are known for being extremely polished, and fun. Games are supposed to entertain you, and they pull it off in both serious tones(Diablo, Starcraft) as well as the lighter approaches in Warcraft/Vikings. Edit-Also Rare should be mentioned. They have put out a good amount of classics. RC PRO-AM Battletoads Donkey Kong Country Series Killer Mother ****ing Instinct Goldeneye Perfect Dark Banjoe Kazooie Kameo Viva Pinata Im also a fan of Captain Skyhawk(NES) and their Ken Griffey JR game on the SNES.
Of the ones you guessed, you were mostly right, but you missed a couple. Also, id didn't create Team Fortress; it was a mod for Quakeworld. Valve hired the developers, just like Counter-Strike. They're my favorite developers, that's the common link.
Criterion has done the burnout series (and is in charge of the newest Need for Speed). Codemasters did Grid and Colin Mcrae which is why I like them.
Close. They were a semi-independent developer who worked on the Super Robot Wars/Taisen series for a long time. After Namco and Bandai merged, they bought out Banpresto, which is now one of their many internal development teams. Two takeaways: 1. You guys haven't played the Atlus-translated Super Robot Taisen games, or SRW OG Saga Endless Frontier on the DS? For shame. 2. I am a gigantic nerd.
I know they didn't. But I still consider Team Fortress it's own game, much like Counter Strike, because they're such amazing mods.
I see. Not a fan of racing games, but I have played a couple of the Burnout games and found myself actually enjoying the game mode where you try to create the most amount of damage you can.
Damn you!!!! Now you made me realize a game I left of my best ever played list. Gunstar Heroes!!!!!!!!
The irony? I don't even think Gunstar Heroes is their best game. Toss-up between Mischief Makers, Bangai-O, Radiant Silvergun, and Silhouette Mirage. I wish Rakugaki Showtime had made it overseas, too.
I was going to mention Blizzard. The 1 negative I have is they take so friggin long to put out a game. I am sure they could put out just as polished of a game in less time. They are going on what?? 2 1/2 years since they announced Diablo 3 and are no where near release.
Seems like they are milking their other franchises up until they feel ready to drop D3. They have SC2 coming this year & the next WOW expansion as well. I have to imagine that D3 would come afterward.
They are suppose to announce the 5th character at blizzcon in October??? I think. So my guess is going to be 3rd qt next year at the very earliest.