Gaming What are your 3 Favorite Gaming companies?

[Morpheus]

Nintendo-What can I say? Nintendo has been a marvel. Zelda keeps my mind and fingers in check. Mario Kart let's me race my friends while attacking them at the same time. SSBM Let's me shoot people, and then punch them, kick them, slam them, burn them, and then throw them all in the same minute. Animal Crossing took the sims formula and took out all the boring stuff, like going to the bathroom or eating. Ghostbusters came to life in Luigi's Mansion. Star Fox gave me a near-perfect arcade shooter. Mario 64 took platforming to a whol new demension. Nintendo kept gaming alive.

Rare-As screwed up as rare is now, It used to shine. Donkey Kong Country made 2 Megs seem like 2 Gigs. Goldeneye is still the best FPS of all time, and my cousins and I play 4-player deathmatch to this very day. Perfect Dark took the future and made it real.

Enix-For creating the only game to ever hold my attention for [B]1,000[/B] hours. Dragon Warrior Monsters.

[Morpheus]

I really like Insomniac, too. I bought Spyro 2 with PS1 and had a ball with it. I got all 3 RaC titles within a month of launch, and really liked the fact that they don't just try to be funny, they [B][I]ARE[/I][/B] funny. You don't see too many truly funny games anymore. Not since ToeJam and Earl.

[BlueYoshi]

[color=darkred]Bah, I'm gonna have to go along side Morpheus and say that my all time favourite is Nintendo. The stuff they come out with is gold. Pure gold. Not only that, but Nintendo have applied some of the most unique concepts in their games, like Mario being a plumber, and Donkey Kong being a... monkey, except he doesn't seem so stupid when you look at him nowadays.

Aside from all the sugar-coating and whatnot though, Nintendo really have changed throughout the years. Mario's transition from 2D to 3D was an amazing step for the company, even if some of those titles didn't work out (Sunshine and Mario Versus Donkey Kong :rolleyes:). Not only that, but two of my favourite game franchise series are home to Nintendo as well, being Metroid and Zelda. Those are two of the few series of games that tend to get better with each release, in my eyes.

There are other companies, too, though I doubt that I'd ever love them more than I do Nintendo. Capcom comes to mind, as does Rare, and so does Enix, heh. I know that other companies exist, too, but it seems that some of them tend to spark up a decent enough game once every two or three titles.

Now, I will end this ghastly fan-boyish post before I get jumped.[/color]

[QuincyArcher]

I would have to say my 3 favorite developers would have to be Konami, Valve and Square Enix. First off Konami, because the Metal Gear & Silent Hill series' are my two favorite game series' (except for Silent Hill 4) Both Hideo Kojima and Akira Yamaoka are hands down the greatest game developers of our time (imo). Secondly, Valve because they have revolutionized the FPS genre not once, but twice with HL and HL2. And Lastly Square Enix because they set the standards for all other console RPGs, and even the worst RPGs that come out of Square (ffviii) are better than the best that other companies have to offer.

[natetron46]

I think I would ahve to give some props to iD. Although Doom3 was a decent game, what they did for the FPS genre when they created the original Doom and Castle Wolfenstein was enormous. That changed the way gaming was done and created the genre.

[Kristoff119]

Squaresoft for it's FFs, Kingdom hearts, and Parasite eve(my favorite action/rpg); Konami for MGS, Castlevania, and I'm sure a ton of other games I can't remember at the moment; Nintendo for oh so much: metroid, mario, f-zero, smash bros, kirby, and zelda; I have to say that Capcom also ties in with nintendo because of the handheld zelda's that it has created and also for the blue bomber megaman.

[PWNED]

No 1 on my list like a few others have said would be Nintendo because they practicually defined gaming for generations. Platforming wouldn't even be half decent without Nintendo because they took the formula for Pitfall and removed some things, gave it a whole new look and voila Mario was born. And it was good.

Konami comes second on my list because it created my favourite gaming series ever ( Castlevania, Suikoden and MGS). Its not how many achievments but how good those achievments were. And one of the crowning achievments rules the stealh genre to this day (Metal gear (Solid) series). Castlevania is one of the best ever adventure series and Suikoden 1 was the first great RPG on PSX.

SSI (purchased by Black Isle) is my 3rd choice because their games defined RPGing forever. For gods sake they created all of the Eye of the Beholder games, Icewind Dale, Planescape Torment and more. Theire games have msotly been good but with a few stinkers (Ruins of Myth Drannor).

[Grunt Salesman]

My favorite gaming company of all time would have to be Bungie. They gave me the golden paradise called Halo, (even if Halo 2 wasn't as good) which I still play all of the time, even though I got it in 2001. Then Lucas Arts. I'm a sucker for Star Wars games, although not all are good. I love KOTOR and KOTOR2, and I just got Mercenaries. That is an exellent game. Last but not least, Valve. Counter Strike is almost as addictive as Halo, but its all multiplayer goodness. Who knows how many hours I've logged in on Counter Strike Source. And Half Life 2 is the most realistic game I've ever seen. Its fun to just kick boxes and spin merry-go-rounds because everything acts realistically. :)

[Morpheus]

[quote name='Grunt Salesman']My favorite gaming company of all time would have to be Bungie. They gave me the golden paradise called Halo, (even if Halo 2 wasn't as good) which I still play all of the time, even though I got it in 2001. Then Lucas Arts. I'm a sucker for Star Wars games, although not all are good. I love KOTOR and KOTOR2, and I just got Mercenaries. That is an exellent game. Last but not least, Valve. Counter Strike is almost as addictive as Halo, but its all multiplayer goodness. Who knows how many hours I've logged in on Counter Strike Source. And Half Life 2 is the most realistic game I've ever seen. Its fun to just kick boxes and spin merry-go-rounds because everything acts realistically. :)[/quote]
A few things:
I don't see how a company can be the best over 1 game. Everything in halo has been done better in the unreal games. Also, Lucasarts didn't make KOTOR. Bioware did.

[Magnum Apex]

[font=trebuchet ms][color=darkblue][b]Konami[/b] holds the title of my favorite video game company simply because of creating the Metal Gear series. When I first played Metal Gear Solid, I was already playing video games for 11 years, so I didn't think any new title would grab me the same way Super Mario World, Street Fighter II or Mike Tyson's Punch-Out!! did in my infancy. Boy, was I wrong. I was taken for a ride like I had never experienced before. I loved every single element of the game: its intricate story, its interesting characters, its cutting-edge graphics, its varied soundtrack, its friendly gameplay, its spot-on control, its wealth of Easter eggs... you name it. The series has only gotten better with each release, MGS3 being the culmination of what every game should aspire to be, a testament to the hard work and love some developers can still put on a gaming project.

If that weren't enough, I must also thank Konami for the now-classic Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles games for the Arcades, NES and SNES, for Contra, for Castlevania and for Zone of the Enders, among others.

My [i]very close[/i] second would be [b]Capcom[/b]. If you had all the games Capcom has made in a chronologically ordered list, you can easily spot the evolution of gaming since the company's existence. From Mega Man to Street Fighter to Resident Evil to Devil May Cry, Capcom goes against the norm and doesn't rely solely on franchises it created generations ago (Like Nintendo), it continues to create new characters and new franchises that will live on next to their more classic mascots, that are even reinvented themselves and never forgotten.

My third pick would be [b]Square[/b]. The company that gave me Chrono Cross, Bushido Blade 2, and the best RPGs ever made in the Final Fantasy series is worthy of all the praise and hype it continually gets. As of late, however, the company hasn't created an excellent new game from a brand new franchise, but as long as they keep exceeding expectations with the next Final Fantasy, they'll still have a place at the top of my list.[/color][/font]

[Morpheus]

[quote name='Cyke']Capcom has made in a chronologically ordered list, you can easily spot the evolution of gaming since the company's existence. From Mega Man to Street Fighter to Resident Evil to Devil May Cry, Capcom goes against the norm and doesn't rely solely on franchises it created generations ago (Like Nintendo), it continues to create new characters and new franchises that will live on next to their more classic mascots, that are even reinvented themselves and never forgotten.[/quote]
Nintendo puts franchises on the front because it makes the product recognizable and easy to get into. Do you know why there is a Sony emblem on everything Sony makes? If you have had good experiences with a product, then you are more likely to buy another from them.

[Magnum Apex]

[quote name='Morpheus']Nintendo puts franchises on the front because it makes the product recognizable and easy to get into. Do you know why there is a Sony emblem on everything Sony makes? If you have had good experiences with a product, then you are more likely to buy another from them.[/quote]

[font=trebuchet ms][color=darkblue]I understand that perfectly, but companies like Capcom can still make games were age-old, recognizable characters like Mega Man show up, and at the same time create new franchises like Devil May Cry, Viewtiful Joe, Onimusha and Shadow of Rome. Why can't Nintendo do the same? Other than Pikmin, can you name any significant, brand new franchise created by Nintendo in this generation? It would certainly be refreshing if they took the risk.[/color][/font]

[Morpheus]

[quote name='Cyke][font=trebuchet ms][color=darkblue]I understand that perfectly, but companies like Capcom can still make games were age-old, recognizable characters like Mega Man show up, and at the same time create new franchises like Devil May Cry, Viewtiful Joe, Onimusha and Shadow of Rome. Why can't Nintendo do the same? Other than Pikmin, can you name any significant, brand new franchise created by Nintendo in this generation? It would certainly be refreshing if they took the risk.[/color'][/font][/quote]
Eternal Darkness and animal crossing. But do they really need more franchises? With Super Mario, mario golf, mario baseball, mario kart, f-zero, star fox, zelda, metroid, super smash bros., and Donkey kong, do they really need any more?

[Magnum Apex]

[quote name='Morpheus']Eternal Darkness and animal crossing. But do they really need more franchises? With Super Mario, mario golf, mario baseball, mario kart, f-zero, star fox, zelda, metroid, super smash bros., and Donkey kong, do they really need any more?[/quote]

[font=trebuchet ms][color=darkblue]Eternal Darkness was created independently by Silicon Knights. The project would originally appear as a third-party game for the N64. After Silicon Knights signed with Nintendo to become a new second-party developer for the Japanese giant, the project was simply moved and upgraded for the GameCube. Nintendo did not create the series.

Animal Crossing is only the second game of a series, the first title being Animal Forest for the N64, not released in America.

Like I've stated before, I meant brand new franchises. By that I mean, new series with new characters. All the Mario titles are about existing characters taking part in a different genre, like Mario Kart, Mario Baseball, Mario Golf and Super Smash Bros. (And Mario Party, Mario Pinball?)

I mentioned Capcom as an example because they've created brand new characters and placed them in a universe of their own in this generation alone. One way to explain myself would be by imagining this: If Capcom had done things the "Nintendo" way, instead of creating a brand new world and characters for Devil May Cry to fit with the gameplay style they had in mind (3D hack & slash action), the company would've instead made the game with Zero from Mega Man X as the main star, and the game by default would be in the same universe as Mega Man. The reality of it is, we now have two different franchises, two completely different sets of characters to like from Capcom.

Or, I could just mention what actually happened. Devil May Cry started of as a Resident Evil game, but as they came up with new ideas for the project, they ended up with something quite different than their survival horror series, so they decided to go ahead and make a brand new game out of the once RE title. By contrast, Rareware was working on a brand new set of characters and universe for the GCN, Dinosaur Planet, but Nintendo decided that the game should be a Star Fox game instead (hey! In with the old!) and Star Fox: Adventures was born. Playing once through the game will reveal that the title wasn't meant to be a Star Fox game, and not at all what Rare was actually working with.

See, that's what I mean by Nintendo lacking the creativity to create brand new characters in their own worlds. They choose to slap every single project with their overexposed characters, and I strongly feel that takes away from the experience, and especially of what could've been.[/color][/font]

[Semjaza]

While I can agree with Nintendo and the overexposure argument, I still personally would put them high up on the list because they've been around for decades, not simply the past five years. I'm not going to completely ignore a vast amount of past innovations and games thanks to current flaws.

It's easy to put a company like Capcom into this same category, what with sprites being reused for several years in different series, reliance on countless SF, RE and Megaman ports, several Megaman EXE and Zero games in a couple of years time span with little key differences and so forth. In fact, even with Nintendo's overuse of the Mario characters, I'd say Capcom's approach with many of its larger franchises is generally considered the epitome of milking. I can complain about how there are already six Mario Party titles (which are not made in-house or by a second party since its inception, but rather by Hudson Soft; if we're not going to count ED, we might as well not even count that as Nintendo developed anyway) but I can also complain about how there are also several versions of Street Fighter II (with even smaller differences) and there is even still a possibility for more.

Even then, I don't think this makes any of their original contributions any less important or their good games any less good. Works for both of them in both senses, although Nintendo is obviously playing it safe more than Capcom has in terms of games themselves. I won't disagree that Viewtiful Joe, Killer7 or that upcoming alien game (I can't remember the name) look like bigger risks with completely new properties in many senses than what Nintendo has done the last few years.

As for someone else's Bungie argument... They're a company that's been around quite a long time and has been respected long before Halo over their excellent Marathon titles. I guess a lot of people have only played Halo since Marathon was largely Mac only, but there is certainly more to them than that.

Anyway, I don't know what my top three are, but my top one on consoles is Atlus. In my opinion, the games they have themselves created are among the best RPGs on their respective systems. There are weaker titles, of course, but I don't think any one franchise interests me more than MegaTen. Plus the US arm puts out a lot of fun and interesting games that a lot of other publishers ignore. I don't know about anyone else, but I really enjoyed Cubivore lol.

[Endymion]

[COLOR=Red]Natsume would probably be my favorite gaming company. I've played just about every Harvest Moon game for every system and everything about the series rocks my socks.

Capcom would be second. The Megaman series, to Streetfighter games, to Resident Evil(RE 4 rocks) all are awesome games. My favorite Capcom game would probably be either Streetfighter Vs. SNK 2:EO, Megaman X4, or Streetfighter Alpha 2.

A tied second would be Nintendo. Anything by Nintendo is pretty much quality gaming. Super Smash Bros. Melee, Mario Power Tennis, Animal Crossing, it all kicks butt. Whee![/COLOR]