List 'em, if you can explain reasons why you respect them so much feel free to share.
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nintendo: part of it is that they are responsible for some of the games that first got me into gaming. they were really formative for me on how a game should play. the other part is just that they have made some of my favorite games ever. and even if a particular game isn't among my all time favorites, nintendo has always been a developer(s) that made games i could go back to years and years later and still appreciate just as much or continue to make solid games that speak to me through the gameplay.
jonathan blow: i do like braid a lot, i think it's an exciting game for the medium, and i'm really looking forward to the witness. however, i also just like hearing interviews, discussions, or lectures from him. he's really opinionated, but he's also very rational and he'll go through the effort to make his argument in a reasonable way that isn't "**** this, **** that."
jonathan mak: again, i really like his games (everyday shooter is actually one of my favorites), but it's also about the developer himself. i can definitely respect his notion with everyday shooter that "hey, it's my idea (although damned if i don't cite my influences) so i'm going to do the whole thing and see it through." and then soon after that he teams up for sound shapes, a game dependent on sharing and cooperation. although even there, he works in a competitive part. he just seems like he has to create something.
team ico: even if the last guardian never comes out (i think it's a ps4 game now), i like that big games as bold as ico and shadow of the colossus can get made and be so great too. they also give themselves a lot of creative freedom to make some pretty big changes late into development. a lot of the credit goes to sony for likely doing so pretty cool things as a publisher too.
also, i'm running out of space, but i particularly respect valve as a developer too.
1. Kojima Productions(part of Konami) = every game they make reeks quality and is just damn good.
2. Nintendo = No explanation really needed is there.
3. Obsidian Entertainment = buggy or not their games are some of the best, and most well written rpgs out there.
4. 2k games = Just because their one of the few developers/publishers actually taking some chances.
5. CdProjekt Red = they've only released 2 games so far but damn were they good.
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I almost wanted to put bioware but I've been losing a lot of faith in them lately hopefully they'll get it back.
1. Media Molecule - I had burned out on 2D butt bouncers three generations ago (back then they were as common as first person shooters are now) but when I saw LBP for the first time at GDC, the flame was rekindled. It was doing stuff I'd never seen before (and I have been gaming for over three decades) in a butt bouncer but which made a lot of sense and looked like a lot of fun. Also, it was kid friendly and four people could play at once. My wife didn't really get into it, but my daughters and I are huge fans to this day and when their friends come over, LBP tends to be the first game they request).
Play/Create/Share is one of the most revolutionary things to happen to console gaming. LBP's create tools gave non-programmers a flexiblel 2D engine (there are ninjas who have managed to squeeze 3D out of LBP2, but the engine isn't built with that in mind) and the hard work of the community has given LBP extremely long legs. The community is filled with talented people who have managed to turn their enthusiasms (be they platformers, rpgs, board games, J-horror, Judge Dredd, 2D bullet hell shooters, stoner comedies or century old Irish poems) into movies or games.
What's really commendable about MM is that they are trying to avoid getting chained to a franchise (which happens to a lot of developers), so they are abandoning LBP and moving on to Tearaway (a 3D adventure in a papercraft world) and an unnamed PS4 project which they state will take Play/Create/Share further tha LBP (only the game creations tools have been shown, but it allows people to carve out objects and animate those objects) and whose dominant medium seems to be clay.
2. Naughty Dog - My first brush with Naughty Dog was the abysmal MK clone Way of the Warrior. If someone had told me that people that inflicted that atrocity on the world would go on to make some of my favorite games ever, I would have laughed in their faces, but here we are. Uncharted 2 and The Last of Us are masterpieces, two of the best single player games I've ever experienced. Uncharted 1 was fun, but Uncharted 2 (which integrated the climbing system into the action segments) is where the series really hit its stride. The Last of Us is the survival horror game RE6 should be (limited ammo and running/sneaking is almost always a better option than fighting).
What's cool about Naughty Dog is that they offer games which are not only lengthy, but which don't boast filler. Naughty Dog offers games of a good length (U2 took me 15 hours, TLOU 20). I never got the sense there is some weak part thrown in just to extend the length of the game, everything feels like it belongs there. Can't wait to see what these guys have in store for the PS4.
3. Team Persona - The best rpg developers this generation. Many other rpgs studios have more money (heck, Team Persona hasn't built an rpg for the ground up on current gen systems) and flashier games, but Team Persona has outdone them all. When I first read that in Persona 3 one would be balancing normal life (school, friends, hobbies) with dungeon climbing I thought the team had jumped the shark, but man, it worked out really well. The non-dungeon side is interesting in and of itself and its useful because it reinforces the dungeoning side. I liked the old Persona games and loved Nocturne, but Persona 3 took it to a whole other level. I suck at puzzle games so I didn't get too deep into Catherine, but it seemed cool (but as one would expect from Team Persona, crazy). Hopefully the upcoming sale of Atlus by its bankrupt owner doesn't mess with perfection.
4. Team Ico - When you play a Team Ico game you are getting a glimpse into the future because everyone and their mother is going to borrow from it. There have been approximately 183,834,722,773 games in which one rescues a princess and those games normally ended with the rescue. Ico started off with the rescue. The puzzles were great that they got away from the horrible sorts of box-pushing/stacking puzzles Tomb Raider had help foster. They were all single room puzzles and the key was always there. Also, Yorda was a great character (I was blown away by the fact she didn't just follow you like a drone, she took interest in the world around her). Shadow of the Colossus remembered something 2D designers used to know but 3D designers had forgotten, that huge bosses are extremely fun. Climbing mountains and bringing them down was exhilerating. I really hope that The Last Guardian finds its way out of development hell though I'm not holding my breath :|.
5. thatgamecompany - Extremely skilled game designers who kind of like Team Ico come up with crazy concepts and then execute on them perfectly. I loved Flow (living life as a microscopic organism, one ate others to grow larger and tried to avoid larger things which wanted to eat you) and Flower (soaring around picking up additional flower petals, causing fields to bloom) but of course their magnus opus is Journey. After all three of my playthroughs, I've gotten e-mail from the people I played with and its all been very positive. What's a bit worrying is that a lot of key people have quit after the grueling development process for Journey, but hopefully they will all be as strong together as they were apart. I'm looking forward to future games of all of the past and current members of thatgamecompany provided they appear on a platform I own (if anyone makes Ouya or Windows 8 exclusives I'll just have to admire them from afar).
Naughty Dog - Easily my favourite dev. They have one of the most consistent track records in gaming history. I never second guess a ND purchase.
Rockstar - Hard not to respect the quality their teams provide.
Ubisoft Montreal - Prince Of Persia, Splinter Cell, Assassin's Creed, Rainbow Six, Far Cry and now Watchdogs.
Kojima Productions - MGS and more MGS baby!
Irrational Games - I have absolute respect for this team and their work.
Nintendo = They are responsible for a large amount of my favorite games being made and some of the most cionic characters, and are responsible for my favorite series (The Legend of Zelda)
Platinum Games = Bayonetta is one of the best games I've played the 7th gen. That being said Okami was also a very good game that could arguably compare to some Zelda games, and Vanquish was a pretty fun and crazy game. I'm excited to see how Winderful 101 and Bayo 2 turn out.
Bungie = Bungie created what is personally my favorite multiplayer franchise (Halo), and are generally a quality developer. I haven't really played their games before Halo admittedly, but I've heard people praise marathon and I know Myst was a pretty successful point-and-click series.
Konami = I have alot of respect for Konami for creating the Castlevania series and Contra series, two series I am very fond of. The Lords of Shadows games were weaker than previous Castlevania games, but I felt they were still alright experiences despite their flaws.
Intelligent Systems = Intelligent systems is probably my favorite developer from Nintendo besides Nintendo themselves. They are responsible for Fire Emblem and Wario Ware, two of the most "addictive" series nintendo owns. The first two Paper Mario games are great games that can rival some of the better JRPGs out there. They made Pushmo and Crashmo, both terrific puzzle games on the 3DS. I even read up that they helped with the earlier Metroid games, which is pretty awesome.
Valve - Not only did they make some of my favorite games of all time (Half-Life 2, Team Fortress 2, Portal), but they developed one of the most visionary platforms in recent history. Steam single-handedly ushered in a completely new era for PC gaming and it's still the leading digital distribution platform be it on PC or otherwise. But the best thing about Valve is their human side, they try their best to be respectful to their fans and consumers as well as indie developers, content creators and big publishers.
Rockstar North - I'm sad that the last new IP they made was exactly 10 years ago, but the way they reinvent themselves with each subsequent Grand Theft Auto game is nothing short of mindblowing.
Firaxis - It's Sid Meier. He makes Civilization. He rebooted XCOM. Nuff said.
Those are my top 3 and I don't really respect anyone else anywhere near as much.
Best (listing ones that are currently still in business)
CD Projekt Red
Platinum
Kojima Productions
Paradox Development Studio
Obsidian
Others I would mention if I was including companies that mostly publish
Atlus
XSeed
Paradox Interactive
Worse
Bethesda (for recent games and business practices)
Nintendo (for business practices)
1. Rockstar North- GTA got me into gaming. I could play GTA all day.
2. Bethesda- They make some pretty sick games. The Elder Scrolls series has some awesome lore.
3. Sucker Punch- inFamous series was one of my favourites this gen.
4. Naughty Dog- I loved the Uncharted series to bits. History + Parkour + Shooter= One of the best games ever made! I am loving TLoU too. Gotta buy the game though.
5. Ubisoft- Almost every game they make is good.
Nintendo (and all the development teams that comprise them): They just get gaming. At least they understand exactly why I love this medium so much. It's about solid gameplay, brilliant level design, and challenge. They also strive to make their games easy to pick up, but difficult to master. Meaning the whole experience is fun from when you pick up the game for the first time to acheiving all of the brutally difficult challenges that they tend to put in their games.
Rocksteady: They haven't done much, but Batman Arkham City is quite simply the pinnacle of the action adventure genre. They encompass that same focus on gameplay, level design, and challenge that makes Nintendo's group of developers so strong. They too have built a game that's easy to pick up but sifficult to master
Other than these, I can't think of another developer that's really impressed me with their impeccable understanding of the medium in which they work.
In no particular order:
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Nintendo: Despite questionable hardware decisions over the years, their first party games are almost always absolute top quality across the board. They have avoided a lot of the pitfalls Sony and MS have fallen into by keeping a tight focus on being a game developer.
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Rockstar: Any company that isn't willing to milk their mega-hit franchises year after year are good in my book. The fact that they also are more than willing to take chances with games, and not release half-baked games puts them in the top tier.
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Atlus: The fact that they have shown such dedication to making unique titles that stand out, and release them out in the USA and Europe when most companies wouldn't be willing to do so makes them one of my favorite.
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Irrational Games: Bioshock, nuff said.
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Valve: Do I really need to explain this one? I highly doubt I do.
In no specific order:
Atlus - Right now, they are my go-to company for JRPGs. Their games have a great balance of amazing stories and really fun gameplay. All without the ridiculous budget too. I hope they stay strong and consistent,
Nippon Ichi Software - For developing some of the deepest and most addictive strategy RPGs ever. I've logged in well over 200 hours in a good number of their games, including most of the Disgaea games, Phantom Brave, and La Pucelle Tactics.
Rockstar - For consistently creating quality open world games, and not milking their cash cow GTA each year.
Monolith Soft: For creating unique and memorable RPGs with engrossing and detailed stories coupled with some pretty fun gameplay
Namco Bandai - They've published and developed quite a few memorable games that I thourougly enjoyed. Too many to name...
Most respected? The devs I respect the most are actually devs that create games I do not even like.Â
For instance, I think Rockstar is a very solid developer and I find pretty much all of their stuff after Vice City boring. I really like CD Project Red... I mean, who doesn't? They create games to appeal to hardcore gamers and even have their own digital distribution that's completely free of DRM. But yet, Hard Reset wasn't my thing and although I did enjoy The Witcher, I also found it quite a drag at times and haven't finished it because of it. I'm about 60 hours in. Also started playing The Witcher 2, but already notice the same drag the first game had.Â
I think the developer I respect the most and like their games is BioWare. I'm not a lifetime fan, but I played KOTOR to death. I believe I finished that game 5 times which is a lot for me. I really liked Jade Empire also, not to mention Mass Effect. They also kept releasing free multiplayer DLC for ME3, which I still play today. Tons of fun.
I really like that style of RPG they do. The only thing I never quite liked about those was leveling up. Seemed so... minor.
In No Particular Order:
Bethesda
Rockstar
Havok (for killzone series)
Evolution Studios (for motorstorm pacific rift)
Insomniac Games (for resistance series)
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Other co-developers:
Obsidian (with bethesda for fallout new vegas)
Id/Zenimax (with bethesda for RAGE, i think ID was the main developer though)
Dolby (you have to give them credit for making all the sounds sound good in every game)
1. Nintendo
2. Ubisoft
3. Rockstar
4. Naughty Dog
5. Valve/Rocksteady/Bioware (yeah I cheated)Â
Oh, and there's Bethesda...and Bungie...and Epic...too many! Need to do top 10.
I'm not going to lie, I haven't kept up with developers as much as I used to. Â There's a few I pay a lot of attention to, but nowhere near what I used to. Â So there are probably some out there that I love their games, but never really paid much attention to who made it. Â That said, here is my list:
Rockstar
Nintendo
Blizzard
Bethesda
NatsumeÂ
Rockstar Games: Make amazing games and doesn't **** around. Can't really ask for more.
Bioware: They might've screwed up on certain things, but they still make some of the best games I've ever played. Still, they need to re-evaluate their recent business models, to stay on this list..
Ubisoft: Or, at least the part of the studio that made Rayman Origins. One of the best platformers I've ever played, and refreshing to see something like that being released these days.Â
Yea, it's an excellent game. Â I really would love for them to do another Prince of Persia under Mechner's supervision. Â The Sands of Time is one of my favorite games ever.Ubisoft: Or, at least the part of the studio that made Rayman Origins. One of the best platformers I've ever played, and refreshing to see something like that being released these days.Â
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