I was looking at my "collection" screen on my Gamespot profile today, and noticed that almost all the games with the highest ratings comes from the same handful of developers. This got me thinking, and I made a top-5 list of my favourite studios. Check it out, and keep in mind that there are some genres that I generally do not play (like sports-games).

1. Blizzard
This studio is my absolute favourite, and occupies the very top of my list. Everything they have ever released, from Rock N' Roll Racing back in the days, via all their great RTS-games, to World of warcraft - simply sqashes every competition. There is NO other studio that delivers the same quality-seal as blizzard, in my opinion.

2. Nintendo
The big N really needs no explenation. They have released so many gems over the years, that I can hardly count them. My personal favourite is Super Mario World on the SNES, but I am very thrilled to see that they are back in top-shape with their latest platformer: Super Mario Galaxy. If just Mario Kart Wii will be just as good (or better) that Double Dash :)

3. BioWare
This studio got me into RPGS, a genre that is one of my favourites to this day. Baldurs Gate and Neverwinter Nights also made me wish I had friends who played pen and paper DnD. The magic world of the Forgotten Realms brings back so many fond memories from those games! I am happy to see that the studio continue to evolve, with the amazing shooter-RPG Mass Effect.

4. Bethesda
I love what these people are doing. I have only played their games from Morrowind and onwards, but their take on the RPG-genre is plain awesome. I am not surprised that a lot of other studios are taking after them and moving in the open-world direction (and not only with RPGs), but Bethesda continues to be king of the hill.

5. Epic
I never thought I would put this company on a list like this. Even though I have always had a lot of respect for the Unreal games, they have never been my favourites. They are just too fast and chaotic for me. Therefore, the studio earns the fifth place from one game only: Gears of War. 2006s game of the year is one of my favourite games ever, and fact is, there is almost no game I am looking forward to more than Gars of War 2 right now. Simply amazing!

Worthy mentions: Rare, Bungie, SCEA, Valve, Capcom.

So, what are your favourite studios?

These are the games I look forward to the most in 2008, in no particular order:

Grand Theft Auto IV

Fallout 3

Banjo Kazooie 3

Gears of War 2

Civilization Revolution

Mario Kart Wii

Super Smash Bros. Brawl

Starcraft II

In addition comes any Mass Effect-sequel, though none are announced yet. In fact, it would probably be THE game I looked forward too. Man, I loved that game :)

There are other games I am very interested in too, but these are the very top.

And yes, I bought a Wii! Wohoo

My five most anticipated game at the moment:

1. Mass Effect

2. Starcraft II

3. Super Mario Galaxy

4. Halo 3

5. Legend of Zelda: The Phantom Hourglass

In addition comes Banjo-Kazooie and Gears of War 2, both of which would be in the very top if there were any info at all out about them. I miss some classic platformers (havent played one since Kameo), and I miss GeoW.

This news made my day:

http://www.gamespot.com/news/6157878.html?tag=nl.e513

One of my all time fvourite studios developing for the coolest hand-held ever. And what is this thing about targeting the japanese market? Is that possible for a western-rpg developer? Somethings is going on at BioWare for sure, first they buy the MMOG middleware, and now this. I can't wait to see what they will put out in the next years!

I recently purchased the GBA version of one of my favourite games ever, Rock 'N Roll Racing (originally for the SNES). Great port of a great game - it really got me thinking of the good ol' days.

It also made me really really really hope that Nintendo will release it with online support for the Wii Virtual Console. That would be so awesome.

Just started playinh Halo for the first time, to catch up with the story before Halo 3. Borrowed both Halo and Halo 2 from my cousin. I never had an xbox, so did not get to play them when they were released. I have played the first 3 levels of Halo, and so far I have had no trouble running it on my 360.

It is also great fun! Although I can't quiet understand how it got a 9.7 on Gamespot. 9 point something, yes, but 9.7? I have not finished it tho, so might have another opinion once I have played the full game.

Just purchased Final Fantasy VII for PC at eBay. 36$ including shipping for a new and sealed copy. Never played any FF game, so thought this might be a good introduction. And it's so old I can play it at my crap crap laptop - yay!

Now I just have to wait for it to arrive from Singapore... :|

http://xbox360.ign.com/articles/708/708426p1.html

Just saw this over at IGN. It seems Warhammer Online might come to consoles - they are actually PLAYING it on a 360! That would rock, the Warhammer universe is simply amazing (lets hope they do it justice with their game too).

Ok, time for a new anticipated list, as the last one is very outdated. Oblivion was totally worth the wait, but Worms DS and Tao's Adventure got so bad reviews I didnt even bother to purchase them.

I have not included ps3 games on the list, as the console turned out to be extremely expensive and I am not sure if I will buy it. If I should however, Final Fantasy XIII will come in among the top 3 or so.

1. Blue Dragon (xbox360)
2. Dragon Quest Swords: The Masked Queen and the Tower of Mirrors (Wii)
3. Mass Effect (xbox360)
4. The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass (DS)
5. Gears of War (xbox360)
6. Super Mario Galaxy (Wii)
7. The Legend of Zelda: The Twilight Princess (Wii)
8. Yoshi's Island 2 (DS)
9. Final Fantasy Chrystal Chronicles: The Crystal Bearers (Wii)
10. Lost Odyssey (xbox360)

This will be a great couple of years, yes it will.

This E3 looks like it will be the best one ever! The three big press conferences got me so hyped up.

Dragon Quest game at Wii launch, Yoshis Island 2 for DS (!!!) and Blue Dragon to hit Japan this year.

I can't wait.