What is the *Best* Game Company? Poll UPDATED

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Continuity28

Golden Member
Jul 2, 2005
1,653
0
76
For developers right now, CCP and Blizzard.

For publishers, I don't really know enough, but THQ doesn't seem to be as bad as the rest right now.
 

CKent

Diamond Member
Aug 17, 2005
9,020
0
0
I don't think particularly highly of any of them. Before the recent WoW expansion I would have said Blizzard, but after this disaster I won't even be buying SC2. Rockstar and Square sold out to Sony in that they hold back their games by developing it for 10 year old hardware (ps2). Yeah the ps3 is out now, but the situation will be the same in a few years as it was with the ps2. I will say that I don't hold EA in the contempt that most people seem to. I don't think particularly highly of them either, but when compared to a company like Sony / SOE, even Satan doesn't look very evil, so EA hardly does either.
 

CrystalBay

Platinum Member
Apr 2, 2002
2,175
1
0
I like Value also...but they are more like a distributor of older games aren't they??
 

Balt

Lifer
Mar 12, 2000
12,673
482
126
Probably Valve right now. If TF2 turns out to be a disappointment that will quickly change. :p

There's no other company I'm willing to pay MSRP for consistently. I usually wait until their product drops down to $30 or less. The next UT game might be an exception, though.
 

apoppin

Lifer
Mar 9, 2000
34,890
1
0
alienbabeltech.com
Originally posted by: sushicide
Are we talking about publisher or devs?

If devs, definitely Relic - Homeworld 1&2, CoH, and Warhammer 40k.
i deliberately left it ambigious

there are some superbly developed games that are totally screwed by the Publisher by being thrust out the door in Beta and then unsupported

*cough*

:light:VtMB/Troika
rose.gif


Activision
:evil: :thumbsdown:

EDIT especially looking for: Who do you Trust to Buy on Day One for full MSRP?
 

HamburgerBoy

Lifer
Apr 12, 2004
27,111
318
126
I never buy games at MSRP and don't trust any developer enough to buy something from them for having their name on it, but I do have a few favorites...

Black Isle
Ion Storm
Origin Systems
Through the Looking Glass

And all of them are out of business. Blizzard, Bungie, and Westwood all used to be on my list but the dropped off because of Warcraft 3, Halo, and Lands of Lore 3 respectively.
 

Continuity28

Golden Member
Jul 2, 2005
1,653
0
76
Originally posted by: sushicide
Are we talking about publisher or devs?

If devs, definitely Relic - Homeworld 1&2, CoH, and Warhammer 40k.

Ah good one, I forgot about Relic. I think they are great as well.
 

duragezic

Lifer
Oct 11, 1999
11,234
4
81
Looking at the games I've owned and played most in the past few years...

Valve - HL1 (well only the mods were the reason I played so much) and HL2 were released stable and kickass games all-around. Great support from Valve for mod makers like easy access with Steam (which I find awesome) and developer resources. I remember right after buying HL1 on release, I had some sort of CD key problem, so I emailed them. I still recall to this day that it was Gabe Newell who replied back as tech support and helped me solve it!! Will more than likely buy Ep2/TF2 right away and no matter what.

NCSoft - I bought Guild Wars original back in 2005 and even at release it was very stable, graphics and performance good, and overall felt polished. They have not abandoned it either, as seen by the updates and content/festivities that go on to this day. My old roommate bought Nightfall and it too seemed extremely polished. From what I've played with the Tabula Rasa beta, I could probably now say NCsoft has a good enough track record for me to trust on day one.

I guess that's about it. But for somewhat consistent and good devs to me:

iD... really liked them for Q1 and Q2, somewhat Q3, but not much other releases.

Codemasters... pretty good mostly because they are one of the few that release racing games on the PC still, and quite a few have been good.

Epic... I haven't played many Epic games that I recall. UT and UT2k4 were awesome and polished, but I don't recall any other games from them! :confused: Looking forward to GoW though.

I would say Blizzard... but outside of Diablo and moreso Diablo 2, I just never got into their games like Warcraft and Starcraft. Was always a C&C fan instead.

Relic, Remedy, Firaxis... don't have a lot of games from all these guys, but the few I know they made have been very very good, so they are quite trusthworthy.
 

HamburgerBoy

Lifer
Apr 12, 2004
27,111
318
126
Originally posted by: duragezic
Epic... I haven't played many Epic games that I recall. UT and UT2k4 were awesome and polished, but I don't recall any other games from them! :confused:

Jazz Jackrabbit 2 was pretty great back in the day.
 

KeithTalent

Elite Member | Administrator | No Lifer
Administrator
Nov 30, 2005
50,231
118
116
Too bad we don't have an actual poll here.

Oh and Apoppin can you edit the thread title please, it's driving me nuts! :D

Thanks!

KT
 

Maximilian

Lifer
Feb 8, 2004
12,604
15
81
I trust blizzard and valve. Thats all.

EDIT: How could i forget ROCKSTAR!! Damn... they've never let me down.
 

computeerrgghh

Golden Member
Apr 10, 2005
1,121
0
0
Blizzard. For me, Gearbox gets an honorable mention. There Half life expansions were fun as was Brother in Arms.
 

CrystalBay

Platinum Member
Apr 2, 2002
2,175
1
0
I trust Epic over Valve for smooth gameplay , lighting + Textures , but may be not best storyline...
 

apoppin

Lifer
Mar 9, 2000
34,890
1
0
alienbabeltech.com
was that a triple post or is the edit function unavailable to you?

AND you want me to add a Poll to a Topic ... then add more
:Q
... i had to use extra tools so as not to break everything ... i don't want to press my luck further. That is what 'other' is for ... and we all love to hear from you on the less popular devs and promising game companies

that said ... i actually purchased CoJ for near-MSRP [ubisoft ... with a less than stellar reputation] because i was DYING for my first DX10 title ... having just upgraded my rig and was itching to test my 2900xt vs GTS640-OC ... it's pretty good ... runs better in the DX10 pathway/Vista then Lost Planet ... which i am setting aside till the next patch [and to play CoJ]

Oh yeah ... i also got Lost Planet on Week One - even after getting stung by CRAPCOM's RE-4 - which originally looked AWFUL until they fixed it with the shadows and textures upgrade but which plays like crap on KB+Mouse ... otoh, DX-10 LP plays like butt on my HD2900xt but looks beautiful
:confused:

and i plan to buy Crysis on Day One ... never-mind the reviews or the fact that is is Ubisoft again [right?] and the original FC didn't run very good on the GPUs of their day and took about 6 months to get patched

i think i lost my mind

otoh, i AM looking forward to Fallout as being fully polished on release ... so maybe my sanity will return ... i also got Overlord on sale - $27.90 to good reviews here ... so perhaps my financial sense is returning as well.

i got a bunch of games to play
:)