From A Different World - Forums

Let's talk about some of our favorite developers (or dev teams), their best or most notable games, and why we like them. Remember that VALVe is a given.

ION STORM
Founded by John Romero and Tom Hall (of Id fame), this studio is universally mocked for making the worst received game in history, Daikatana. However, it also made the best received game in history, Deus Ex. This was a result of Ion being split into two studios, one led by Romero and one led by Warren Spector. They only made 6 games total, but they were some of the best of all time (and the worst).

Notable Releases:
Diakatana (Not notable for a good reason.)
Deus ex
Deus ex: Invisible War
Thief: Deadly Shadows.
Anachronox


CAMELOT
Traditional JRPG developers. When SquareSoft popularized a more futuristic, whiny, emo drama theme to JRPGs with FF7; Camelot was one of the few companies that stood their ground, said no to the bandwagon, and delivered old-fashioned JRPGs. Sacrificing graphical fidelity for gameplay, they started the loose foothold of popularity for modern 'non-Final-Fantasy-esque' titles. A bold move considering the immense success of Square's series, and the undisputed market shift in the genre. They also made the game that got me into gaming: Golden Sun. That's worth something at least.

Notable Series:
Golden Sun
Shining Force
Mario Golf


BLENDO GAMES
A one-man company consisting of Brendon Chung, founded after the defunction of Pademic studios (which he was an employee of). This multi-award-winning dev (seriously, check this out: http://blendogames.com/about.htm) has a real sense for what makes games important, and is a huge proponent in the effort to make games convey narrative through gameplay, rather than through means from other mediums (e.g. cutscenes). All of his games have a sharp, distinct visual style; fantastic game design choices regarding convention and agency; and show the benefits indie developers can have over triple-A ones. He's currently working on a game called Quadrilateral Cowboy, a hacking game set in the 80's: So watch out for that.

Notable Releases:
Gravity Bone
Thirty Flights of Loving
Flotilla
Zombie Atom Smasher


WOLFIRE GAMES
I'm pretty sure they've never actually completed a game, but their alphas are pretty darn cool. They are the epitome of originality, regarding gameplay, and have made some of my favorite game concepts of all time. This includes an open-world rabbit-person beat-em-up with skeletal damage taking the place of health bars; and a first-person analog-cyberpunk stealth shooter that focuses on realistic gun use and maintenance. Even though their games may not be finished, they're worth every penny.

Notable Releases:
Overgrowth
Reciever


ZACHARY BARTH
A prolific developer that invented the "Block World" genre (see minecraft), and has been responsible for some of my favorite games. Unique and under-appreciated.

Notable Releases:
Spacechem
Infiniminer
KOHCTPYKTOP
Ruckingenur I, II, and CE
Wikipedia Quest

Bethesda
My overall favorite has got to be Bethesda, they've released two of my most favoritestist (take that! english!) games. Fallout 3 and Morrowind sealed the deal for Bethesda as my favorite content producer. Until another company can blow me away at the same level that those two games did, they don't have much competition as best pon- I mean, best producer. I wasn't disappointed by Skyrim either, even though I don't think it was as good as Morrowind. I'm also pleased that they seem to have picked the metaphorical ball out of the mud when it comes to bug patching, most of the glitches I ran into in Skyrim were patched by the time I started another play-through a few weeks ago. If only that could be said for their other titles...

Hammerpoint Interactive
just kidding

BLIZZARD TEAM (The ones that make the games and stuff)
They have made some of my childhood games that I grew up with and Polish there games
to the point of Perfection, and they even keep adding on till it is perfect!


Double Fine
Double Fine is a really good Company making one of my enjoyable games called Brutal Legends
and are really good Developers

FIREAXIS
These people made some of the most popular turn base game Civilization
This is a really good game and helped make me Interested in History and find a
really good thing I am good at.

Irrational Games
Irrational Games have made some Amazing Games Like Bioshock Inf and Bioshock 1 & 2
I have loved playing Bioshock 1 and 2 as it really got the feelings of Scariness to me in those games.

2K GAMES

I would also like to give a mention to 2K games for publishing some of the best games for Computers like Bioshock, Civilisation, And Oblivion.
Really nice Studio (Unlike a Certain E...A here)

unicow2945 wrote:Hammerpoint Interactive
just kidding

I didn't know who that was until I just looked it up. Where do they get the nerve?

BritishGuy wrote:Irrational Games
Irrational Games have made some Amazing Games Like Bioshock Inf and Bioshock 1 & 2
I have loved playing Bioshock 1 and 2 as it really got the feelings of Scariness to me in those games.

*Cough*


*COUGH*COUGH*


Sorry, had a little phlegm in my throat.

Subset Games
Subset Games is a two-man company consisting of Matthew Davis and Justin Ma. Subset are the geniuses behind the popular roguelike named FTL: Faster Than Light.

HomeBrew wrote:

BritishGuy wrote:Irrational Games
Irrational Games have made some Amazing Games Like Bioshock Inf and Bioshock 1 & 2
I have loved playing Bioshock 1 and 2 as it really got the feelings of Scariness to me in those games.

*Cough*


*COUGH*COUGH*


Sorry, had a little phlegm in my throat.

I never really liked System Shock 2. Nor was it popular in my Ascot around the time.

BritishGuy wrote:I never really liked System Shock 2. Nor was it popular in my Ascot around the time.

You have to be careful using terms like Ascot around yanks, I almost had to Google what that was. Luckily I remembered owning an ascot cap! Never used the tie, but it was hands-down the most uncomfortable hat I've ever worn. Looks cool, though.

Anyway, why didn't you like SS2? What did you like about the later shock titles better? Just curious.

HomeBrew wrote: You have to be careful using terms like Ascot around yanks, I almost had to Google what that was. Luckily I remembered owning an ascot cap! Never used the tie, but it was hands-down the most uncomfortable hat I've ever worn. Looks cool, though.

Anyway, why didn't you like SS2? What did you like about the later shock titles better? Just curious.

Hahhahaahaha Google Royal Ascot, Berkshire, U.K.

I've always been fan of Bioware. My very first RPG was the phenomenal Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, which is one of my top-3 favorite games ever. Plus, I just got Dragon Age Origins, which is great so far. Oh.... and Mass Effect. Need I say more?