What three developers do you trust as blindly as N-fans do Nintendo?

[Howard Alan Treesong]

And why? "Trust," in this case, means "will buy and love their titles no matter what anyone else says."

1) Irrational Games
- System Shock 2 + Bioshock, need I say more? (No.) Forget Deus Ex, Irrational is the Real Deal.

2) Insomniac Games
- A combination of style, substance, and speed that no other developer has matched. Can you believe we got a new Ratchet game each and every year?

3) Team ICO
- Their games are sometimes rough around the edges, but I can count on them to deliver something totally different from any other developer .

[y2kev]

CAVIA
ARTOON
TEAM NECRO-NESIA

[TVC15]

And why?

1) Irrational Games
- System Shock 2 + Bioshock, need I say more? (No.) Warren Spector is a hack, Irrational is the Real Deal.

Hey, why the Warren Spector hate?  Without him, there wouldn't have been a System Shock series in the first place.

[Howard Alan Treesong]

And why?

1) Irrational Games
- System Shock 2 + Bioshock, need I say more? (No.) Warren Spector is a hack, Irrational is the Real Deal.

Hey, why the Warren Spector hate?  Without him, there wouldn't have been a System Shock series in the first place.

Very true. And Ultima Underworld was the bomb diggity. I really don't like Deus Ex, though.

Jab modified to be game-, not developer-specific.

[Mupepe]

Lionhead Studios

Team Ico

Maxis

[MrAngryFace]

And why? "Trust," in this case, means "will buy and love their titles no matter what anyone else says."

1) Irrational Games
- System Shock 2 + Bioshock, need I say more? (No.) Forget Deus Ex, Irrational is the Real Deal.

2) Insomniac Games
- A combination of style, substance, and speed that no other developer has matched. Can you believe we got a new Ratchet game each and every year?

3) Team ICO
- Their games are sometimes rough around the edges, but I can count on them to deliver something totally different from any other developer .

I can easily believe we get the same Ratchet game every year.

[Howard Alan Treesong]

And why? "Trust," in this case, means "will buy and love their titles no matter what anyone else says."

1) Irrational Games
- System Shock 2 + Bioshock, need I say more? (No.) Forget Deus Ex, Irrational is the Real Deal.

2) Insomniac Games
- A combination of style, substance, and speed that no other developer has matched. Can you believe we got a new Ratchet game each and every year?

3) Team ICO
- Their games are sometimes rough around the edges, but I can count on them to deliver something totally different from any other developer .

I can easily believe we get the same Ratchet game every year.

 

[Mondain]

Obsidian, Atlus and Clap Hanz

Insomniac isn't bad at all too

[MrAngryFace]

Sorry Synth, we cant agree on everything

[Mupepe]

And why? "Trust," in this case, means "will buy and love their titles no matter what anyone else says."

1) Irrational Games
- System Shock 2 + Bioshock, need I say more? (No.) Forget Deus Ex, Irrational is the Real Deal.

2) Insomniac Games
- A combination of style, substance, and speed that no other developer has matched. Can you believe we got a new Ratchet game each and every year?

3) Team ICO
- Their games are sometimes rough around the edges, but I can count on them to deliver something totally different from any other developer .

I can easily believe we get the same Ratchet game every year.

QFT boo

[Madrun Badrun]

EAD and intelligent systems

ubi Montreal

Capcom production studio 4 which I think is dead is it not?

[Smooth Groove]

I agree with 1 but not 2 & 3.  Like MAF said, there're far more Ratchet games than necessary plus Resistance is the definition of mediocre.  With regards to team ICO, I liked ICO 1 but SOTC was boooring.  And I made it through 1/2 of SOTC so it's not like I didn't give it a chance.  Bioware and Kojima are two developers that I trust.  Their games may not always be AAA but at least they'll be interesting games that are at least of B+ quality. 

[tiesto]

1. tri-Ace
2. Treasure
3. Cave

[MrAngryFace]

I think Blizzard and Capcom are the two that I perk my ears to when I hear them mentioned in passing.

[BlueTsunami]

Definitely...

Level 5

tri-Ace

Not sure about a third one...maybe? Sony? I've consistently liked their 1st party offerings (The GT series as a whole) and various other games. Wait, sub out Sony with Kojima's studio but I need to see other games by Kojima's studio besides Metal Gear Solid...I don't doubt they can make awesome games aside from the Stealth genre though.

[Howard Alan Treesong]

Treasure? Treasure's fallen off, son, hard.

[Howard Alan Treesong]

Not sure about a third one...maybe? Sony? I've consistently liked their 1st party offerings (The GT series as a whole) and various other games. Wait, sub out Sony with Kojima's studio but I need to see other games by Kojima's studio besides Metal Gear Solid...I don't doubt they can make awesome games aside from the Stealth genre though.

I dunno, maybe MAF can tell us if ZOE2 was any good.

[Smooth Groove]

I think Blizzard and Capcom are the two that I perk my ears to when I hear them mentioned in passing.

Capcom's one of my favorites too but they make too many games for blind faith.  Same thing with Konami, which is why I specifically said Kojima.  I don't need faith for Blizzard since I get their games for free anyway but I would like them more if they do more to push the envelope graphically. 

[Smooth Groove]

Not sure about a third one...maybe? Sony? I've consistently liked their 1st party offerings (The GT series as a whole) and various other games. Wait, sub out Sony with Kojima's studio but I need to see other games by Kojima's studio besides Metal Gear Solid...I don't doubt they can make awesome games aside from the Stealth genre though.

I dunno, maybe MAF can tell us if ZOE2 was any good.

It was decent. About a 7.5.  Looked great for a PS2 title and the controls were fluid.  The artstyle for the cutscenes was great too.  The game didn't have a lot of depth though.  It's kinda like Dynasty Warriors with an extra axis.  Also, it can be finished in one night, which kinda diminishes its value since it wasn't the type of game you would want to replay. 

[BlueTsunami]

Not sure about a third one...maybe? Sony? I've consistently liked their 1st party offerings (The GT series as a whole) and various other games. Wait, sub out Sony with Kojima's studio but I need to see other games by Kojima's studio besides Metal Gear Solid...I don't doubt they can make awesome games aside from the Stealth genre though.

I dunno, maybe MAF can tell us if ZOE2 was any good.

Forgot about ZOE2. I liked it a lot but my memory of it is gettin fuzzy

[hyp]

R&D1
SEEDS (aka CLOVER)
BIZARRE CREATIONS

*cries for SMILEBIT*  :'(

[Mondain]

Level-5's stories and characters are atrocious and uninteresting

[Mr. Gundam]

it wasn't the type of game you would want to replay. 

I don't know what you're on, because ZOE2 is one of the few games that I've replayed numerous times.

[Smooth Groove]

I'm surprised at the small amount of Bioware supporters.  Other than arguably Jade Empire, which Bioware game has been less than good? 

it wasn't the type of game you would want to replay. 

I don't know what you're on, because ZOE2 is one of the few games that I've replayed numerous times.

But that's only 'cause you have the hots for robot stuff like Gundam Seed. 

[Howard Alan Treesong]

I'm surprised at the small amount of Bioware supporters.  Other than arguably Jade Empire, which Bioware game has been less than good? 

Bioware games have always bored me. I've vastly prefered what other people do with the Infinity Engine to their own (Planescape, Icewind Dale > Baldur's Gate, for me). KOTOR was also somewhat lacking. I can count on Bioware to deliver a B-game every time, but they always fall just short of greatness for me. I almost always buy, but I still approach with caution.

[Smooth Groove]

Blasphemy.  Baldur's Gate 2 is the greatest RPG ever.  I could see how someone would be disappointed by Kotor though.  The gameplay was dumbed down in many ways, compared to BG. 

[Rman]

Intelligent Systems (Panel De Pon, nuff said)
Square (Main Final Fantasy Series Team) They have not let me down yet.
Capcom (Grew up with Mega Man, Capcom Beat Em' Ups, and Street Fighters.  Loved Okami, Dead Rising, DMC3, RE4.  And I can't wait for RE5, Dead Rising 2, and Monster Hunter 3).

Honorable Mentions,
EAD, Atlus, Kojima Productions, NAMCO (Though, they need some new life.  Maybe SC4 will do it) Bethesda, iNis, AM2.

[The Sceneman]

1. Atlus
2. Grasshopper
3. Capcom

WTF at the Team Ico mentions, they couldnt develop their way out of a paper bag

[tiesto]

Treasure? Treasure's fallen off, son, hard.

Not at all... they are still one of the most consistent developers out there, the only game I've played by them that was truly bad was Stretch Panic. And they created some of my favorite games ever. Hell I even liked GSH and actually prefer AGH to its Saturn prequel.

[tiesto]

Some others I forgot to mention: Intelligent Systems, Falcom, Capcom, Atlus R&D1.

[Fragamemnon]

Big Huge Games
Valve
Irrational Games

Four and Five are Bioware and Ensemble.

Edit: Obsidian is a good choice too. Fuck the haters, they are one of the few places in the business that doesn't hire writers that drool on themselves and call it dialogue. Blizzard being another one in that same vein-fuck, their MANUALS are better written than most "deep" games are.

[Error2k4]

Atlus R&D1
the Dragon Quest trinity Project Armor/Sugiyama/Bird Studio
Kojima Productions

[Howard Alan Treesong]

iNis is a good one. I would buy anything iNis made no matter how stupid it looked.

[Disposable White Guy]

I'll agree with the Blizzard and valve mentions.  I'll always buy what they put out no matter what, except any future WoW expansions.  I wanted to say Capcom, but I dunno.  Lately they're reminding me of Square.

[Fragamemnon]

Big Huge Games
Valve
Irrational Games

Four and Five are Bioware and Ensemble.

big huge games
I just restarted Rise of Nations cuz I was bored the other night

It's mindboggling how good Rise of Nations and Rise of Legends are.

Their RPG project is (hopefully) going to have the same kind of huge critical splash Bioshock is having now. I hope they show it off at next year's E3 (or before!).

[The Sceneman]

I'll agree with the Blizzard and valve mentions.  I'll always buy what they put out no matter what, except any future WoW expansions.  I wanted to say Capcom, but I dunno.  Lately they're reminding me of Square.

how so?

[CajoleJuice]

Blizzard and Valve.

[Van Cruncheon]

IREM
Blizzard
Big Huge Games
Capcom
NIS

[Howard Alan Treesong]

I would've said Obsidian, except Neverwinter bores me to tears, so it didn't seem right. KOTOR 2 > KOTOR 1, though--too bad LucasArts fucked that series instantly to through poorly planned-out annualization.

That said, I fully expect the Aliens RPG to rock the shit out of everyone when it's revealed. If ever there was an expanded universe ripe for exploring, it's our friends' at Weyland-Yutani. And if I can include former Black Isle when I say "Obsidian," then Obsidian, motherfuckers.

NIS

you left off the leading 'i'

[Van Cruncheon]

what is iNIS

[The Sceneman]

Makers of Gitaroo Man and EBA/ Ouendan

[Mr. Gundam]

I'm surprised at the small amount of Bioware supporters.  Other than arguably Jade Empire, which Bioware game has been less than good?

KOTOR was the first Bioware game I truly enjoyed, I could never get into their older PC titles. 

[Mondain]

The original Neverwinter Nights sucked donkey balls, however the sequel's single player mode is awesome, and pretty close in quality to the golden Baldur's Gate days of Bioware.

There's an expansion pack for NN2 coming out next month too.

Concerning the job that Obsidian did on KOTOR2, well we all know that LucasArts forced them to rush the game. It doesn't change that KOTOR2 is a great experience for the initial 70% chunk of the game.

Also, I'd have to add Mistwalker into the mix. Blue Dragon convinced me that Sakaguchi and his crew knew how to direct some programming grunts from so-so developpers like Artoon and Cavia to create gaming greatness.

However, lots of people are firmly opposed to them now because they hate turn-based games. They think that this old-school fighting method doesn't belong in a next-gen console game, pure and simple. The amount of people who drooled over mediocrity like Eternal Sonata was just scary. It's so obvious that they want turn-based combat to disappear and want each of these adventures to become a senseless button-mashing fest like Eternal Sonata is.

I'm certain that Lost Odyssey will be great, but that it will also face many of the same challenges that Blue Dragon faces when it comes to the average gamer's perception. It promises to be an harsh battle.

[tiesto]

Yes, IREM kicks ass too!

MetalStorm

[Disposable White Guy]

I'll agree with the Blizzard and valve mentions.  I'll always buy what they put out no matter what, except any future WoW expansions.  I wanted to say Capcom, but I dunno.  Lately they're reminding me of Square.

how so?

It just seems to me like they're just focusing more on production value than content.  I haven't really been impressed with a Capcom game in a while

Then again, I'm not into portables, so I'm probably missing out.

[TakingBackSunday]

Well, EAD for starters, but lol.

Other than that:

Irrational
Intelligent Systems
Capcom
and as much as I hate to say it, I'll still buy a lot of fucking Square games.  XII though 

[ferrarimanf355]

Sega Driving Studio- say what you will, but Sega Rally Revo is looking awesome, and I just hope they get to do Daytona USA 3 one of these days...

Project Soul- I'm a big Soul Calibur fan, and SC4 is looking sharp. Ahem. 

Turn 10- Forza 2. 'Nuff said. 

[drohne]

cave...and, uh...that's about it

actually cave are pretty bad when they try to do something that isn't a shooter. yanya caballista, anyone, with it's proto-wii plastic skateboard attachment

i'll play anything treasure does, but i won't pretend it's all great

i like a pretty ridiculous proportion of capcom's games lately