Post by Sneltrekker on Apr 30, 2006 9:33:37 GMT
Didn't make it a poll because there's just too much. But I'm wondering what are your favorite and most hated developers and what games they made they make you say that
Top 3:
1) Black Isle Studios
2) Bioware
3) Lucasarts
Honorable Mentions: Blizzard, Lionhead Games, Maxis, Rockstar Games, Bethesda Softworks
Most hated:
1) Electronic Arts
2) LucasArts
3) Obsidian Entertainment
Now, reasons:
First off, remember I have been gaming from the early 90s, so some of this stuff may seem old-school.
Black Isle Studios, I love every game they released. I still have BG I, Tales of the Sword Coast, BG II, Throne of Bhaal, Planescape: Torment, Fallout 1, Fallout 2, and Icewind Dale, and actually still play these games these days. The day I heard Black Isle went out of business I mourned.
Bioware, with games like Neverwinter Nights and Knights of the Old Republic they proved they are a great developer, and worth to be treated as the true heir of Black Isle Studios. Now I am waiting for Dragon Age, the first game Bioware will make with their own intellecual property behind the rules.
LucasArts, that is, in the early 90s they were the greatest dev ever. They completely dominated the market. Games like Maniac Mansion, Monkey Island series, Loom, are games I still enjoy playing these days. And for that I will forever adore Lucasarts and honor their legacy. HOWEVER, after MI 4, they turned into a Star Wars pooper factory. These days they simply release or license one star wars game after another, without any form of quality control. So most of their games suck, and you know what they say. The higher you stand the deeper you fall. They obviously turned to the Dark Side by now.
Then, Blizzard ... Warcraft got me addicted to RTS games for a short while, Diablo got me into the whole RPG genre, and through Diablo I got interested in more serious RPGs and thus became a Black Isle fan. Lionhead Games was great with Black and White and showed me there are still creative developers out there who are fine with running a risk. Maxis, same goes as for Lionhead Games, with Sims they showed they don't mind risking a lot on one game even if the game is doomed by critics to fail. Will Wright IMO is the biggest genius in the gaming industry. Rockstar Games with GTA series, Manhunt etc showed me there can be fun in wanton slaughter and violence. Haha. Lastly, Bethesda Softworks showed me it's possible to make great RPGs with your own intellectual property and gave me the hope that Bioware will succeed at this also.
Now, last, hated developers.
Electronic Arts, I don't even consider them a developer anymore. They are a factory that dulls every drop of creativity in their developers, and releases one sequel after another to their old good-selling titles. Every sequel sucking more than the previous one. If they are out of ideas for sequels they usually buy a small independant developer: RedWood Games, Maxis, and try to force them into releasing one sequel after another, or one expansion pack after another, until they complete pressed out the developer's ideas, like one would press out a lemon to make lemon juice.
Obsidian Entertainment. Next to Bioware they're the second heir to the legacy of Black Isle. Both Bioware and Obsidian were made big by ex-Black Isle programmers and artists. Obsidian went to the dark side however when they worked on KotOR 2, the sequel to the KotOR game by Bioware.
KotOR 2 at first would be better than KotOR 1 in every single way. However, the problems started soon. They rushed the game, and thus had to abandon many side stories and the ending of the storyline turned into utter shit. So much that at around 90% completion of the game I suddenly got the idea: Ok, at this point of the game they just fired their storywriter and replaced him with a dyslexic chimpansee. Also, the game had no Quality Control whatsoever, and there were more bugs in KotOR 2 they there are in an ant-farm FFS.
Basically, that's my idea on developers really.
Top 3:
1) Black Isle Studios
2) Bioware
3) Lucasarts
Honorable Mentions: Blizzard, Lionhead Games, Maxis, Rockstar Games, Bethesda Softworks
Most hated:
1) Electronic Arts
2) LucasArts
3) Obsidian Entertainment
Now, reasons:
First off, remember I have been gaming from the early 90s, so some of this stuff may seem old-school.
Black Isle Studios, I love every game they released. I still have BG I, Tales of the Sword Coast, BG II, Throne of Bhaal, Planescape: Torment, Fallout 1, Fallout 2, and Icewind Dale, and actually still play these games these days. The day I heard Black Isle went out of business I mourned.
Bioware, with games like Neverwinter Nights and Knights of the Old Republic they proved they are a great developer, and worth to be treated as the true heir of Black Isle Studios. Now I am waiting for Dragon Age, the first game Bioware will make with their own intellecual property behind the rules.
LucasArts, that is, in the early 90s they were the greatest dev ever. They completely dominated the market. Games like Maniac Mansion, Monkey Island series, Loom, are games I still enjoy playing these days. And for that I will forever adore Lucasarts and honor their legacy. HOWEVER, after MI 4, they turned into a Star Wars pooper factory. These days they simply release or license one star wars game after another, without any form of quality control. So most of their games suck, and you know what they say. The higher you stand the deeper you fall. They obviously turned to the Dark Side by now.
Then, Blizzard ... Warcraft got me addicted to RTS games for a short while, Diablo got me into the whole RPG genre, and through Diablo I got interested in more serious RPGs and thus became a Black Isle fan. Lionhead Games was great with Black and White and showed me there are still creative developers out there who are fine with running a risk. Maxis, same goes as for Lionhead Games, with Sims they showed they don't mind risking a lot on one game even if the game is doomed by critics to fail. Will Wright IMO is the biggest genius in the gaming industry. Rockstar Games with GTA series, Manhunt etc showed me there can be fun in wanton slaughter and violence. Haha. Lastly, Bethesda Softworks showed me it's possible to make great RPGs with your own intellectual property and gave me the hope that Bioware will succeed at this also.
Now, last, hated developers.
Electronic Arts, I don't even consider them a developer anymore. They are a factory that dulls every drop of creativity in their developers, and releases one sequel after another to their old good-selling titles. Every sequel sucking more than the previous one. If they are out of ideas for sequels they usually buy a small independant developer: RedWood Games, Maxis, and try to force them into releasing one sequel after another, or one expansion pack after another, until they complete pressed out the developer's ideas, like one would press out a lemon to make lemon juice.
Obsidian Entertainment. Next to Bioware they're the second heir to the legacy of Black Isle. Both Bioware and Obsidian were made big by ex-Black Isle programmers and artists. Obsidian went to the dark side however when they worked on KotOR 2, the sequel to the KotOR game by Bioware.
KotOR 2 at first would be better than KotOR 1 in every single way. However, the problems started soon. They rushed the game, and thus had to abandon many side stories and the ending of the storyline turned into utter shit. So much that at around 90% completion of the game I suddenly got the idea: Ok, at this point of the game they just fired their storywriter and replaced him with a dyslexic chimpansee. Also, the game had no Quality Control whatsoever, and there were more bugs in KotOR 2 they there are in an ant-farm FFS.
Basically, that's my idea on developers really.