What is your favorite game company?

[doomfarer75]

I now realize how big of a player hudson was in japan,  and all the fantastic games they made for the Pc engine and Nintendo..which now begs the question: What is your favorite?

[RCduck7]

I think hudson was a very capable company that knew the tricks of the hardware to develop for and made great games for the arcade minded and beyond. But the problem preventing them to be commercially succesfull was the lack of likeable and recognisable characters for everyone.
They had to go up with the likes of sonic and mario wich sells consoles at the time and even still do.
If they had a broader audience it's retro scene now would have been mentioned more in magazines and other media.

[OldRover]

I'd go with Taito on favourite game producer, with Hudson as close second (although Hudson did develop my favourite PCE game, Neutopia, Taito produced my second favourite, Cadash, plus a slew of other titles I absolutely love).

[cozzie]

Sega with out a shadow of doubt!!

[Keranu]

Too many to name, but I can easily say the Falcom is my favorite when it comes to action-RPGs .

[esteban]

I'm limiting the timeframe to 1993 and earlier:

sega or nintendo would have to be my faves.  I think I'd lean towards nintendo.  even the so-called "lesser" nintendo games (balloon fight!) just plain kick-ass.

Konami is a strong third (their pre-1994 era rules on NES, famicom, MSX, PCE, Genesis, SNES)...

of course i love hudson (4th on my list?), data east, taito, snk, etc. etc. etc.

but sega and nintendo just have too many awesome games (both at arcade and on console).  yes, Hogan's Alley and Donkey Kong ruled in the arcade!

If I had to go with my favorite underdog: hmmmmm, Data East would get my love (Karnov! Bad Dudes! ).

[Nutribrain]

When you look at the games that were released during the last years for all the nextgen consoles, then Capcom and Sega deserves to be mentioned as the best game developers/publishers. Both companies try to produce innovative and sometimes strange games like Killer 7, I would like to die for you aka Project Rub, P.N.03, Jet Set Radio or Rez.
I think most of the games released today are more or likely the same gangsta 3D shooting, racing or war shooters. Nothing really spectacular.
That's propably one reason why I'm so commited to retro gaming.

[dj898]

for PC Engine it's got to be Hacker International...
I'm all for any underdog especially when they go against the owner of the said console... he he

[TurboHuC6280]

Probably Treasure.  They're one of the last companies around that really makes games of the generes that I love (SHMUPS!).  They also almost always add something fun and unique to them as well.

[lord_cack]

Square Soft
Enix
Square Enix
Falcom
Hudson
SNK
Capcom
Konami
Nintendo
Sega....Did I miss anyone...and not in that order....well except for Square and Enix.....would anyone else like to have seen them put something out for the PCE besides me....

[GUTS]

Sega all the way, best game company ever.  They were the first game company and system to be considered cool, if it wasn't for Sega we'd still all be considered even huger nerds than we are now.

[Keranu]

Oh yeah, no one mentioned Lucas Film company. No one can make a more kick ass point and click as much as them. Also Sierra On-Line was cool back in the 80's, too.

[GUTS]

Yeah lucas used to be awesome like 10 years ago.  Fuck that fat fuck now though, him and his shit company, I hate everything that guy stands for.  When I first got a PC I bought ANY Lucas game I could get my hands on because they were all AWESOME quality games.  Then that shit Star Wars Episode 1 came out everything turned to crap, it pisses me off to think of what an awesome company Lucas Arts used to be everytime I see yet ANOTHER shit Star Wars game.

[lord_cack]

Yeah lucas used to be awesome like 10 years ago.  Fuck that fat fuck now though, him and his shit company, I hate everything that guy stands for.  When I first got a PC I bought ANY Lucas game I could get my hands on because they were all AWESOME quality games.  Then that shit Star Wars Episode 1 came out everything turned to crap, it pisses me off to think of what an awesome company Lucas Arts used to be everytime I see yet ANOTHER shit Star Wars game.

agreed...only not violently so

[lord_cack]

Sega all the way, best game company ever.  They were the first game company and system to be considered cool, if it wasn't for Sega we'd still all be considered even huger nerds than we are now.

a little bit of an overstatement but Sega is good...and I think that games now are only starting to change the nerd image....so if you think you weren't a nerd back with your Sega back in the day...think again...nerd    

Someone I totally forgot. Namco....they started the whole thing really...well atleast set the whole thing on fire with Pac-Man
....I mean they have had some good titles over the years....

I know that this is gonna get looked down on....but I like Rockstar....I like GTA....I think the boldness of the design makes that game worth admiration...especially GTA:SA. I could care less about the gang violence storyline (although its good) just the overall design and especially the wide open area...thats what makes that game great. The openness and hugeness deffinetly like that direction in gaming....now if they could just start making good games......So of modern companies, I gotta go with Rockstar (f*&k Bungie)....and NC Soft (Guild Wars rocks and has some of the best ideas to implemented in RPG's in YEARS)....

[Nemo]

Nintendo - They pretty much are video games and unlike so many other companies that might have been good over a decade *coughSEGAcough* they are as consistent and great as ever.  

Konami - Responsible for most of my favorite games of all-time and some the best franchises ever: Contra, Castlevania, Gradius, etc.  In terms of my single favorite, I tend to lean towards Konami.

Cave - They make the best shooters and that's my favorite genre.

[GUTS]

Hah no I mean Sega made games not quite as nerdy, gamers are always gonna be nerds no matter how you slice it, but Sega removed a little bit of the salivating, half-retarded 10 year old boy image that Nintendo had cultivated with Nintendo Power.  Sega was one of the first steps in making games more normal, they had a cool image, they had mass appeal sports games, and they had funny commercials that even non gamers could get a laugh out of.

[TurboHuC6280]

Hah no I mean Sega made games not quite as nerdy, gamers are always gonna be nerds no matter how you slice it, but Sega removed a little bit of the salivating, half-retarded 10 year old boy image that Nintendo had cultivated with Nintendo Power.  Sega was one of the first steps in making games more normal, they had a cool image, they had mass appeal sports games, and they had funny commercials that even non gamers could get a laugh out of.

It might have actually meant something if SEGA's Genesis game lineup were actually good at the time.  Sure, there were a few unique titles on the platform (Phantasy Star, Ecco, Streets of Rage), but Nintendo still had the better third-party support in many ways (unless you're talking about EA and a few other publishers that catered to the Genesis market).  Even if SEGA changed gaming and brought it to the mainstream, that simply showed us that sport titles could saturate the mainstream market and sell a console.  Nintendo has never sold a lot of sports games with any console.  The N64 was mildly successful for wrestling games though.

It only means that the "cool kids" were inside playing Madden NFL instead of going outside to play real football.

The Dreamcast, on the other hand, was full of unique and amazing non-sports titles (in addition to the Visual Concepts games).  It's probably my favorite gaming system of all time (next to the Turbo, of course).

[lord_cack]

I think that something should be said about Atari...they have made or been a part of some of the best....but unfortunatly worst moments in gaming....

[Nemo]

Hah no I mean Sega made games not quite as nerdy, gamers are always gonna be nerds no matter how you slice it, but Sega removed a little bit of the salivating, half-retarded 10 year old boy image that Nintendo had cultivated with Nintendo Power.  Sega was one of the first steps in making games more normal, they had a cool image, they had mass appeal sports games, and they had funny commercials that even non gamers could get a laugh out of.

First, I don't agree Nintendo propagated any kind of image (nerdy or otherwise), they made games that were fun plain and simple.  Nintendo Power was a NOA thing and that mag wasn't any less laughable than Sega Visions.  Second, if what you say about Sega were true, they should be condemned for it rather than praised.  The reason games are so awful today stems from them being made to appeal to the mainstream and making them so they're "cool".  Now every game has gangstas, car-jackings, ridiculous violence, and all the things that make you want to vomit.  Gaming is about having fun, not about being cool.

[doomfarer75]

wow....strong feelings:)  I agree...as an early nintendo gamer,  I was swept up hook line and sinker on mario, zelda,  metroid and all the rest of those awesome, fun games. I love the Pc engine and turbo (of Course!)  but those games are what got me....and I was still playing sports in school, reading a ton of books and getting outside to ski, swim, drink beer or whatever...kids today don't seem to have any balance in their lives,  and these crappy"cool guy games"  just lack any of the appeal of those earlier simpler efforts...and seem to be popular because they fill some sort of void...I don't know....

[Keranu]

Yeah I agree with lord about Atari as well and I was going to mention them. Atari was the first big name in the gaming industry so it certainly stands out as an important one. Although these days I seem to be more of a Mattel Intellivision fan :\ . Man the early 80's ruled.

As far as this Nintendo vs Sega thing goes, I agree with what people said about Nintendo and I love Sega just as much as Nintendo, although Nintendo probably wins just a teeny bit more because of the powerful NES, which could easily be the greatest console in video gaming history.

[Emerald Rocker]

Being cool is fun.

[jlued686]

Nintendo, Hudson (old school), Treasure, Working Designs, and most recently Q? Entertainment.

[Ninja Spirit]

Capcom (would've been nice to see Megaman/Rockman in the PC Engine/Turbo scene)
Konami
Sammy (for Guilty Gear series and Amagon)
Hudson
IREM (though they get the middle finger for Street Combat)
Natsume
Vic Tokai
Taito
Namco
Treasure
Arika

[GUTS]

Well I do agree with you in some ways Nemo, but I was talking more about back when Sega was relevant.  They just had an awesome ad campaign, awesome line up of games, and a cool image that at the time was something totally different from the ultra nerdy Nintendo image.

[lord_cack]

So a squirrel sceaming SEGA! was cool.... :    

[Keranu]

The older and original Genesis advertisments ruled, but the ones later one where they would yell "SEGA!" were just stupid if you ask me.

[Keranu]

By the way, I forgot to mention how much I hate Capcom. The only games I ever really liked from them were the Duck Tales games for NES and the Street Fighter II series.

[GUTS]

Anyone who says they didn't laugh at least one Sega commercial is crazy, they had awesome commercials.  Try to name one other memorable video game commercial from that era and you probably can't, the Sega scream is part of pop culture now.  

And let's all not forget Nintendo's horrible, copycat "play it loud' ad campaign; if Nintendo is even copying your ideas then you know you've hit something.

[Keranu]

My all time favorite gaming commercials still lie within the early 80's for Atari, Intellivision, Coleco Vision, etc..., those were just hilarious, especially the nerdier ones.



Also CrackTiger sent me SVCD copies of those Turbo Grafx 16 and Duo promo tapes which I loved to death! They have got to be the most hilarious video game advertisments I have ever seen! I wish I could see the Turbo Grafx 16 commercials, but I have only seen the one that is on this site, along with the two Duo commercials. It's all fantastic cheesy stuff.

[TR0N]

Hudson
Taito
Konami love&hate thing there.
Capcom
Sega there early years.
Nintendo
SNK original one befor Playmore took over
Namco pac-man feaver driveing me crazy heh.
Treasure
Falcom hey they gave us Ys
Midway again there early years.
Atari the origianl one not this Infogames crap.

That's all folks.

[VestCunt]

Ultra!
I was 9 and thought this company was the Shit.
Metal Gear, Ninja Turtles, Defender of the Crown, Snakes Revenge...

Kemco-Seika - They made some very realistic games early on...Rescue the Embassy Mission, Deja Vu, and Desert Commander.

Square pre-snes (Rad Racer 2!).

FCI - i loved the Ultima ports (most of them, anyway).

SNK - just because of Crystalis

Working Designs

Hudson Soft

[esteban]

Ultra!
I was 9 and thought this company was the Shit.
Metal Gear, Ninja Turtles, Defender of the Crown, Snakes Revenge...

Kemco-Seika - They made some very realistic games early on...Rescue the Embassy Mission, Deja Vu, and Desert Commander.

Square pre-snes (Rad Racer 2!).

FCI - i loved the Ultima ports (most of them, anyway).

SNK - just because of Crystalis

Working Designs

Hudson Soft

Ultra = Konami  It was a means of releasing more games than Nintendo's policies allowed.

[DragonmasterDan]

Nintendo
Konami
Game Arts
SNK (now SNK Playmore)

[Keranu]

Who else thought Ultra was a totally more rad name than Konami? I do!

[RCduck7]

For the recent consoles defenitly Ubisoft.

They dare to release original games like "Beyond Good & Evil", the cellshaded game "XIII" and off coursse the beautifull take on "Prince of Persia"

They didn't sell as good as they hoped though.  

I also like what Retro studios did with metoid prime for the gamecube.  

[AlexKidd]

I am a fan of :

Nintendo
Treasure
Hudson
Sega
Squaresoft
Atlus

but Konami is definitely my favorite,mostly for Castlevania though they have a lot of other nice games including Lifeforce,Gradius, Contra,Axelay etc