what developer has the most soul?

[CMcKenzie]

A few things to explain The most soul means these 4 guidelines.
1 Must try new things alot explore a forgotten genre
2 Must release new ip`s and not uncreative sequels galore
4 Creativity

What happened to 3?

 

[Ekit]

Team ICO
Valve
Sucker Punch
Naughty Dog

 

[Echo136]

Half-Life
Counter-Strike
Team Fortress
Left 4 Dead
Portal
Alien Swarm

So why exactly are Valve disqualified again?

Because all of those games except for Team Fortress and Half-Life were made by mod teams and the mod teams were bought out by Valve. Dont get me wrong, Valve is awesome and I own all their games, but people arent giving proper credit where its due.

 

[vrbtny]

As everyone else is saying Valve, I'm gonna throw a new name into the ring and say Bungie.

They get lots of hate for Halo, but it wasn't entirely their fault, and they're nice guys really.

 

[Mister Man]

I'll go with Rare, makers of good games with great gameplay. At least in the N64 era.

Seriously, I can't stop loving Banjo Kazooie and Goldeneye.

 

[Phlakes]

A bit of a nit-pick, but no one releases "only" sequels. And you can't claim sequels to be inherently uncreative in the same post that you praise a sequel (Red Dead Redemption).

I'd say Valve, Nintendo, Capcom, and Rockstar all qualify in different ways.

Its a seguel!?

Yup. Red Dead Revolver on the PS2 kicked off the IP.

@rolfwesselius, but don't worry, Revolver sucked. It was developed by Capcom at first and was almost abandoned before Rockstar picked it up, and was a mediocre action game. There's a reason you've never heard of it.

I'll go with Rare, makers of good games with great gameplay. At least in the N64 era.

Seriously, I can't stop loving Banjo Kazooie and Goldeneye.

But this. When they still had "ware" attached to their name, it was one of best developers of all time.

I also have to say Retro Studios, the guys who made Metroid Prime and the new Donkey Kong Country. You can feel the love when you play those.

 

[T8B95]

Because everybody would choose Valve.

I wouldn't.

I'm not going to say that Valve doesn`t make good games, but I won`t call them the best developer out there, and they certainly don`t have the most creativity, having built virtually all of their games on the Half-Life engine.



I still think that "soul" needs a better definition. I personally define it as "devs that give a shit about their game and aren`t just interested in how much money they can rake in off of a name."

Ubisoft only has one good series and took advantage of their Tom Clancy licensing rights.

Which series would that be? The Prince of Persia games, the Assassin`s Creed games, the Splinter Cell games, you have a lot more that you can pick and choose from than just one series. And all of the aforementioned series` were amazing, thank you very much.

 

[deserteagleeye]

Atlus, just because they haven't disappointed me so far. I would say Valve, but I'm still trying to invest in a better PC.

 

[Azaraxzealot]

Half-Life
Counter-Strike
Team Fortress
Left 4 Dead
Portal
Alien Swarm

So why exactly are Valve disqualified again?

because of the escapist's not-so-secret fanboy crush on the developer.

it forces people to actually think about developers who REALLY have soul and not just spout what everyone else is spouting.

as for me? I have to say Volition. All they focus on is "what's fun?" then do it. i mean... have you SEEN that Saints Row: The Third gameplay? [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/videos/view/trailers/3625-Saints-Row-The-Third-Steelport] THAT is a developer with soul!

 

[striderkiwi]

Even though I'm not really crazy about them I'd kinda say Valve as well as Volition. Because while i may not like every game they've made, at least they try to make fun games that are at least somewhat different from most other developers.
In all honesty, this question has no real answer because every developer does sequels at some point or another, and since when are sequels automatically bad or not creative or unique?

 

[Redingold]

Half-Life
Counter-Strike
Team Fortress
Left 4 Dead
Portal
Alien Swarm

So why exactly are Valve disqualified again?

Half life 2
CS (I dont know of any sequal so will give you this)
TF2
L4D2
Portal 2
Aien swarm (havent played, dont know if its a sewual so I wilgive you this).

1 Must try new things alot explore a forgotten genre
2 Must release new ip`s and not uncreative sequels galore
3 Creativity once in a while

1. Aside from portal I dont think they have done that. (and AS becuase I havent even loked at gameplay).
2. While not equals galore, L4D2 was controversial, and most games listed have sequals.
3. HL, TF, CS, LD4 are all shooters, dont really stan out much to me in the creativity department. Portal does but thats about it.

I am going to get flamed for this becuase valve fanboys are everywhere.

I dont think any develoers do have souls, I could say Peter molyneux seems to have a pasion for games, but he is to focused on fable now, ad he just seems to make things worse. Still he seems to try and wantsto improve.

And yet the OP lists Rockstar.

Grand Theft Auto 2
Grand Theft Auto III
Grand Theft Auto: Vice City
Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas
Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories
Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories
Grand Theft Auto IV

No hypocrisy here, no sir.

Additionally, Half-Life 2 and Team Fortress 2 were very different to their previous games, and Portal was one of the most inventive games I've ever seen.

 

[bob-2000]

Valve, it may not fit the categories but it is the most selfless developer ever.
It cares for its fans by willing to risk its own money for the fan's enjoyment.

Yea, maybe 5 years ago, but they've gotten incredibly greedy and completely destroyed TF2 with their new products.

I think Bioware. I know that they do a lot of sequels, but they're one of the only studios that focuses greatly on plot. Hell, even DA2 had really great characters despite the pressure that EA put on the studio.

 

[Mikeyfell]

I would say Valve.

I know they care about the players because they quality test their games for fucking ages.

 

[ThePurpleStuff]

I say Media Molecule, I love the staff, they have so much personality and clearly care about their fans and the games they create. You can see it in their games too, Modnation and LBP 1 and 2 are my favorite PS3 games.

 

[Serum211]

I'm going to say Arrowhead. They really care about their game(magicka). And it was really, really good. That is, after they fixed all the bugs. And their still trying to improve. And you should really check this trailer out, it's awesome!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HgcEZ8jz_Hc

 

[Woodsey]

"And la Noire
Which arguably created a genre."

lol.

Valve, it may not fit the categories but it is the most selfless developer ever.
It cares for its fans by willing to risk its own money for the fan's enjoyment.

Yea, maybe 5 years ago, but they've gotten incredibly greedy and completely destroyed TF2 with their new products.

By doing what, making it free and allowing you to craft and find anything that you can buy? People who have bought stuff have had no advantage over me whatsoever, and I haven't bought anything.

OT: I dunno, implying you can't be creative or have a "soul" (eugh) because you don't travel outside of a genre too much seems stupid.