Your top 10 developers.

[Henrik Persson]

Edit: If you don't post 10 names I won't count it. Partly because it fucks up the system and partly because I want to know what avid gamers think and if you can't rank 10 developers, you're not an avid gamer.

This will probably go badly, but I will atleast try. March Mayhem is nice and all, but I don't like the head-to-head thing and this is a way to see what small developers people like. So here's how this work. Everyone posts their top 10 list of their favorite video game developers of all time. It could be anyone. It has to be ranked. I'll give the 1st place developer 12 points, 2nd 10 points, 3rd 8 points, then 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2 and 1. Just one more rule:

If you bash any developer in this thread your vote doesn't count. I feel I have to add this due to all the Zyngabashing that's going on. Take that elsewhere (preferrably away from this forum, it's getting annoying.

I'll start with my list:

1. Black Isle Studios (Fallout, Fallout 2, Planescape Torment)(Yes, I know they no longer exists.)
2. Bioware
3. Paradox Interactive (Europa Universalis 2, Crusader Kings)
4. Firaxis
5. Square Enix
6. Nintendo
7. Bethesda
8. Obsidian
9. Rockstar North
10. Blizzard

Edit: Standings so far (up to and including post 46, excluding those that didn't rank theirs):

159 Bioware
126 Bethesda
119 Valve
104 Square Enix
92 Nintendo
92 Blizzard
72 Naughty Dog
58 DICE
54 Ubisoft Montreal
34 Bungie
33 Black Isle Studios
30 Team ICO
30 Rockstar
30 Westwood
29 Capcom
29 LucasArts
29 Relic
28 Infinity Ward
25 Paradox Interactive
23 2K
23 Volition
23 Kojima
21 Konami
19 Creative Assembly
17 Obsidian
17 Insomniac
17 Namco Bandai
16 GSC game world
15 Game Freak
15 Firaxis
14 Monolith
14 Atlus
13 Sega
13 3DO
12 Rare
12 Tri-Ace
12 Free Radical
12 Q Entertainment
11 Level 5
10 Treasure
10 Oddworld Inhabitants
10 Ion Storm
10 Q Games
10 Arkane Studios
8 Nippon Ichi
8 Epic Games
8 ID Software
8 Stardock
8 Starbreeze Studios
7 Sony Santa Monica
7 Taleworlds Interactive
7 Mistwalker
6 Arc Systems
6 Crypton Future Media
5 Treyarch
5 Looking Glass Studios
5 Activision
5 Poptop
5 Croteam
5 Troika Games
4 Avalanche Studios
3 Sports Interactive
3 THQ
3 Pandemic Studios
3 Tilted Mill
3 EA Sports
3 Splash Damage
2 ThatGameCompany
2 Ensemble
2 Remedy
2 Maxis
1 Zipper
1 Three Rings
1 Intelligent Systems

 

[Onyx Oblivion]

1. Bethesda (Duh.)
2. Treasure (You never heard of 'em? Sad to be you. Go play Gunstar Heroes!)
3. SquareSOFT/SE (more for SS, though)
4. Monolith (FEAR, Condemned)
5. Volition (Saint's Row, Red Faction: Guerrilla)
6. Treyarch (The other CoD developer)
7. Insomniac (Ratchet and Clank 2-4. One blew compared to the sequels.)
8. Ubisoft Montreal (ACreed, PoPersia)
9. Bioware (For Jade Empire, mostly.)
10. Mistwalker (For Lost Odyssey, mostly.)

 

[Pimppeter2]

List threads be bad, though no really enforced anymore

Naughty Dog - Jak and Daxter
Bethesda - The Elder Scrolls
Nintendo - Everything


Ehh, thassabout it.

 

[Jark212]

For me:

Bungie
Bioware
Naughty dog
Relic
Bethesda
Infinity Ward
Blizzard
Volition
Ubisoft Montreal
Rockstar North

 

[kduff51]

Bethesda, Blizzard, and Bioware are my favorites. No need to go farther

 

[Veldt Falsetto]

My 10 fave devs and my reason why I love them.

1. Squaresoft - Final Fantasy
2. Enix - Dragon Quest (now they both merged so they're both number 1)
3. Capcom - Devil May Cry
4. Konami - Metal Gear
5. Namco Bandai - Katamari/Tales
6. Sega - My youth/amazing, overlooked RPGs
7. Nintendo - Zelda
8. Bethesda - Oblivion
9. Level 5 - Dark Cloud (my first non pokemon RPG)
10. Rare - Banjo-Kazooie

yes I love Japan 'k!

 

[Nero09]

Basing this on my games library, and how much i enjoyed their games in retrospect:

1. Valve
2. Bioware
3. Creative Assembly
4. Bethesda
5. Nintendo
6. Blizzard
7. Westwood
8. Sports Interactive
9. Kojima
10. Ubisoft

 

[Irridium]

1. DICE - Battlefield 1942 introduced me to online gameplay as a whole.
2. Bungie - I have Halo 2 to thank for getting me more into consoles, and for most of my online friends. Plus their level of interactivity with fans is second only to Valve.
3. Free Radical - They made Timesplitters. 'Nuff said.
4. Valve - One of the very few developers who actually take the PC, and their fans, seriously. They also love to fuck with their fans, which is always good for a laugh.
5. Bioware - One of the few developers who seem to really care about a good story. Seriously, I don't think they have ever made a truly crappy game.
6. Team Ico - They create the most unique and touching games ever.
7. Firaxis - Civilization is the only game series I will say I was "addicted" to.
8. Naughty Dog - They created some of the most fun and amazing games ever. Jak and Daxter especially. Would you believe that Jak 3 had a giant, sandbox style world with no loading screens, an amazing framerate, and easily the best facial animations on the PS2, all the while looking pretty damn good considering its age? Well its true, and its still damn fun to play.
9. Volition - Finally, a developer who's games embrace pure fun instead of graphics. Give me Saints Row 2 over GTA IV any day.
10. ID - I guess I should give credit where credit is due. DOOM was my first game, and I played it all the time with my dad. Thank you for so many great memories.

Thats my list. It was damn hard to make, I love every one of those developers. Please keep doing what you all do best!

 

[mercenator3000]

Hmm... this may be a bit tough...

1) Bioware
2) Bethesda
3) Valve
4) Blizzard
5) 2K
6) Game Freak
7) Volition
8) Bungie
9) Squeenix
10) Naughty Dog

 

[bassdrum]

I recently (like this weekend, 3 or 4 days ago--that recently) discovered that the Mass Effect franchise is incredible. I know I'm late to the party, but I also know that BioWare just rocketed towards the top of my favored devs list.

Let's see...

1. Valve (because the games are all fun and Steam just makes my life easier)
2. BioWare (see above)
3. 2K (mmmm... BioShock... tasty.)
4. Infinity Ward (from the CoD4 era)
5. Ubisoft (BG&E. That about sums it upl. However, they might be higher on my list if they'd get around to making the damn sequel already)
6. (Battlefield is pretty fun, and at least they TRIED with Mirror's Edge)
7. Naughty Dog (How the hell did they make Uncharted look so good? It's ridiculous!)
8. Nintendo (those bastards own 90% of my childhood.)

I think that's about all I've got off the top of my head... maybe I'l edit this later. For now, ME2 is sounding pretty enticing.

 

[acklumos]

1.Insomniac
2.Naughty Dog
3.Level 5
4.Valve
5.DICE
6.Bethesda
7.Bioware
8.SquareEnix
9.Blizzard
10.Capcom

 

[Brotherofwill]

1. Team Ico
2. Oddworld Inhabitants
3. Blizzard
4. Lucas Arts
5. Kojima
6. Nintendo
7. Naughty Dog
8. Capcom
9. ThatGameCompany
10. Valve

 

[DustyDrB]

1. Nintendo
2. Bioware
3. Ubisoft
4. Rockstar
5. Bethesda (Though I only liked Oblivion, I played it a ton)
6. Lucas Arts
7. Activision
8. Obsidian
9. Eidos
10. Capcom

I had to look up the games I've played after #6 to see who made them. Making the full ten was a struggle.

 

[gmaverick019_v1legacy]

bioware-everything, love em
squaresoft-ff and whatnot
naughty dog- uncharted 1 and 2 and crash bandicoot games
ubisoft-good stuff for puzzles
obsidian- few great games in memory
lucas arts- a few games..(star wars fanboy)
nintendo-empireeee from the 90's
bethesda-mostly just oblivion for me..
capcom- some good ole fighting games
zipper- love soocom more than any other multiplayer game

 

[Anticitizen_Two]

1. Nintendo - They're the best.
2. Team Ico - I have so much respect for them.
3. Rare - They WERE amazing. They lose some points for how downhill they've gone, but they still have a big place in my heart.
4. Valve - They're great to their fanbase and make great games (they're still overrated though).
5. Naughty Dog - Jak and Daxter <3
6. Looking Glass Studios - They were great, too bad they went under.
7. Lucasarts - This is really only for Tim Schaffer.
8. Squaresoft - Self-explanatory.
9. 2K Boston & Australia - Bioshock is the only 2K game I've loved (hence the Boston & Australia thing), but it was good enough to earn them recognition.
10. Namco Bandai - I love me some retro games.