Favorite classic game developer no longer around

[Genesaturn]

Hey guys, I didn't see any topics when I searched specifically on this. I was going through my Saturn collection and a lot of my favorite games were developed by Sega sub studios that never made it past the Saturn years. So I was wondering who everyone's favorite game dev was that isn't around now?

I'm going to go with Square...yes I went there, because technically Square did die in 2003 and became Square Enix in the merger. The last FF I really enjoyed was FFX which ironically enough was the last game they developed before becoming Square Enix.

I also really enjoyed the few games SegaSoft put out in its short 5 year tenure and I do miss Sega AM2

[duffmanth]

Ultra

[Greg2600]

Imagic

[cabbage]

Hudson Soft! I was looking forward to Bonk: Brink of Extinction.

[calthaer]

Looking Glass Studios.

#2 would be Epyx, even if some of my favorite ones that were released by them were developed by other people (Rad Warrior and Death Sword, IIRC).

[treismac]

4337

Technōs Japan

They gave us:
Karate Champ
Renegade
Double Dragon
Super Dodge Ball
River City Ransom
Crash 'n the Boys
Super Spike V' Ball

My understanding is that some of the Technōs Japan programmers are still around working for a company called Miracle Kidz, which is working on a sequel to River City Ransom (http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=ja&u=http://mkidz.jp/&ei=_-saT66nLobatwegr5iWCw&sa=X&oi=translate&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CCwQ7gEwAA&prev=/search%3Fq%3DMiracle%2BKidz%26hl%3Den%26prmd%3Dimv ns)!!! This game was suppose to come out last year, but fans of River City Ransom have waited this long, so what is an extra year or two, right?


Of course, I also loved our recently departed Hudson. :'(

4338

I bought the Shot Watch app for my iPod the other day to commemorate this great game developer of yesteryear as well as letting Konami know that Hudson still has fans.

[Graham Mitchell]

Compile. The Guardian Legend, golvellius, and their assortment of phenomenal shooters will be staples of my gaming diet for years to come. I know Compile Heart is still around, but it's not the same thing.

Oh, and now Hudson :(


---
I am here: http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=33.928508,-118.226989

[kupomogli]

Heartbeat. They were the developers of the Dragon Quest 3 remake and Dragon Quest 6 for the Super Famicom. They also developed Dragon Quest 7 and the Dragon Quest 4 remake for the PSX as well. Wish they would have maintained control of the Dragon Quest series. Dragon Quest 6 is a great game and Dragon Quest 7 is the best in the series by far. Then, while the other titles are only remakes, Dragon Quest 3 and 4 are easily some of the best remakes ever developed.

Unfortunately, the Dragon Quest series while still decent using the same tried and true methods of gameplay, have went downhill with the subsequent games in the series Dragon Quest 8, and even more so with Dragon Quest 9. Aside from Dragon Quest 3 NES being as amazing as it is, the series best was when devleoped by Heartbeat.

[Kitsune Sniper]

Ultra
... They're Konami. They were always Konami.

Edit: I'd have to say SNK. The company that exists now is not the same that was around during my teenage years.

[Drixxel]

While they might still be around in one form or another, Quintet was an awesome developer that made impressive contributions to the SNES library. Actraiser, Soul Blazer, Illusion of Gaia and so on - all extremely memorable.

[Gamevet]

Technosoft. They really pushed the Genesis sound hardware to places no other developer could.

[Colorado Rockies]

Working Designs.
The first publisher/developer to show true fan appreciation w/ their packaging, goodies etc.

[Berserker]

Three-way tie:

Looking Glass
Infocom
Sierra

[Genesaturn]

Working Designs.
The first publisher/developer to show true fan appreciation w/ their packaging, goodies etc.

I miss Working Designs a lot, always had the most complete releases for a fan.

[Junkyrdsalesman]

not really classic but clover studios

[Ballermann2D]

Sega (if Square counts,then should Sega aswell...)
Origin

[Griking]

Infocom - Zork, Planetfall, Trinity, More

Origin Systems - Ultimas, Wing Commander, System Shock, More

Sierra On-Line - Kings/Space/Police Quests, Leisure Suit Larry, Gabriel Knight, & More

Interplay - Fallout, The Bard's Tale

Black Isle - Balduer's Gate, Icewind Dale, Planetscape Torment

[treismac]

not really classic but clover studios

It baffles me that Capcom could see Clover create a game like Okami and then shut them down. Not only was that a fail for Capcom, but it was also a fail for the video game playing community at large for not recognizing Okami as the incredible gem that it was. Everyone who didn't buy this game should have to shove a copy of Halo up their @ss, and then sh*t it back out over the board room of Capcom. I've played through the game three times (twice on the PS2, once on the Wii). The game is magic- f*cking magic.

I think I'm going to go somewhere and cry now.

[Genesaturn]

Yeah Okami IS a great game and its sad Clover is no more. The fact of the matter is the majority of gamers now a days are casual Modern Warfare, Grand Theft Auto, Madden players. There are plenty of really great games that come out and get no commercial success due to lack of sales..since the hardcore gamers are now a minority...but thats my 2 cent. Flame me at will if you like.

[Emperor Megas]

Telenet - Valis series, Final Zone series, Gaiares, Last Alert, Time Gal

Techno Soft also made some of my favorite shooters back in the day.

[rhcocker]

Infocom - Zork, Planetfall, Trinity, More

Origin Systems - Ultimas, Wing Commander, System Shock, More

Sierra On-Line - Kings/Space/Police Quests, Leisure Suit Larry, Gabriel Knight, & More

Interplay - Fallout, The Bard's Tale

Black Isle - Balduer's Gate, Icewind Dale, Planetscape Torment


I second Origin Systems and Black Isle. I would give anything for another ultima or baldur's gate.

[tom]

Yes, and add Mindscape, Broderbund, Penguin, Microprose, SSI, Synapse, Databyte...

[Tron 2.0]

Telenet:Yeah sunsoft has there games now but nothing at all currently.
Compile
Technos
Dataeast

[retro junkie]

Miss,
Sega when they had Sega Hardware (home and arcade)
Irem (R-Type, In the Hunt, etc)
Hudson Soft (from the TG 16 days)

[Griking]

Yes, and add Mindscape, Broderbund, Penguin, Microprose, SSI, Synapse, Databyte...

More great choices.

Penguin didn't make a ton of games but I really enjoyed the ones from them that I played.

[tom]

Did I mean Databyte? I think I meant Datasoft (The Dallas Quest, Zaxxon etc...)

also missed: Spinnaker, Access, SSG, Accolade, Absolute Entertainment, Sirius Software, Sir-Tech, Tsunami, Legend

Some UKs: Level 9, Thalamus, Magnetic Scrolls, Robico, System 4, Freescape

and of course we miss most of all*:

http://www.gamingbus.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/Atari.jpg




*nowadays Atari is NOT Atari


.

[kedawa]

It baffles me that Capcom could see Clover create a game like Okami and then shut them down. Not only was that a fail for Capcom, but it was also a fail for the video game playing community at large for not recognizing Okami as the incredible gem that it was. Everyone who didn't buy this game should have to shove a copy of Halo up their @ss, and then sh*t it back out over the board room of Capcom. I've played through the game three times (twice on the PS2, once on the Wii). The game is magic- f*cking magic.

I think I'm going to go somewhere and cry now.

My experience with Okami was mashing the X button for half an hour while being drip fed the story, then playing a thoroughly average action game for another ten minutes, then returning it to the store for something that's actually fun.
Godhand, however, is pure awesome.

[j_factor]

Core Design

[treismac]

My experience with Okami was mashing the X button for half an hour while being drip fed the story, then playing a thoroughly average action game for another ten minutes, then returning it to the store for something that's actually fun.
Godhand, however, is pure awesome.

The world of Okami sucked me in right from the start, which is not surprising in light of my love of Japanese culture and its mythology and folklore. Undoubtedly, this colored my perception of the game. I doubt I'd be as enamored with it if the story had a medieval French setting. With that said, I think the story was pretty damn good by (cliched) video game standards. The long intro didn't bother me. I wanted an experience that reached beyond the average game, and I felt the story's intro with the waterbrush styled graphics helped establish that. As far as you not enjoying playing the game, kedawa, if you only played it for ten minutes, what did you expect? I am not even sure if you can discover the first brush technique within the first ten minutes, and apart from the brush techniques in Okami, the game has nothing revolutionary to offer gamers right off the bat. If memory serves me well, the game starts off in a dream-like world of the gods where there isn't much action going on at first.

Out of curiosity, did you pick up Okami on a whim or recommendation or did you anticipate the release of the game before its actual release, kedawa?

[Tupin]

Rareware, but they were getting bad by the time they left Nintendo anyway. Working Designs, for all of their great games we otherwise wouldn't have gotten. Midway is one people forget happened, but they made awesome arcade games. Sierra and Interplay both had awesome franchises.

Hudson, obviously. Broderbund did so much more than Carmen Sandiego, but no one seems to remember that.

Hey, losing all of these developers is worth is so we don't have to have LJN, Acclaim, Ocean, 3DO, or Titus anymore.

[kupomogli]

Working Designs.
The first publisher/developer to show true fan appreciation w/ their packaging, goodies etc.

I'll second this.


Godhand, however, is pure awesome.

And this.


Out of curiosity, did you pick up Okami on a whim or recommendation or did you anticipate the release of the game before its actual release, kedawa?

Whether he came in his pants while waiting for the game or didn't know anything about the game prior to getting it wouldn't matter. If a game is good, it'd be good regardless of interest in it.

*edit*

The only thing is if you paid $60 for it, you'd probably be biased over the game as you'd want to feel you made a good decision. So if you were hyped for the game, paid $60 for it, and then you still hate it, then it must have been a huge steaming pile of horseshit.

[treismac]

Whether he came in his pants while waiting for the game or didn't know anything about the game prior to getting it wouldn't matter. If a game is good, it'd be good regardless of interest in it.

*edit*

The only thing is if you paid $60 for it, you'd probably be biased over the game as you'd want to feel you made a good decision. So if you were hyped for the game, paid $60 for it, and then you still hate it, then it must have been a huge steaming pile of horseshit.

Expectations can drastically affect how someone views something in more ways than if they felt like they made a good financial decision or not.

[mobiusclimber]

Don't think Working Designs should be included since I don't think they developed any games. Praise them for publishing games that others wouldn't touch, but please don't confuse them with the guys who actually developed the games they published.

As for me, I have a soft-spot for the failed developers studios that ex-Squaresoft employees founded, like Love-de-lic, Sacnoth... and I think that's all of em?

Surprised no one's mentioned LJN, lol.

[Drixxel]

Surprised no one's mentioned LJN, lol.

I don't believe that LJN actually developed many, if any, of the games that people (i.e. AVGN) bash them for. The only times I've ever seen LJN credited as a developer are with The Uncanny X-Men and NFL Football on NES but that info might deserve a closer bit of snooping. LJN may have been a prolific publisher of crap but not a developer of it, as far as I know.

[mobiusclimber]

So I did the very thing I accused others of doing? *facepalm*

[tom]

That is true actually, he's talking about developers, many publishers didn't develop, eg Pokemon was not developed by Nintendo....but maybe he meant publishers too....who knows.

Ayway, I think Infocom also cared lots about packaging, more so than Working Designs?

[fergojisan]

Activision, specifically their games for the 2600. Definitely not the same company now. I lost touch with them in the SNES days, but I knew they were still making games. I was surprised (and a little sad) to see how much hatred gamers have for the company now.

[tom]

Yep, Activision, Atari, Electronic Arts, three of the greatest software houses are nothing like the original.

[Sanriostar]

Can I add Synapse? While more of a publisher rather than a developer, You knew Synapse games had that 'oddball but awesome' feel to their games. And I loved the opening fanfare to their early games. I can still blow through Shamus Case 2 inside a half-hour.

I'm also gonna add Access from the C64 Pantheon; Beach Head, Raid Over Moscow, Neutral Zone.... loved Access games.

[Griking]

Yep, Activision, Atari, Electronic Arts, three of the greatest software houses are nothing like the original.

Well to be fair Electronic Arts and Activision are the same companies as they were, its just that they've grown too large.

[Flashback2012]

Publishers I miss...

Working Designs (only for their packaging, their translations were sub-par at times)
Renovation Products

Developers I miss...

Hudson Soft
Data East
Technosoft

I'm sure there's many more that I'm not thinking of.

[Frankie_Says_Relax]

4337

Technōs Japan

They gave us:
Karate Champ
Renegade
Double Dragon
Super Dodge Ball
River City Ransom
Crash 'n the Boys
Super Spike V' Ball

My understanding is that some of the Technōs Japan programmers are still around working for a company called Miracle Kidz, which is working on a sequel to River City Ransom (http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=ja&u=http://mkidz.jp/&ei=_-saT66nLobatwegr5iWCw&sa=X&oi=translate&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CCwQ7gEwAA&prev=/search%3Fq%3DMiracle%2BKidz%26hl%3Den%26prmd%3Dimv ns)!!! This game was suppose to come out last year, but fans of River City Ransom have waited this long, so what is an extra year or two, right?


Of course, I also loved our recently departed Hudson. :'(

4338

I bought the Shot Watch app for my iPod the other day to commemorate this great game developer of yesteryear as well as letting Konami know that Hudson still has fans.

Seconded. You saved me a lot of typing!

[Hawksmoor]

Psygnosis

[Drixxel]

Activision, specifically their games for the 2600. Definitely not the same company now. I lost touch with them in the SNES days, but I knew they were still making games. I was surprised (and a little sad) to see how much hatred gamers have for the company now.

You need only to read a bit about the exploits of Bobby Kotick, current CEO of Activision, to understand the hatred towards the company. A lot of the most controversial quotes from the guy are easy to get pissed off about when taken out of context but it's pretty clear that Activision has become too big to have a soul. They've come a long way from being an awesome 2600 developer.

[calthaer]

Infocom - Zork, Planetfall, Trinity, More
Origin Systems - Ultimas, Wing Commander, System Shock, More
Sierra On-Line - Kings/Space/Police Quests, Leisure Suit Larry, Gabriel Knight, & More
Interplay - Fallout, The Bard's Tale
Black Isle - Balduer's Gate, Icewind Dale, Planetscape Torment

I think I might want to modify my answer, too...especially Origin Systems. It was a crime against humanity when they were subsumed within the beast and digested, their wondrous game franchises drowned in a sea of mediocrity.

[Genesaturn]

Throwing another vote in for Origin - Crusader: No Remorse and Crusader: No Regret are a pair of some of my favorite pc games of all time

[Compute]

Sunsoft
Acclaim (Yeah, I know most of it sucked, but I loved the Acclaim WWF games)
Bally/Midway

[kedawa]

The world of Okami sucked me in right from the start, which is not surprising in light of my love of Japanese culture and its mythology and folklore. Undoubtedly, this colored my perception of the game. I doubt I'd be as enamored with it if the story had a medieval French setting. With that said, I think the story was pretty damn good by (cliched) video game standards. The long intro didn't bother me. I wanted an experience that reached beyond the average game, and I felt the story's intro with the waterbrush styled graphics helped establish that. As far as you not enjoying playing the game, kedawa, if you only played it for ten minutes, what did you expect? I am not even sure if you can discover the first brush technique within the first ten minutes, and apart from the brush techniques in Okami, the game has nothing revolutionary to offer gamers right off the bat. If memory serves me well, the game starts off in a dream-like world of the gods where there isn't much action going on at first.

Out of curiosity, did you pick up Okami on a whim or recommendation or did you anticipate the release of the game before its actual release, kedawa?

I rented the PS2 version with a friend after reading the hyperbolic praise the game was getting on forums and stuff. I was just underwhelmed and annoyed by it. We returned it and got Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks instead, iirc. LOL
The same friend later got the Wii version and actually enjoyed it, but I guess my initial impression just left a bad taste in my mouth. I have a very low tolerance for non-interactive filler in games, and that just erased whatever positive bias that the game's charm and style would have caused.
I like using Amaterasu in Marvel, though. :)

[BydoEmpire]

SSI. They did so many great turn-based strategy and RPGs. Not only is SSI gone, but the genre of games they put out is pretty much dead along with them. Shame.

Also, Atari, Intellivision, Imagic, Cinemaware, Psygnosis...

[kedawa]

I thought Psygnosis was just a publisher that ran a few small development houses.
Most of the Psygnosis games I owned were developed by Reflections.

[Graham Mitchell]

I thought Psygnosis was just a publisher that ran a few small development houses.
Most of the Psygnosis games I owned were developed by Reflections.

They were back then, but now, as studio Liverpool, they seem to be more of a developer, with Sony being their publisher.

Another developer I miss is horror soft. Elvira 2: jaws of Cerberus is pretty cool, along with Waxworks, even if they do suffer from obfusticated design. They made some genuinely creepy computer games.


---
I am here: http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=34.156261,-118.086692

[Emperor Megas]

I rented the PS2 version with a friend after reading the hyperbolic praise the game was getting on forums and stuff. I was just underwhelmed and annoyed by it. We returned it and got Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks instead, iirc. LOL
The same friend later got the Wii version and actually enjoyed it, but I guess my initial impression just left a bad taste in my mouth. I have a very low tolerance for non-interactive filler in games, and that just erased whatever positive bias that the game's charm and style would have caused.
I like using Amaterasu in Marvel, though. :)I'm the exact opposite. I have very little tolerance for INTERACTIVE filler in games. Namely QTEs.

Off topic rant: I HATE the way that Quick Time Events try to make what should be an non-interactive FMV cut scene into an interactive experience. It comes across as clunky and forced, IMO. The QTEs Resident Evil 4 and 5 are goods example of this, and I could do without the ones in Dante's Inferno as well. I wouldn't mind them as much if they were more seamless. Like if they lost the whole HUGE FLICKERING BUTTON ICON flashing in the middle of the screen telling you what to do. I'd actually prefer a more subtle Dragon's Lair type flashing directional clue rather than a big blinking button reminding me that I'm playing a game with artificial difficulty boosting QTE's.

/End rant.

[retro junkie]

I would like to add to my earlier list,
SNK when they had hardware in the arcade and home.

[TheRedKnight]

Alpha Denshi and Data East, FTL Games and SSI, to name a few.

[DylanOZ]

Its been said but i'll say it again anyways,

Technosoft and Hudson Soft

also Midway and Toaplan

[Astrosmash]

I'll put in another vote for Imagic. A lot of their games seemed to be a little outside-the-box for their time, and I don't recall playing anything by them that I didn't like.

[old man]

psikyo

);