MY BRAIN HAD A THINK ABOUT A GAM3

WHAT HAVE PEOPLE (by which I mean Rum's friend's parents mostly) DONE TO MY DS CELEBRATION

Absolute cocking insane, that story Rum tells. I do obviously come at this from the point of view of a Nintendonly gamer who liked soft toys and cute things all through his adolescence - and where's the harm in that? I certainly wasn't asking for 18-rated games from my parents! (Who did offer to buy me Conker's Bad Fur Day at the age of eleven or something... I turned it down.) I'm with Buska, I'm a little bit angry to read that story. As for Mas - meh, I was an idiot when I was a teenager too.

I don't think I have any stories of bad parents and gaming (mine or others) happily. A hot summer's afternoon sounds perfect for not going out in the sun and playing videogames indoors.

Jimbob wrote:

I think you've underestimated the amount people would like to exclaim "HERE IS MY FAVOURITE IT IS THIS"

Certainly I'm a fan of that, but in my head I'd classed it in the same bucket as vote threads that everyone else here didn't like!

Buskalilly wrote:

Your post was written such that the DS part reads like a throwaway line.

Not having this though. The DS fan line is repeated twice - the list is hidden away in a spoiler.

Anyway, you mentioned the Hotel Dusk games so it's all good. Utter belters. I'm looking to replay them on my 3DS soon - it's been long enough!

Balladeer wrote:

Buskalilly wrote:

Your post was written such that the DS part reads like a throwaway line.

Not having this though.  The DS fan line is repeated twice - the list is hidden away in a spoiler.  

Results speak for themselves mate. You lost, get over it.

Hang your head in shame, hang your head in shame.

Also who doesn't want to know my favourite Lynx game?

My favourite Lynx game is spraying it onto a lighter and using it as a flamethrower.

Buskalilly wrote:

Balladeer wrote:

Not having this though.  The DS fan line is repeated twice - the list is hidden away in a spoiler.  

Results speak for themselves mate. You lost, get over it.

Oh no! Time to bang on about holding a GNamer vote to reverse the scales until everyone gets fed up with me and votes a bunch of corrupt racists into power, repeatedly.

A 5th anniversary Switch one would be neat next year.

One from elsewhere, as I bring up IMO the Naughty Dog are the best studio in the world, but wondering what be yours Top 5.

1. Naughty Dog, they've made since Uncharted 2 some of the best games around and is a studio that a new game would sell me on PS5 with not a lot else out.
2. Insomniac, mainly for consistency since Sunset Overdrive along with being able to put out how many games they have it such a short period.
3. Nintendo EPD, Nintendo hard one as we know EPD has a few teams in it and used to be different divisions yet as whole are fantastic.
4. Atlus, tad like Nintendo EPD that have different teams within teams yet when I see the Atlus logo I know I'm going to get something great.
5. From Software, as I said elsewhere I've not clicked with their games, but I appreciate what they do.

Then of course Kojima Productions, which I don't know if you judge on the one game or ones also part of Konami as it's the same team, if all together then KP is the best.

That would be tricky for me because most of my favourite games are by internal Nintendo studios, which are notoriously difficult to pin down! I'll have a think.

Yeah Nintendo are tricky, why was easy to just say EPD but tad like going Capcom even though multiple teams as they're a publisher.

1. Nintendo. I don’t know the differences between the development team who made Super Mario 64 and the one who made 100 Classic Books Collection, but imagine not putting Nintendo at the top of a list like this. State of your lists.

2. SEGA-AM2. This was the team who made all those SEGA arcade belters throughout the ‘80s, ‘90s and first half of the ‘00s. From Hang-On and After Burner to Ghost Squad and OutRun 2, they created arcade magic year and and year out.

3. Konami. As much in the arcade as on the home consoles, Konami had a pristine reputation when I was growing up. Especially during the 16-bit era, almost everything Konami developed was absolutely first class. On N64 and PlayStation, I enjoyed the likes of International Superstar Soccer Pro, Bishi Bashi Special and Mystical Ninja Starring Goemon as much as any first-party stuff on those consoles. Dance Dance Revolution and Pro Evolution Soccer took Konami successfully into the new millennium, and kept me playing their games from childhood into adulthood.

4. Sonic Team. Not just for the Sonic series, they’ve developed many other games for SEGA. Highlights include NiGHTS Into Dreams, ChuChu Rocket!, Billy Hatcher & The Giant Egg and Samba de Amigo. In their prime, they made such creative and colourful games that I almost always enjoyed.

5. Treasure. Sort of a similar story to Konami, where they’ve had little recognisable output over the last ten years or so. But from the early ‘90s to the mid ‘00s their brand was a watertight seal of high, high quality. In Gunstar Heroes, Dynamite Headdy and Sin & Punishment, they’re responsible for three of the best games ever.

Interesting Cappa as your list is more of all-time, especially with someone like Konami and not at the moment of time.

Think mine would be similar because Konami was the developer likes of Metal Gear (Well Kojima Productions) & Silent Hill, then especially if we look at Nintendo as a publisher (Genius Sonority did the 100 Books) then I would have PlayStation Studios in it instead of the two studios on their own.

The Cappuccino Kid wrote:

1. Nintendo. I don’t know the differences between the development team who made Super Mario 64 and the one who made 100 Classic Books Collection, but imagine not putting Nintendo at the top of a list like this. State of your lists.

2. SEGA-AM2. This was the team who made all those SEGA arcade belters throughout the ‘80s, ‘90s and first half of the ‘00s. From Hang-On and After Burner to Ghost Squad and OutRun 2, they created arcade magic year and and year out.

3. Konami. As much in the arcade as on the home consoles, Konami had a pristine reputation when I was growing up. Especially during the 16-bit era, almost everything Konami developed was absolutely first class. On N64 and PlayStation, I enjoyed the likes of International Superstar Soccer Pro, Bishi Bashi Special and Mystical Ninja Starring Goemon as much as any first-party stuff on those consoles. Dance Dance Revolution and Pro Evolution Soccer took Konami successfully into the new millennium, and kept me playing their games from childhood into adulthood.

4. Sonic Team. Not just for the Sonic series, they’ve developed many other games for SEGA. Highlights include NiGHTS Into Dreams, ChuChu Rocket!, Billy Hatcher & The Giant Egg and Samba de Amigo. In their prime, they made such creative and colourful games that I almost always enjoyed.

5. Treasure. Sort of a similar story to Konami, where they’ve had little recognisable output over the last ten years or so. But from the early ‘90s to the mid ‘00s their brand was a watertight seal of high, high quality. In Gunstar Heroes, Dynamite Headdy and Sin & Punishment, they’re responsible for three of the best games ever.

Now that's a great list there that you can't really argue against, if I was doing one myself then Capcom would have to be in there because like others you mentioned (Konami/Treasure) their output was unreal through 80s/90s/00s but Capcom haven't really dropped off in quality in recent times either which is amazing when you think about it.

Capcom had that dodgy bit during PS360 era with stuff like characters as DLC but actually on the disc along with tad duff games, yet now hard to pinpoint anything bad and if I see Capcom logo know it's going something decent they've published.

Yeah that's a quality list by Cappa.

Here's mine (I stuck to a five-year period):

1. Nintendo EAD (1996-2000)
Revolutionised the industry with both Super Mario 64 and Ocarina of Time, but still had time to make bangers like F-Zero X and 1080 Snowboarding.
2. SEGA-AM3/Hitmaker (1999-2003)
This studio was only around for a few years but their run was impressive - titles like Virtua Tennis and Crazy Taxi are stone-cold classics. Astro Boy on the GBA was tasty too.
3. Rare (1997-2001)
Pretty obvious one for me. Goldeneye and Perfect Dark are pure class and Banjo-Kazooie too. Not sure if this was still one team but I'm doing this on studio.
4. Platinum (2008-2012)
Bayonetta and Vanquish can be considered where the 3D action game was perfected, but they also had some interesting stuff like Infinite Space and Madworld.
5. Nazca Corporation (1996-2000)
Neo Turf Masters and Metal Slugs, basically. Incredible animation in these games and turns out they were only around for a year before being absorbed by SNK.

masofdas wrote:

Capcom had that dodgy bit during PS360 era with stuff like characters as DLC but actually on the disc along with tad duff games, yet now hard to pinpoint anything bad and if I see Capcom logo know it's going something decent they've published.

I was too busy dumping 800+ hours into MH Tri around that time to care what their output was on ps360. A quick look at those specific formats though & it still doesn't look too bad.

I thought about Capcom too, but most of my memories of them go back even further than the N64 and PlayStation. I’m not that familiar with many of their most popular games of the last twenty-five years, like Resident Evil, Monster Hunter and Devil May Cry. I could fully see how somebody could rank them as their favourite developer though. Without a drop off in quality and without just relying on past glories, I think Capcom have done an outstanding job of making all their best games available on any modern system.

Rare was thought about too, but it’s really just their N64 output that captured my imagination. Even then, I think it’s quite mixed in retrospect. For every Blast Corps and Conker’s Bad Fur Day, there’s a Mickey’s Speedway USA and a (whispers it) Perfect Dark. And while they didn’t cross my mind, but Hitmaker, Platinum and Nazca Corporation are great shouts.

The_Jaster wrote:

masofdas wrote:

Capcom had that dodgy bit during PS360 era with stuff like characters as DLC but actually on the disc along with tad duff games, yet now hard to pinpoint anything bad and if I see Capcom logo know it's going something decent they've published.

I was too busy dumping 800+ hours into MH Tri around that time to care what their output was on ps360. A quick look at those specific formats though & it still doesn't look too bad.

Maybe it just me as I sort use Resident Evil as the yardstick and between 4 & 7 meh then others with the shady stuff.

Cappa you bring up games on modern systems and I'd love to see Capcom bring Resident Evil 2 Classic over to current systems tad like Square with Final Fantasy VII where both Classic & Remake available.

The Cappuccino Kid wrote:

1. Nintendo. I don’t know the differences between the development team who made Super Mario 64 and the one who made 100 Classic Books Collection, but imagine not putting Nintendo at the top of a list like this. State of your lists.

Oh, I can just do that? Easy then.
1. Nintendo. Just lumping Ninty together is probably the ideal technique, actually. If I had to include the classic powerhouse team that put together the Zelda games from Ocarina to Breath of the Wild, the playful genius of the team that made Marios Galaxy and Odyssey, the melancholy artistry of the Pikmin squad and the invigorating youthful energy that brought us Splatoon and ARMS, there wouldn’t be room for five other developers outside Nintendo. They are separate and above, the way we don’t include the heavens when we divide petty kingdoms among men.

There are also some kind-of-Nintendo, second party or not-quite-third party developers who could go on the list individually but I don’t always know who made what. Game Freak, for all their flaws, do captain the ship of a series I love. Intelligent Systems put out some great stuff. Sakurai is slaving away at those Smash games with all kinds of partnerships and studios.

2. CAPCOM. Monster Hunter. Ace Attorney. Resident Evil. Ghost Trick. Dragon’s Dogma. Nobody else puts out classic after classic, laser targeted at me, like these guys. Monhan alone would put them high on this list, but when I remember games like Resi 4, Okami, and the Shu Takumi stuff, they are so my cup of tea. Also, while the next two devs I list might potentially have higher highs, they only really put out one type of thing, while Cappers do all sorts.

3. FROM Software. Y’all know I went through a pretty strong phase of obsessing over Dark Souls. Earlier this very year I completed that game for the 3rd time on my 4th system! I think that game is still one of the all-timers. Its sequels weren’t quite as good, but Bloodborne makes a bloody good case for being the better game, it feels me with joy just knowing Sekiro is something which exists and which I’ll play after I’ve enjoyed a couple of lesser samurai games, and Elden Ring looks like another banger.

4. Platinum Games. Obviously. Bayonetta is the best close-combat action game ever developed, and Vanquish is the best shooting game. Even when I’ve played one of Platinum’s “bad” games, I’ve had a fun time. And for every licensed cartoon game, there are experimental triumphs like Wonderful 101 and Astral Chain, or polished action gems like Nier Automata. As far as I’m concerned, Platinum can keep putting out exactly what they’re putting out forever.

5. Omega Force. Look. I like what I like. I like seeing 1,000 samurai, chopping my way through them and slowly turning the tide in a big, elaborately choreographed battle. I like taking real-life historical figures, making absolute caricatures of their personalities, and inexplicably giving them X-Men abilities in battle. And every now and then, I like doing that in a Zelda world.

Honorable mentions:
Kojima Productions I bloody loved the Metal Gear series but I haven't played Death Stranding yet and obviously I don't want to throw my lot in with whatever shambling corpse they've got in a cupboard at Knonami.
Bioware I was big into Mass Effect, and quite liked the first Dragon Age, but after that we've seen a lot of . . .ehh. Here's hoping.
Dontnod I was big into the first Life is Strange but until recently couldn't play their other stuff. When I get a chance to catch up, we'll see where I think they fit on this list.
Team Cherry Hollow Knight was exceptional and I'm so keen for Silksong and whatever comes next, but it'd be a bit rich to include a studio based on one game, wouldn't it?
For the same reason: CD Projekt Red. I've only played Witcher III, also this may be a bit of a cunty company?
Cing. RIP.

Your some up of Bioware is pretty accurate as they put banger after banger easily could have been in my Top 5, what 15 years ago but on current form awful wonder why cough EA cough.

Think Dontnod might also be a bit of one hit wonder as I've played almost all their games which two of are good. While Deck 9, might be the better team, have to see what True Colours is like.

Sort redoing of mine Top 5 into a more all-time/current instead of just current best developers which has turned into listing publishers that...

1. Nintendo, they take top spot because of the all-time factor.

2. PlayStation Studios, did almost put top because personally they make the games I want to play more than any company and the best one's IMO but they've only really done this from PS3 to now.

3. Square Enix, they can be all over the place especially with Western outputs along with some choices, why is Final Fantasy Pixel Remaster not on console, yet we will get a Final Fantasy VII between all of that.

4. Capcom, basically for all the reasons you guys bring up and from NES to XSX they've always had something I want to play and great stuff at that.

5. SEGA, SEGA is odd as they still put out some great things especially with Atlus but think most people go SEGA = Sonic not SEGA = Total War. Anyway played and will continue to play so many great games from them.

Xbox Game Studios should get a honourable mention as they have so many teams and maybe starting with Forza Horizon 5 we will get top quality games from all those teams but till we see the games it's hard to judge and really not a history.

I think I'm going to struggle with this. In general I'm not going to break the big publishers down, but if I don't at least give myself some leeway with the one I know best I'm not going to make a full five I don't think.


1. Nintendo Because I'm here and I'm not an idiot.

2. Capcom For the same reasons as a good many people above. They boast the only Nontendo franchise in my top five games ever in Ghost Trick, and probably the only Nontendo franchise in my top five franchises in Ace Attorney. They also own Okami (even if they didn't make it), developed Minish Cap, and I've even started getting into Monster Hunter. Even without any interest in Resi, Capcom have always been one of the biggest supporters of Nintendo hardware.

3. Bandai Namco A surprisingly easy third place, Bamco published the only other Nontendo game in my top ten (in Meteos, the developer's now defunct). They also publish a host of RPGs that I probably on the whole prefer to Squeenix's these days, at least on Switch, with Ni No Kuni and Tales of Vesperia both being recent good finds. Plus, they did Smash Ultimate.

4. MonolithSoft Here's that leeway I mentioned. I've opted for MonolithSoft even though they're a subsidiary of Nintendo, because I just can't think of Nintendo as being the ones behind the Xenoblade series - it just seems outside their wheelhouse. It might also be a bit rich to pick a studio based on one series, but it's three games and they've all been top, with two all-timers. I know they chipped in on BotW too.

5. Square Enix Almost by default, but I do enjoy the Bravely games and am looking forward to NEO TWEWY. I imagine I'll think of a company tomorrow who should have been on this list instead.


I'll give nods to Cing (RIP indeed), Alphadream (also RIP), Level-5, and Intelligent Systems for the good stuff they've put out in the past. I did want to pick teams whose games I currently enjoy, and I don't think any of those have done that for a decade now, that or they're defunct.

The main thing I'm learning is that we don't seem to be that familiar with specific development teams. We're mostly listing big publishers, which isn't really where the art is at. Big business has done me again! This is why I didn't want to just say "Nintendo". Once you can just say "Playstation Game Studios", you may as well say "Tencent" or "Viacom".

Look at this way then Buska, for my two fives ones Current Developers and the others All-round Publishers. I did ask about developers and maybe people could have broken it down to Nintendo EPD, Game Freak, Intelligent Systems, Camelot and MonolithSoft if your Nintendo inclined for instance same with any of the other publishers such as Capcom or PlayStation (Which they are, same with just listing Nintendo due to how many studios and diverse).

On Tencent they've got their fingers into another studio, in a minute they will have some sort of deal with basically everyone.

Buskalilly wrote:

The main thing I'm learning is that we don't seem to be that familiar with specific development teams. We're mostly listing big publishers, which isn't really where the art is at. Big business has done me again!

Er.  Yep.  Guilty.  I have no idea about any of the development teams in... well, anywhere.  I've just about heard of Nintendo EAD, but I wouldn't be able to tell you which development teams from Capcom made Okamiden (it's Mobile & Game Studio Inc. apparently) or Ghost Trick (Wikipedia doesn't know either).

There's also a bigger chance of a smaller studio going under.  I know Clover Studio, just about, and they made a great game in Okami.  They're defunct now.  Q Entertainment, behind Meteos, have lost some of their key staff and don't appear to have made anything new since 2014. A kind of related issue is that Clover/Q only made the one game I got on with, whereas the Capcom umbrella has a whole bunch.

Had thought about this especially with Nintendo, and we seem to look at it as just Nintendo where PlayStation is the same but we'd go that's a Naughty Dog game or that's a Housemarque.

I'm wondering if it's to do with things like back in the 90's all systems where a Nintendo to your parents and you had the seal of quality, that a Nintendo game was going to be good.

I think it's more to do with Nintendo having less memorable studio names like EAD or R&D4, and that they are all marketed in their Direct videos as simply Nintendo-developed titles.

Housemarque and Naughty Dog are western developers that sit under the Sony umbrella, a Japanese company. I'm not sure Nintendo has similar studios dotted around the world where their identity is more prevalent outside of Nintendo.