I never played any of the Panzer Dragoon or Jet Set Radio games (though I plan to at some point), but Smilebit developed Gunvalkyrie. And I loved Gunvalkyrie. Too bad SEGA didn't, I guess. =/
Panzer Dragoon looked amazing and I'm so angry I missed out on the Saturn.
As for Jet Set Radio, it is a beloved game. But not by me. I thought it was just alright.
Clover was doomed from the start. Their most mainstream game needed an encyclopedic knowledge of Japanese mythology to understand fully, and everything else was a niche title that they insisted on making balls hard. I'm surprised they made it as far as they did.
I didn't look up anything related to Shinto until AFTER I had finished Okami, because I was interested in knowing where they got the source material for the game.
Out of all the failed developers, I mourn Clover the most. I really wanted a sequel to Okami, but that will never happen now. To me, it was a way better adventure game than any of the 3D Zeldas. The lack of advertising is what sunk this game and subsequently, Clover. I blame Capcom.
From the Saturn perspective, I'm probably one of the few who thinks Orta is the best Panzer Dragoon. Saga is way overhyped, and 1 & 2 have not aged well.
Nah, I agree with you. PD1&2 were awesome at the time (PD1 was the first Saturn game I purchased & it justified the Saturn purchase by itself), but have aged about as badly as the original Star Fox if not worse. PD Saga was a great RPG that did a lot of unusual things, but it wasn't flawless (some tedious moments, rather short, plus there's only so much strategy you can get out of a single person party) & like PD1&2, the technological aspects have aged horribly. PD Orta, on the other hand, still looks pretty good today, even though it's on a last generation system & it remains one of the best playing rail shooters around.
I will say that a remake of PD Saga has the potential to be about the best remake ever.
I was going to say Overworks (The guys who did Skies of Arcadia), but I'm honestly a little confused as to what happened to them.
Did they just get renamed, or 'merged' into another Sega team?
They are still around *points at Valkyria Chronicles*.
I am sad New World Computing went under during 3DO's demise. The old Heroes of Might and Magic games were the greatest time sinks ever.
Bullfrog made some of the finest fucking games ever; Molyneux at his best. I like Fable, but I don't think it would hurt him to look backwards instead of forward, as his studio's games are still fucking amazing and innovative by today's standards.
His EX-studio. It's not like he can look backwards and remake one of the old Bullfrog games, they belong to EA.
Bullfrog made some of the finest fucking games ever; Molyneux at his best. I like Fable, but I don't think it would hurt him to look backwards instead of forward, as his studio's games are still fucking amazing and innovative by today's standards.
His EX-studio. It's not like he can look backwards and remake one of the old Bullfrog games, they belong to EA.
I was referring to the design methodology he utilized back then. Much more concerned with creating unique gameplay design than interacting with virtual people.
Cherrn on
All creature will die and all the things will be broken. That's the law of samurai.
I was referring to the design methodology he utilized back then. Much more concerned with creating unique gameplay design than interacting with virtual people.
Well, what strikes me when I read interviews about how it was at Bullfrog (like this one) is that they really had little to no methodology at all. They were really mostly dicking around and throwing as many random ideas as they could, up to and including Dungeon Keeper, and the final feature set was really made of those ideas they had managed to actually implement. Like how they wanted an adventurer mode in DK but never got around to implementing it, or how the GeneWars described in interviews was Spore before Spore instead of the simple RTS it ended up being, or the whole bit about being able to enter houses and talk to people in Magic Carpet, or the AI dialogue in Syndicate.
That random hodgepodge made their strength but it's not surprising to have seen it disappear in our era where big budget means millions. Which that much money at stake there's little room for dicking around.
Lucasarts. They don't really develop anymore, but they did such amazing stuff back in the glory days.
Apparently the Monkey 1 remake, as the first thing done by a in-house dev team in years, is a first step on the road to new entirely in-house titles. They're practicing with upgrading old games before the big stuff.
Yes, I'd also add in the few other companies who once made games in the amazing, but now pretty much dead, God-game genre: Mucky Foot and Elixer studios.
Bullfrog I miss because well Pupulous, Syndicate, Dungeon Keeper, Theme Park and Theme Hospital. I lost so many hours playing those.
Westwood gave me Dune II, which I played the shit out of. At least the C&C series has been revived with all the gloriously cheesy live action cutscenes it deserves.
Origin had Ultima Underwold, along with Wing Commander, System Shock, Privateer and the Crusader series, which was bottled awesome to my child self. (I can nuke or freeze people with these guns?)
I will give a shout out to Strategy First, which while not gone might as well be.
Those three (well, much more Bullfrog and Origin) are mine as well.
And they were all killed by fucking EA.
I would add New World Computing to the list (Might and Magic 1-5, Planet's Edge, Kings Bounty, Heroes of Might and Magic 1-3). While they still limped on for a short while after the 3d0 buyout they were soon run into the ground and never were able to repeat their high points of World of Xeen (Might and Magic 4 and 5) or Heroes III.
They were a publisher not a studio. But they did publish the best games ever made in several genres. Master of Orion 2 is still, 15 years later, the best 4x game ever.
They were a publisher not a studio. But they did publish the best games ever made in several genres. Master of Orion 2 is still, 15 years later, the best 4x game ever.
They were a publisher not a studio. But they did publish the best games ever made in several genres. Master of Orion 2 is still, 15 years later, the best 4x game ever.
Civilization.
If you want to try and shoehorn the Civ series into the 4x Genre (which I disagree with) then Moo2 is still by far the best 4x game ever made.
Creature Labs. Creatures was the first game I bought with my own money - on a mere child's whim, more than a decade ago.
If you ever see it, get it. Even if you have to steal it from someone. It's like the Sims, except everything has a simulated genome and brain chemistry that allows for traits to be passed down genetically to offspring and you can teach them languages and breed them and OH I MISS YOU SO MUCH CREATURE LABS
They were a publisher not a studio. But they did publish the best games ever made in several genres. Master of Orion 2 is still, 15 years later, the best 4x game ever.
Civilization.
If you want to try and shoehorn the Civ series into the 4x Genre (which I disagree with) then Moo2 is still by far the best 4x game ever made.
Need more Infocom love.
They provided some of my greatest gaming experiences. Lurking Horror is still creepy to me and A Mind Forever Voyaging is probably my favorite game story.
Also: tons of cool stuff in the box.
PatboyX on
"lenny bruce is not afraid..."
0
MorninglordI'm tired of being Batman,so today I'll be Owl.Registered Userregular
edited July 2009
Black Isle
Looking Glass,
Westwood (my first pc game was red alert).
Clover
And not really a studio.
But fuck Microsoft for shelving the mechwarrior license I don't care why or how much money. Bring it back motherfuckers and make a proper sim again damn you!
Morninglord on
(PSN: Morninglord) (Steam: Morninglord) (WiiU: Morninglord22) I like to record and toss up a lot of random gaming videos here.
Posts
Panzer Dragoon looked amazing and I'm so angry I missed out on the Saturn.
As for Jet Set Radio, it is a beloved game. But not by me. I thought it was just alright.
Also Interplay as a whole due to owning the FreeSpace license.
Eaten by a Grue.
Plus so many others mentioned here. Looking Glass especially.
Steam | XBL
I didn't look up anything related to Shinto until AFTER I had finished Okami, because I was interested in knowing where they got the source material for the game.
Out of all the failed developers, I mourn Clover the most. I really wanted a sequel to Okami, but that will never happen now. To me, it was a way better adventure game than any of the 3D Zeldas. The lack of advertising is what sunk this game and subsequently, Clover. I blame Capcom.
Makers of Flight Simulator and Combat Flight Simulator (and was working on Train Simulator 2)
Nah, I agree with you. PD1&2 were awesome at the time (PD1 was the first Saturn game I purchased & it justified the Saturn purchase by itself), but have aged about as badly as the original Star Fox if not worse. PD Saga was a great RPG that did a lot of unusual things, but it wasn't flawless (some tedious moments, rather short, plus there's only so much strategy you can get out of a single person party) & like PD1&2, the technological aspects have aged horribly. PD Orta, on the other hand, still looks pretty good today, even though it's on a last generation system & it remains one of the best playing rail shooters around.
I will say that a remake of PD Saga has the potential to be about the best remake ever.
Zeboyd Games Development Blog
Steam ID : rwb36, Twitter : Werezompire, Facebook : Zeboyd Games
I need my MechWarrior fix, Microsoft.
They are still around *points at Valkyria Chronicles*.
I am sad New World Computing went under during 3DO's demise. The old Heroes of Might and Magic games were the greatest time sinks ever.
Yup, Sierra and Origin are always the two defunct devs that spring to mind for me. Ahhh King's Quest, how I miss thee.
Lucasarts. They don't really develop anymore, but they did such amazing stuff back in the glory days.
LoL Summoner: infobrains | XBL: cwap4brains | PSN: infobrains
I was referring to the design methodology he utilized back then. Much more concerned with creating unique gameplay design than interacting with virtual people.
Oh I know he's still around, but I want to see him direct something of his own making.
The Pipe Vault|Twitter|Steam|Backloggery|3DS:1332-7703-1083
That random hodgepodge made their strength but it's not surprising to have seen it disappear in our era where big budget means millions. Which that much money at stake there's little room for dicking around.
Apparently the Monkey 1 remake, as the first thing done by a in-house dev team in years, is a first step on the road to new entirely in-house titles. They're practicing with upgrading old games before the big stuff.
Yes, I'd also add in the few other companies who once made games in the amazing, but now pretty much dead, God-game genre: Mucky Foot and Elixer studios.
Bullfrog - Syndicate, Magic Carpet, Dungeon Keeper
Sir-Tech - Jagged Alliance
Micropose - Xcom
I shall pour an OE 40 for my lost brothers.
EDIT: Big Huge Games - RoN
ActRaiser
Soul Blazer
ActRaiser 2
Illusion of Gaia
Robotrek
Terranigma
come onnnn
Those three (well, much more Bullfrog and Origin) are mine as well.
And they were all killed by fucking EA.
I would add New World Computing to the list (Might and Magic 1-5, Planet's Edge, Kings Bounty, Heroes of Might and Magic 1-3). While they still limped on for a short while after the 3d0 buyout they were soon run into the ground and never were able to repeat their high points of World of Xeen (Might and Magic 4 and 5) or Heroes III.
They were a publisher not a studio. But they did publish the best games ever made in several genres. Master of Orion 2 is still, 15 years later, the best 4x game ever.
Civilization.
If you want to try and shoehorn the Civ series into the 4x Genre (which I disagree with) then Moo2 is still by far the best 4x game ever made.
Origin was truly the greatest studio.
They brought Tetris to the states and F16 flight sims to people that watched too much Iron Eagle!
Good show.
Origin: Galedrid - Nintendo: Galedrid/3222-6858-1045
Blizzard: Galedrid#1367 - FFXIV: Galedrid Kingshand
They brought us the double dragon series, river city ransom and super dodgeball
Also the Sega from the 90's, back when they actually made really good games.
thats for you my homies.
Troika. Dear Lord, Troika.
Westwood.
Creature Labs. Creatures was the first game I bought with my own money - on a mere child's whim, more than a decade ago.
If you ever see it, get it. Even if you have to steal it from someone. It's like the Sims, except everything has a simulated genome and brain chemistry that allows for traits to be passed down genetically to offspring and you can teach them languages and breed them and OH I MISS YOU SO MUCH CREATURE LABS
Oh, no, I meant that Microprose made Civ.
Our first game is now available for free on Google Play: Frontier: Isle of the Seven Gods
They provided some of my greatest gaming experiences. Lurking Horror is still creepy to me and A Mind Forever Voyaging is probably my favorite game story.
Also: tons of cool stuff in the box.
Looking Glass,
Westwood (my first pc game was red alert).
Clover
And not really a studio.
But fuck Microsoft for shelving the mechwarrior license I don't care why or how much money. Bring it back motherfuckers and make a proper sim again damn you!