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Best Video Game Publisher

rouken

Member
Name the best game publisher/s from the list given. Give reasons why you chose that answer.

Criteria for your decision are: Quality of published titles, Game developer or Studio that are under it and History of the publisher with consumers.

Rules are: Don't shit up the thread with: one word/line respones, fanboy babble, hurting each others feelings.

:)

Sony

SCE Japan Studio – Ape Escape, Siren, LocoRoco, Patapon, Ico, Shadow of the Colossus, The Last Guardian
Polyphony Digital – Gran Turismo series, Tourist Trophy
Naughty Dog – Crash Bandicoot series, Jak and Daxter series, Uncharted series, The Last of Us
SCE Santa Monica Studio – Kinetica, God of War series, PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale
SCE San Diego Studio – MLB: The Show, ModNation Racers
SCE Bend Studio – Syphon Filter, Resistance: Retribution, Uncharted: Golden Abyss
SCE Foster City Studio - supported studio for SCE Worldwide Studios
Sucker Punch Productions – Sly Cooper series, Infamous series
SCE London Studio – SingStar, EyeToy, PlayStation Home
SCE Cambridge Studio – MediEvil, Killzone
Evolution Studios – World Rally Championship, MotorStorm series
Guerrilla Games – Killzone series
Media Molecule – LittleBigPlanet series
Clap Hanz – Everybody's Golf series
Cellius – Ridge Racer Vita
Insomniac Games – Spyro The Dragon series, Ratchet & Clank series, Resistance series,
Ready at Dawn Studios – God of War: Chains of Olympus, God of War: Ghost of Sparta, Daxter, God of War: Origins Collection
Idol Minds – Pain, Ruin, Ratchet & Clank Collection
Sanzaru Games - Secret Agent Clank, The Sly Collection, Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time
Zindagi Games – Sports Champions, Medieval Moves: Deadmund's Quest
SuperBot Entertainment - PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale
Plastic Games - Linger in Shadows, Datura
Minority - Papo & Yo
Giant Sparrow - The Unfinished Swan
Quantic Dream – Heavy Rain, Beyond: Two Souls
Tarsier Studios – Rag Doll Kung Fu: Fists of Plastic, LittleBigPlanet PS Vita
Double Eleven – LittleBigPlanet PS Vita
Novarama – Invizimals, Reality Fighters
Supermassive Games – Start the Party!, Doctor Who: The Eternity Clock, Until Dawn, Tumble, walking with dinosaurs

Microsoft

343 Industries – Halo series
Connected Experiences – Untitled Project – Design Large scale multiplayer title and help other first party studios
Good Science Studio – Kinect Adventures, Kinect Fun Labs
Kids and Lifestyle Entertainment – Untitled Project
Microsoft Studios – Redmond Publishing – Overseeing and co-developing multiple projects in conjunction with third party development studios
Microsoft Studios – Mobile Gaming – ilomilo
Platform Next Studios – Untitled Project
Playful Learning – Untitled Project
Skybox Sports – Untitled Project
Turn 10 Studios – Forza Motorsport series
Twisted Pixel Games – The Gunstringer, LocoCycle
Xbox Live Productions – South Park Let's Go Tower Defense Play!, South Park: Tenorman's Revenge, Avatar Kinect
Lionhead Studios – Fable series, Black & White series; Unannounced MMO-like New IP
Microsoft Studios – London – Untitled Free-To-Play Project
Rare Ltd. – Banjo-Kazooie series, Viva Piñata, Perfect Dark series, Kinect Sports series
Soho Productions – Kinect Sesame Street TV
Press Play – Untitled Project
Microsoft Studios Vancouver – Untitled Project
Microsoft Studios Victoria – Untitled Project
BigPark – Joy Ride series, Kinect Sports: Season Two

Nintendo

Nintendo EAD Comprehensive Group – Super Mario 64 DS
Nintendo EAD Group 1 – Mario Kart series, Nintendogs series, Luigi's Mansion
Nintendo EAD Group 2 – Animal Crossing series, Wii-branded games
Nintendo EAD Group 3 – The Legend of Zelda series
Nintendo EAD Group 4 – Pikmin series, New Super Mario Bros. series, Big Brain Academy
Nintendo EAD Group 5 – Wii Fit, Steel Diver (with Vitei)
Nintendo EAD Tokyo 1 – Donkey Kong Jungle Beat, Super Mario Galaxy
Nintendo EAD Tokyo 2 – Flipnote Studio, Super Mario Galaxy 2, Super Mario 3D Land
Nintendo SPD – WarioWare series, Tomodachi Collection, Rhythm Heaven series, Fossil Fighters series (with Red Entertainment, M2, and Artdink)
Nintendo NSD – Personal Trainer: Walking
Nintendo SDD – Brain Age series
Nintendo STC – Mario vs. Donkey Kong, Crosswords DS, Metroid Prime Hunters
Monolith Soft – Disaster: Day of Crisis, Xenoblade Chronicles
Retro Studios – Metroid Prime series, Donkey Kong Country Returns, Mario Kart 7
Brownie Brown – Mother 3, A Kappa's Trail, Magical Vacation series
Intelligent Systems – Paper Mario series with Nintendo, Fire Emblem series, Advance Wars series, WarioWare series, Pushmo series
Nd Cube – Wii Party, Mario Party 9
HAL Laboratory – Kirby series, Earthbound series, Super Smash Bros. series

AlphaDream – Mario & Luigi series
Ambrella – Pokémon Dash, Pokémon Rumble series, Pokémon Channel, My Pokémon Ranch, Hey You, Pikachu!
Arika – Endless Ocean series, 3D Classics series
Asobism Co., Ltd. - Freakyforms: Your Creations, Alive!, Freakyforms Deluxe: Your Creations, Alive!
Creatures Inc. – Pokémon Ranger series, PokéPark series, EarthBound (Mother) series (with HAL Laboratory and Brownie Brown)
Camelot Software Planning – Golden Sun series, Mario Tennis series, Mario Golf series
Game Freak - Pokémon series, Drill Dozer, Mario & Wario
Genius Sonority – Pokémon Colosseum, Pokémon XD: Gale of Darkness, Pokémon Battle Revolution, Pokémon Trozei!
Good-Feel – Wario Land: Shake It!, Kirby's Epic Yarn (with HAL Laboratory)
Grezzo - The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D, The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Anniversary Edition
Jupiter - Mario's Picross series, Pokémon Pinball series, Picross DS, Picross E
Kuju Entertainment - Art Academy series, Battalion Wars series
Monster Games – Excitebike series, Pilotwings Resort
Next Level Games – Mario Strikers series, Punch-Out!!, Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon
Paon – Donkey Kong Barrel Blast, DK Jungle Climber, DK King of Swing, Glory of Heracles
Sandlot - Chōsōjū Mecha MG, Zangeki no Reginleiv
Suzak - Wario: Master of Disguise, F-Zero: Climax, F-Zero: GP Legend
syn Sophia – Style Savvy series
Tecmo Koei - Fatal Frame series, Pokémon Conquest, Metroid: Other M (with SPD Group 1)
Tose - The Legendary Starfy series, Game & Watch Gallery series, Super Princess Peach
Treasure Co., Ltd. – Wario World, Sin and Punishment Series
Vanpool – Dillon's Rolling Western, Tingle series
Vitei - Steel Diver (with EAD Group 5), Rock N’ Roll Climber (with EAD Group 3)

Electronic Arts

BioWare
Criterion Games
EA Black Box
EA Canada
EA Casual Entertainment
EA China
EA Deutschland
EA Digital Illusions CE
EA France
EA Freestyle
EA India
EA Brazil
EA Korea
Danger Close Games
EA Romania
EA Russia
EA Mobile
EA Montreal
EA North Carolina
EA Phenomic
EA Salt Lake
EA Singapore
EA Sports
EA Tiburon
Easy Studios
Mythic Entertainment
Playfish
PopCap Games
The Sims Studio
Visceral Games

Activision Blizzard

Blizzard
Beachhead Studios
Beenox
DemonWare
High Moon Studios
Infinity Ward
Neversoft
Raven Software
Sledgehammer Games
Toys For Bob
Treyarch
Vicarious Visions

THQ

Relic Entertainment
Vigil Games
Volition
THQ Studio Montreal

Ubisoft

Ubisoft Annecy
Ubisoft Bulgaria
Ubisoft Casablanca
Ubisoft Chengdu
Ubisoft Germany
Ubisoft Pune
Ubisoft Ukraine
Ubisoft Massive
Ubisoft Montpellier
Ubisoft Montreal
Nadeo
Ubisoft Nagoya
Ubisoft Paris
Ubisoft Poland
Ubisoft Quebec
Ubisoft Red Storm
Ubisoft Reflections
Ubisoft Romania
Ubisoft San Francisco
Ubisoft Shanghai
Ubisoft Toronto
Ubisoft Milan
Ubisoft Barcelona
RedLynx

Capcom


Square Enix


Square Enix Co., Ltd.
Product Development Divisions
1 Yoshinori Kitase
2 Akitoshi Kawazu
3 Naoki Yoshida
4 Hiroaki Kato
5 Yoichi Yoshimoto
7 Takashi Tokita
9 Yuu Miyake
10 Yoshinori Yamagishi
Square Enix Montreal
Square Enix, Inc. .
Square Enix Ltd.
Beautiful Game Studios
Crystal Dynamics
Eidos Montreal
Eidos Shanghai
IO Interactive
Square Enix (China) Co., Ltd.
Digital Entertainment Academy Co. Ltd.
Square Enix Mobile
Taito

Konami


Take Two Interactive

Rockstar Games, Ltd.
Rockstar North
Rockstar Leeds
Rockstar Japan
Rockstar London
Rockstar San Diego
Rockstar Toronto
Rockstar Lincoln
Rockstar New England
2K Games
Firaxis Games
Irrational Games
2K China
2K Czech
2K Marin
2K Play
2K Sports

Sega

Consumer Entertainment R&D Division

Sonic Team – Sonic the Hedgehog series, Phantasy Star series, Puyo Puyo series, Nights into Dreams
New Entertainment R&D Dept. – Yakuza series, Super Monkey Ball series
Ryū ga Gotoku Studio – Binary Domain, Yakuza 5
SEGA Sports R&D – Mario and Sonic series, Virtua Striker 4
SEGA Networks

Amusement R&D Division

AM Software R&D Dept. 1 – Valkyria Chronicles series, The House of the Dead series,
AM Software R&D Dept. 2 – Virtua Fighter series, Daytona USA series, After Burner series, Out Run series, Virtua Cop series, Shenmue series
AM Software R&D Dept. 3 – Initial D series, Crazy Taxi series, Virtual On series, Virtua Tennis series
Family Entertainment R&D Dept.

Acquired Studios

The Creative Assembly – Total War series, Viking Battle for Asgard,
SEGA Studios Australia – London 2012,
Sports Interactive – Football Manager series,
Three Rings Design – Doctor Who: Worlds in Time, Spiral Knights
Hardlight

Namco-Bandai


Warner Brothers Interactive

Monolith Productions
NetherRealm Studios
Rocksteady Studios
Snowblind Studios
TT Games
Turbine, Inc.
WB Games
WB Games Montreal

Bethesda Softworks



Valve
 

fart town usa

Gold Member
SONY and EA

I really like SONY because of the sheer amount of variety and exclusives on the PS3. It seems like they legitimately believe in charting new avenues for developers and for software. (PS+)

As for EA, business dealings aside, I feel like they've given us some of the best IP's this gen. Burnout Paradise, Need for Speed, Skate series, Dead Space, Mass Effect, Dragon Age.

I rarely question a purchase from a SONY or EA backed studio
 

Kilrathi

Member
Well publisher don't seem to be a big deal as they used to be due to the rise of indie games but if I had to choice one it would have to be either Interplay or Eidos. Interplay for Fallout,Planescape: Torment,Icewind Dale, Baldur's Gate, Descent, MDK. Edios for Tomb raider, Deus Ex, Thief, Timesplitters 1&2,Legacy of Kain.
 

ezekial45

Banned
I'm quite impressed with what WB Games has done towards the end of this generation. They used to shovel out shlock, but they nailed it with work on Batman and Mortal Kombat. The later was by far their best decision. They've really jumped ahead of other publishers. They've got great leadership and managing going on there.
 

kurahador

Member
In terms of output - Sony, EA & Take Two

Sony & EA has the quality and varied video games output this gen.

Take Two get mention they're the most consistent in terms of quality. Games like Civ5, XCOM, Bioshock & RDR still remains as top tier quality this gen with each excels in different category.

In terms of support - Valve

If there's a list on how to do f2p right, Valve has managed to hit all of them. And their Steam management remains unmatched.
 

Raonak

Banned
Sony is probably my favourite one. they have such talented studios.
their output this generation has been amazing.

Also i don't mind EA and Ubi.

Staying the fuck away from anything activision.
 

Mindlog

Member
I'm tipping my hand and revealing my end-of-year award for the category. The answer is:
exmQY.jpg

Community funded projects.

The trickle of recently released titles impressed me: Particularly FTL.
The flood of recently funded titles awes me: Particularly Space Citizen.

The are a lot of people out there willing to take a risk on titles that others had written off for dead. I'm anxious to see the results of this experiment.
 
I really love what Sony has done and how far they have come. When I hear about something they are pushing, I actually pay attention, which is usually not the case for me from most publishers. It's a big leap when you look at their entire picture from past to present.

Also

Rules are: Don't shit up the thread with: one word/line respones, fanboy babble, hurting each others feelings.
 

rouken

Member
I'm tipping my hand and revealing my end-of-year award for the category. The answer is:
exmQY.jpg

Community funded projects.

The trickle of recently released titles impressed me: Particularly FTL.
The flood of recently funded titles awes me: Particularly Space Citizen.

The are a lot of people out there willing to take a risk on titles that others had written off for dead. I'm anxious to see the results of this experiment.

oh yeah, i forgot kickstarter. it really showed that gamers are really what publishers should be.
 

Gummb

Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about Rayman Legends Wii U.
I have a lot of respect for the quality and diversity that Sony offers, but as far as pure content goes, I have the most fun/the most memorable experiences with Nintendo products.

They have too much good history and the only negative I can say is the lack of new IPs. However, hopefully their eshop push will help with new titles like Pushmo/Crashmo (<3).

I have almost no interest in Microsoft's IPs beyond Halo.
 

DocSeuss

Member
Sony, in my experience, makes mostly 7/10 games. Diversity is cool and all, but with Sony... I can't really think of that many first-party games I've gone "shit yeah, these guys are amazing, I will buy more games from them." I have sold or traded every Sony-published game I've ever beaten with the exception of Infamous. Even God of War 3, which was fun to play, got sold, because, to be honest, it was puerile as fuck and I dare say I was ashamed to have it in my collection. There are no Sony-announced games I have more than a passing interest in.

Microsoft, conversely, has published games that put huge, stupid grins on my face, like Forza Horizon, Halo: Combat Evolved, Conker: Live and Reloaded, Crimson Skies, Grabbed by the Ghoulies, Gears of War 3, Halo Wars, Ilomilo, and so on and so forth. Not only that, but these guys made the two most important video games I have ever played: Microsoft Flight Simulator and Age of Empires. So...

For my personal development? I'd have to go with Microsoft, even if I hate what they've done to the PC sector, and even if I am horrifically disappointed in how they closed down FASA/Ensemble/ACES/etc.

This isn't to be all System Warsy, this is just my personal experience.

That said? If Valve counts as a publisher (by way of allowing me to purchase games I would not have picked up otherwise), I'd have to say Valve. Steam has introduced me to so many games, and Steamworks is STILL the only way to do DRM right. I don't like many of Valve's own games, but I do love many of the games they've distributed.

Re: your list: Bethesda currently owns a bunch of studios. Bethesda, Bethesda Online or whatever, Id, Arkane, Machine Games, Tango Softworks, and someone else I can't remember--run by the Star Wars Galaxies guy, iirc.

I have almost no interest in Microsoft's IPs beyond Halo.

Every Rare game Microsoft published up to and including Viva Pinata: Trouble in Paradise (the game I have spent the most time in the past few weeks), is awesome. I cannot evangelize the VP games enough. I am addicted.
 

James Sawyer Ford

Gold Member
Answer: Sony

They have a ton of AAA franchise titles with stunning production values. Microsoft has Halo and that's about it, the rest of their games are generally forgettable. Nintendo used to produce a TON of stuff I liked a gen or two ago they would easily be my favorite...but that was in the past. Now, they're lucky to release a game that impresses me every other year.
 

Gartooth

Member
Take Two is probably the best as of right now. Between having Borderlands 2 out this year, along with GTA V and Bioshock Infinite in the coming months I would say that they have the best portfolio out of any 3rd party publisher right now.
 

TaroYamada

Member
This is really hard, in terms of output, for me it is either SEGA, THQ or Valve.

THQ has Metro, Saints Row, Dawn of War/Company of Heroes, Darksiders. I love what they try to do even though I don't always love the end result. I think they have taken the biggest risks of the major western pubs, they also don't suffocate PC gamers with nuts-o DRM.

SEGA has been very solid recently, and has really improved over the post-Dreamcast period last gen. Binary Domain is a contender for my GotY, Shogun 2 was my GotY 2011, Jet Set Radio HD is a fantastic HDmake, Shogun 2: FotS is a great expansion, Sonic Generations isn't terrible (it's not great either). Also amongst the most prominent Japanese pubs leading the charge on PC, and they get it too! They use Steamworks! Overall some great improvements, and looking forward to more SEGA Heritage releases.

Valve Portal 2 was great, Team Fortress 2 is in my top 10 games ever. I don't think they put out enough content to compete with the bigger pubs, and they mostly publish the games they internally develop. Still, Steam is a wonderful platform, and in my view it's the best gaming platform in the market right now. They've made some decisions I dislike; axing approval process in favor of greenlight (which I really hate), and the changing of their EULA terms to bar class action suits (which everybody else does, but I still don't approve of it).

Nintendo would likely be up there too if I could still play their games, but I quit consoles a while back. It's probably between SEGA and Valve, and between them, I guess SEGA, it would have been Valve had they not made that rather poor move with greenlight.
 

Gummb

Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about Rayman Legends Wii U.
Every Rare game Microsoft published up to and including Viva Pinata: Trouble in Paradise (the game I have spent the most time in the past few weeks), is awesome. I cannot evangelize the VP games enough. I am addicted.

I never did try them. I'll have to pick them up, i'm sure they are cheap. Also, I forgot about Crimson Skies... that game was incredible when it was released. I should go back to it.

Unfortunately, I don't care about racing sims despite their beauty. Forza Horizon does look like a step in the right direction for me, though.
 

Sayah

Member
Namco. Quality > Quantity

Tekken Tag 2
Dark Souls

And Tales of Graces F and Soul Calibur V for those that like those games.
 

rouken

Member
Take Two is probably the best as of right now. Between having Borderlands 2 out this year, along with GTA V and Bioshock Infinite in the coming months I would say that they have the best portfolio out of any 3rd party publisher right now.

don't forget 2k13, it's so awesome that EA won't release nba live for 2 years running. :)
 
Didn't acitivision also sign on Bungie after Bungie announced they would be dropping the Halo franchise after Halo: reach?

Or was I tripping balls?
 

Data West

coaches in the WNBA
Kickstarter. Most of the games I want are coming out of that 'service'. 2k or SE is in second place for me.
 

Ricky_R

Member
Sony, in my experience, makes mostly 7/10 games. Diversity is cool and all, but with Sony... I can't really think of that many first-party games I've gone "shit yeah, these guys are amazing, I will buy more games from them." I have sold or traded every Sony-published game I've ever beaten with the exception of Infamous. Even God of War 3, which was fun to play, got sold, because, to be honest, it was puerile as fuck and I dare say I was ashamed to have it in my collection. There are no Sony-announced games I have more than a passing interest in.

Microsoft, conversely, has published games that put huge, stupid grins on my face, like Forza Horizon, Halo: Combat Evolved, Conker: Live and Reloaded, Crimson Skies, Grabbed by the Ghoulies, Gears of War 3, Halo Wars, Ilomilo, and so on and so forth. Not only that, but these guys made the two most important video games I have ever played: Microsoft Flight Simulator and Age of Empires. So...

For my personal development? I'd have to go with Microsoft, even if I hate what they've done to the PC sector, and even if I am horrifically disappointed in how they closed down FASA/Ensemble/ACES/etc.

I feel exactly the same, but switching Sony with Microsoft.
 
SCE. Journey and Gravity Rush are my favourite game of this year and PS+ just gets better and better, this year has been pretty meager overal in terms of games but the rest of the past years have been solid, not to mention what next year brings us. Soul Sacrifice, Tearaway, Killzone Mercenary, Beyond, Last of Us, Puppeteer, Rain all look like must buys to me.
 
SCE they have the most varied output. I fear their current financial troubles will irreparably harm their game output and they will lose a lot of key talent before they can fix company problems.
 
Sony, follwed by 2K for me.

Sony's output, especially from SCEA has been amazing this gen. Between the new stuff, like Uncharted, Killzone, Infamous and older IPs like GT , they've done really amazing job. Funding non-mainstream titles like Heavy Rain, TLG and studios such as thatgamecompany is a big plus.

2K with GTA, Red Dead Redemption, Bioshock and the great Borderlands (2) is closely behind. Their output is weaker in terms of the number of titles, but when they release a game, it's usually really, really great.
 

Interfectum

Member
Best:
Valve (Steam, Half Life, L4D, Portal, TF2, Dota 2)

Runner up:
Take Two (GTA, Red Dead, Bioshock, etc)

Up and coming:
Square Enix (Sleeping Dogs, Hitman, Deus Ex, etc)
 

Shahed

Member
If you were to ask me this 5 years ago, I would have said Square Enix easily. No one would even come remotely close. As it is now, I'd have to say some kind of combination of Sony, Nintendo and Square Enix.

While each individual game may not be as good as other publishers, no one can compare with their diversity and amount of content they've offered and overall lineup. Easily played more Sony games than any other publishers.

Nintendo might not have anywhere near the amount of content Sony offer, but their games offer a charm that no one else can replicate. Xenoblade is amazing and one of the best games I've ever played.

It goes to show how despite Square's dismal performance compared to previous gens, they are still up here. Their buyout of Eidos has helped tremendously giving me the game of the generation in Deus Ex, and they've done awesome work on portables as well as titles like Nier.

Would like to drop off a notice for Namco and Ubisoft who give quite a few games I enjoy as well. As for Microsoft, I really hope they expand, and more importantly diversify their lineup a bit. As much as I liked Halo and Gears, I need more
 
Take Two has solid quality control - at least from the games I've played. Good diversity as well. Microsoft may be the runner-up. Sony has good games, but they seem to be better at improving on existing ideas rather than coming up with original stuff.
 

El-Suave

Member
Ubisoft had the most interesting E3 press conferences two years in a row now and they're on the forefront of yet another console launch with some of the better games of the lineup.
Their bigger games (that I have played) usually haven't disappointed me.
 

Shepard

Member
Is this even a contest? 1. Nintendo 2. Square
-enix?
3. Sony
My fondest gaming memories I owe to these publishers.
 

Takao

Banned
Sony's actually a fairly terrible publisher. They launch a lot of games without much fan fair at all. The quality, and quantity of what the publish is admittedly quite great but as a company trying to make their releases as successful as possible? Nuh-uh.
 
I like them all equally with different reasons:

I like Nintendo for publishing and supporting the smaller devs for both consoles and handhelds.

I like Microsoft because they don't pull bullshit practices like online passes.

I like Sony for variety.
 

iNvid02

Member
Sony have made owning a PS3 a joy, some excellent platform exclusives and so much choice. Easily the best publisher out there.
 
Nintendo. Offers quality games in almost every genre outside of ,,cinematic'' shlock (and covers many niches with smaller titles), that are also mostly unique.
 
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