-
Hey Guest. Check out your NeoGAF Wrapped 2025 results here!
Publishers/Developers that have fallen or "My, does this thread make me sad!"
- Thread starter Flying_Phoenix
- Start date
H_Prestige
Banned
Squaresoft and ps2-era Square Enix.
OnPoint said:
If I had the WWE license I would totally get the Wrestlefest Engine from Technos and create a XBLA/PSN game with the current roster (knowing that getting the older wrestlers would be difficult). Who wouldn't want to RKO John Cena using the Technos arcade wrestling engine?
OnPoint said:
Technos Japan lives on through the ASW backed "Million Corp." It's even got founder of Technos in charge, once more.
http://kuniokun.jp/
True, their games aren't quite up to the goodness that they had in the NES days (or even RCREX a few years ago), but I'd like to think that bit by bit they're getting back to where they're supposed to be. Can't wait for whatever that Wii project is supposed to be.
Any way...
Kusaragi said:
My answer as well. They went from being a development team responsible for the one property that was able to give Mario a decent run for his money, and now look at 'em.
RPG_Fanatic
Member
RurouniZel said:
Now completely absorbed by Gungho and will probably never make a new Lunar or proper Grandia ever again.
Why did you have to remind me of this fact.
Segata Sanshiro
Member
Sonic Team is a big one for developers.
For publishers, Konami is hard to argue with. They used to be one of the best, with an array of creative and high quality games in a variety of genres. Now they make soccer and Metal Gear.
Capcom is pretty obviously suffering from serious brain drain after losing the Clover peeps, but they're still trying hard, so I'm not going to admonish them too much yet.
Microsoft Game Studios is an absolute hollow shell of what it was five years ago.
For publishers, Konami is hard to argue with. They used to be one of the best, with an array of creative and high quality games in a variety of genres. Now they make soccer and Metal Gear.
Capcom is pretty obviously suffering from serious brain drain after losing the Clover peeps, but they're still trying hard, so I'm not going to admonish them too much yet.
Microsoft Game Studios is an absolute hollow shell of what it was five years ago.
starchild excalibur
Member
Not fallen due to lack of quality, but non-existent.
Old Gimlet Eyes
Member
Ensemble. R.I.P.
Lucas Arts has created some of the greatest games of all time but their name today does not earn much respect as a developer, publisher, or licensing farm.
Day of the Tentacle and Tie Fighter are permanent fixtures on best of all time lists. There was a period of a few years where Lucas Arts could be considered one of the best developers in gaming. Most of what they touched was gold.
Day of the Tentacle and Tie Fighter are permanent fixtures on best of all time lists. There was a period of a few years where Lucas Arts could be considered one of the best developers in gaming. Most of what they touched was gold.
mclaren777
Member
StuBurns said:
I agree, what I used to consider the big Japanese developers (outside of Nintendo) Konami, Square and Capcom have just... really messed up.
For me, I'm starting to get worried about Crystal Dynamics, they still make great games, but becoming "the Tomb Raider house" is the road to ruin.
makingmusic476
Member
Konami's the most notable for me. They're basically an MGS/PES house now. I do love MGS, but c'mon.
Which is basically a result of them closing Clover Studios. Mikami and Kamiya were the brains behind six of those seven games.StuBurns said:
Flying_Phoenix
Banned
Another one (as said many times in this thread):
Now don't get me wrong. As of right now SEGA is a pretty quality publisher. Platinum Games, Yakuza series, Valkyrie Chronicles, yeah they're pretty good. But that's just it "pretty good". The SEGA of the 90's was an unstoppable force. Games in the vein of Yakuza and Valkyrie Chronicles weren't a rarity, but the rule. Every year between the MEGA-Drive and the Arcades they published around 70 games. Of those games at least a dozen of those became instant classics. Hell there were so many that doing "list wars" would be pointless because it would take me forever to list and think of them all.
SEGA was just a Goliath in gaming as they were the top publisher in arcades and consoles as well as the top hardware vendors. The MEGA-Drive days need no explanation. The 3D age had them seriously lacking the console space, yet they put out games from the arcade that had incredible graphics. They actually could pass for a then next generation game.
Unfortunately the company ran into some serious problems both externally as well as internally. The arcades were dying all over the world except in Japan (where from what I understand even there they weren't doing too hot). And well SEGA bet it all in the arcades. To make matters worse the Saturn bombed everywhere but Japan where it found moderate success. In terms of internally the company was quite literally destroying itself. You see SEGA was started in America, and even though it's main branch is Japan it was company tradition to have a significant American branch. Because of this they've always been butting heads. But the main issue was how much more successful the American branch was then the Japanese one, particularly in the console space. For years the Japanese branch have tried to launch a successful home console in Japan but with no luck. But then on practically their first try the American team releases a console that is a bigger success than the successor to the NES. Imagine if Apple of Asia launched their computers and they receive Windows like success on their first try. That's kind of the comparison. Anyway the companies started acting like man babies, particularly SEGA of Japan. They didn't bother to tell SEGA of America about their Saturn plans because they wanted the 32X to fail. Naka didn't want an American team working on Sonic. They closed down STI, SEGA's most upcoming and arguably most potentially important developer. And just a whole bunch of other bullshit.
Anyway SEGA was bleeding red and they either had to get brought out or launch a hit product. That's when the Dreamcast launched. Now personally I think the system is over-rated. I personally found SEGA much better in the 16-bit era. But the Dreamcast definitely filled a hole that wasn't there before. Games like Skies of Arcadia (LOVE!), Space Channel 5, Jet Set Grind!, and Shenmue were quick favorites. Unfortunately the system had a successful launch but just slowly fizzed out to death. SEGA tried to find their way after that but they couldn't their fanbase was split therefore games like Jet Set Radio Future, Panzer Dragoon, and GunValkyrie just could not find their audiences. It seems only their sports franchises went anywhere in which from my understanding are no longer published by SEGA anymore and are now crap (*remembers the good ol' days of the NFL 2K series). SEGA went in last generation with big hopes and expectations, they left with shattered dreams and a stabbed pride.
Since then they really have stepped it up a notch as I've stated before. But they are nowhere near where they use to be. To put into comparison of their level of relevance and importance to the industry, imagine if you found out that Nintendo, Valve, or Blizzard in ten years are nothing more but simply "another video game publisher/developer" it was just unimaginable back then.
I played Banjo-Kazooie for the first time ever 2 years ago or so. One of the best platformers ever made. So amazing.
I wouldn't say worthless but fifth-teen years ago they were regarded as one of the if not the best third party publisher. Today if it wasn't for Metal Gear or their former success, they wouldn't even be recognizable.
Now don't get me wrong. As of right now SEGA is a pretty quality publisher. Platinum Games, Yakuza series, Valkyrie Chronicles, yeah they're pretty good. But that's just it "pretty good". The SEGA of the 90's was an unstoppable force. Games in the vein of Yakuza and Valkyrie Chronicles weren't a rarity, but the rule. Every year between the MEGA-Drive and the Arcades they published around 70 games. Of those games at least a dozen of those became instant classics. Hell there were so many that doing "list wars" would be pointless because it would take me forever to list and think of them all.
SEGA was just a Goliath in gaming as they were the top publisher in arcades and consoles as well as the top hardware vendors. The MEGA-Drive days need no explanation. The 3D age had them seriously lacking the console space, yet they put out games from the arcade that had incredible graphics. They actually could pass for a then next generation game.
Unfortunately the company ran into some serious problems both externally as well as internally. The arcades were dying all over the world except in Japan (where from what I understand even there they weren't doing too hot). And well SEGA bet it all in the arcades. To make matters worse the Saturn bombed everywhere but Japan where it found moderate success. In terms of internally the company was quite literally destroying itself. You see SEGA was started in America, and even though it's main branch is Japan it was company tradition to have a significant American branch. Because of this they've always been butting heads. But the main issue was how much more successful the American branch was then the Japanese one, particularly in the console space. For years the Japanese branch have tried to launch a successful home console in Japan but with no luck. But then on practically their first try the American team releases a console that is a bigger success than the successor to the NES. Imagine if Apple of Asia launched their computers and they receive Windows like success on their first try. That's kind of the comparison. Anyway the companies started acting like man babies, particularly SEGA of Japan. They didn't bother to tell SEGA of America about their Saturn plans because they wanted the 32X to fail. Naka didn't want an American team working on Sonic. They closed down STI, SEGA's most upcoming and arguably most potentially important developer. And just a whole bunch of other bullshit.
Anyway SEGA was bleeding red and they either had to get brought out or launch a hit product. That's when the Dreamcast launched. Now personally I think the system is over-rated. I personally found SEGA much better in the 16-bit era. But the Dreamcast definitely filled a hole that wasn't there before. Games like Skies of Arcadia (LOVE!), Space Channel 5, Jet Set Grind!, and Shenmue were quick favorites. Unfortunately the system had a successful launch but just slowly fizzed out to death. SEGA tried to find their way after that but they couldn't their fanbase was split therefore games like Jet Set Radio Future, Panzer Dragoon, and GunValkyrie just could not find their audiences. It seems only their sports franchises went anywhere in which from my understanding are no longer published by SEGA anymore and are now crap (*remembers the good ol' days of the NFL 2K series). SEGA went in last generation with big hopes and expectations, they left with shattered dreams and a stabbed pride.
Since then they really have stepped it up a notch as I've stated before. But they are nowhere near where they use to be. To put into comparison of their level of relevance and importance to the industry, imagine if you found out that Nintendo, Valve, or Blizzard in ten years are nothing more but simply "another video game publisher/developer" it was just unimaginable back then.
Aggrotek said:
I played Banjo-Kazooie for the first time ever 2 years ago or so. One of the best platformers ever made. So amazing.
GhaleonQ said:
I wouldn't say worthless but fifth-teen years ago they were regarded as one of the if not the best third party publisher. Today if it wasn't for Metal Gear or their former success, they wouldn't even be recognizable.
Agent X
Member
Rare was the first one that immediately came to mind. No other developer even comes close. I knew things were going south for them when Nintendo sold their stake in the company.
Psygnosis hasn't really existed as "Psygnosis" for about a decade. After Sony acquired them in 1993, they transitioned away from Amiga action games to FMV games on fledgling CD-based systems. Their output took a huge dive in quality. After PlayStation was released, they started to find their footing somewhat, and managed to release a few great games, so it wasn't a total loss. Still, they never again reached the heights that they enjoyed during their heyday on Amiga.
Midway is a good example, also. They were one of the greatest arcade game producers of the 1980s and 1990s, and then through numerous mergers and acquisitions over the years, they became an entity that possessed the rights to a very significant chunk of American arcade video games produced during that period. After the American arcade industry faded, though, they stumbled in the home video game market.
Psygnosis hasn't really existed as "Psygnosis" for about a decade. After Sony acquired them in 1993, they transitioned away from Amiga action games to FMV games on fledgling CD-based systems. Their output took a huge dive in quality. After PlayStation was released, they started to find their footing somewhat, and managed to release a few great games, so it wasn't a total loss. Still, they never again reached the heights that they enjoyed during their heyday on Amiga.
Midway is a good example, also. They were one of the greatest arcade game producers of the 1980s and 1990s, and then through numerous mergers and acquisitions over the years, they became an entity that possessed the rights to a very significant chunk of American arcade video games produced during that period. After the American arcade industry faded, though, they stumbled in the home video game market.
The Take Out Bandit
Member
Segata Sanshiro
Member
Thank god for that history note of yours, Flying Phoenix. I'm sure all of us were wondering what happened to SEGA.
ULTROS!
People seem to like me because I am polite and I am rarely late. I like to eat ice cream and I really enjoy a nice pair of slacks.
Squaresoft
Namco - Used to make a lot of fantastic IPs last gen (Xenosaga, Katamari). Hopefully Majin and Enslaved turn out well.
Sierra - I miss their adventure games.
Namco - Used to make a lot of fantastic IPs last gen (Xenosaga, Katamari). Hopefully Majin and Enslaved turn out well.
Sierra - I miss their adventure games.