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What developer/publisher has fallen the furthest from grace?
- Thread starter daTRUballin
- Start date
Definitely gotta say Konami. There are so many good Konami games in the 8-bit and 16-bit era. Some licensed, some new unique and cool IPs. Rocket Knight being among my favorites games on the Genesis. But when 3D started rolling around, it felt like their output got lower, then by the PS2/GC era it was even lower, then even lower again. It felt like they became a Metal Gear creation house. I'm not too into Metal Gear, so I lost a lot of interest in the company. I was so disappointed when they bought Hudson and did nothing with them.
They did recently make a Super Bomberman R though and that does make me happy and I hope we can see more Bomberman, and maybe more old revivals in the same vein.
Capcom has been losing some of my interest too with all their fumbling lately.
EA is a similar situation as Konami to me. They used to make a ton of games I really, really liked in the N64/PS1 and PS2/GC eras but there hasn't been anything these days that has really caught my eyes. I'm not interested in their Star Wars stuff too, especially if all it's going to be is another FPS or TPS.
They did recently make a Super Bomberman R though and that does make me happy and I hope we can see more Bomberman, and maybe more old revivals in the same vein.
Capcom has been losing some of my interest too with all their fumbling lately.
EA is a similar situation as Konami to me. They used to make a ton of games I really, really liked in the N64/PS1 and PS2/GC eras but there hasn't been anything these days that has really caught my eyes. I'm not interested in their Star Wars stuff too, especially if all it's going to be is another FPS or TPS.
For me personally it will always be Rare as I can't imagine another developer being that amazingly consistently great and then falling to zero in output and quality. I think you would have to be gaming during the SNES N64 days just to really understand how great Rare was but man they were fucking great. They could do no wrong. They were like golden age Blizzard for Nintendo. You bought a rare game you knew it was going to be fun and last you with tons of replay ability.
Now? Kinect sports? Really? Viva Piñata? They were ok but nothing like past output. Perfect Dark Zero I found to be total ass. And their upcoming pirate game is stuck on a console MS is giving me zero reason to buy as of right now.
Now? Kinect sports? Really? Viva Piñata? They were ok but nothing like past output. Perfect Dark Zero I found to be total ass. And their upcoming pirate game is stuck on a console MS is giving me zero reason to buy as of right now.
Sad Affleck
Member
People have made a strong case for Konami but I was never a huge fan of their output so I have to go with Bioware.
ScientificPizza
Banned
Neversoft 
EA in general has fallen quite a bit. They're actually running out of brands to kill. What's concerning is their inability to get big new hits. While Activision Blizzard doesn't make many titles too they have been very successful at launching big new hits again and again while EA is not nearly as successful and their other medium sized titles are falling one by one. Good thing they got that Star Wars license.
Green Yoshi
Member
This.
They are not a stock company, so there is no pressure for them to release any games.
But I hope that we will see Half-Life 3 one day.
The Horror the horror
Banned
Out of all the major publishers, Konami was among the first to see the writing on the wall for the Japanese gaming market and reconfigured their core business to reflect console games as a peripheral interest, not as a main one.
I suspect they'll release a game or two here and there, perhaps lend their IPs to maintain a presence in the industry, but it'll be a side thing from here on out.
I suspect they'll release a game or two here and there, perhaps lend their IPs to maintain a presence in the industry, but it'll be a side thing from here on out.
sleepnaught
Member
Rare by far. But DICE and Valve are runner ups for me.
daTRUballin
Member
Thanks for posting these! I've read these articles before but it's always nice to see this kind of insight into things like this regardless.
Eighth Wonder had absolutely no games released before shutting down. It was a complete failure of a company.
You seem to not have much knowledge on this subject. Like most people really. I don't mean to sound like a dick or anything, but I feel like people should do more research before posting stuff like this.
Rellik
Member
Neversoft
This. From creating one of the highest rated games of all time to nothing. The fall was hard to watch.
Fantastapotamus
Wrong about commas, wrong about everything
It's not even a question.
Bioware. They can still make the games what made them what they are today.
They just suck at it now.
Bioware. They can still make the games what made them what they are today.
They just suck at it now.
All I know is most the fps golden eye guys went on to do timespliters. What was left sure did good games but not enough people bought them. yet all the blame goes to MS.. we should also remember it was Nintendo that let them go.. and there must have been a reason for that after all the great stuff they did on the N64.
I have to go with Square/Enix.
They were my favorite video game makers from about 1986 to whenever Final Fantasy 9 came out.
Now outside of publishing some good western games, they are trash.
Konami and Capcom are up there as well. I have zero expectations from those companies these days. Companies that defined my childhood experiences are now just nothing to me now. It is super sad.
They were my favorite video game makers from about 1986 to whenever Final Fantasy 9 came out.
Now outside of publishing some good western games, they are trash.
Konami and Capcom are up there as well. I have zero expectations from those companies these days. Companies that defined my childhood experiences are now just nothing to me now. It is super sad.
Rare was a big drop but started before MS. If anything the big drop was so quick it felt like there wasn't any disappointment. It just became some other company.
I think Bioware's slow, but very steady, death has been the most disappointing. Each game is not THAT much worse than the last, so you begin to think maybe, maybe they can turn it around. But then inevitablely the next game is even worse.
After Dylan likely bombs/continues the decline, my guess is the brand gets absorbed by EA.
ShadowFox08
Member
Rare definitely. They made great games in the SNES and 64 days, but dropped tremendously right before the MS fal out. Still bummed MS bought them.
daTRUballin
Member
The thing is, Nintendo didn't want to necessarily let go of Rare. The Stampers wanted Nintendo to buy their 51% stake and own the whole company 100%. It seems like Nintendo didn't want to own the whole company but rather just wanted things to stay the same. Then of course when MS bought the Stampers' 51%, Nintendo had no choice but to sell their 49% to MS as they couldn't just co-own the company with a direct competitor.
So basically I think we can blame the Stampers for the whole sale. If they wouldn't have wanted to sell their 51% stake, things could've just stayed the same.
Sportbilly
Member
Bit scrambled there... Jobs only worked at Atari as a technician in the mid-70s and as far as I'm aware had nothing to do with the development of the 2600.
Jay Milner's a far more important 'early' figure, having developed the chipsets for the 2600 and 8 bit line of computers- he left in the early 80s to form Amiga, which was initially funded by Atari, but eventually bought by Commodore.
Atari were never kings of the home computer market- the 8 bit line was exceptional for the time (it was first released in 1979), but it was never wildly popular and was eclipsed by the C64. They did dominate in the nascent console market, until the 1983 crash, and were then bought out from Warner by Jack Tramiel, Commodore's former CEO. Tramiel introduced the ST line and stabilised the company, but they never got anywhere near their former dominance in the games market and underwent a steady decline from the late '80s onwards. The Lynx was a reasonable success, but the failure of the Jaguar pretty much finished them off as a games hardware company. Hasbro ended up buying them out and the company was Atari in name only from that point on.
Strangely, the 8 bit line had a bit of a renaissance in Eastern Europe in the '90s, especially in Poland, presumably due to the low cost in comparison to the PC and Amiga.
CyanideFuse
Member
Konami. To think of the games from the Super Nintendo era...
...and look at them now.
...and look at them now.
Theslammer
Member
The fact that some developers aren't as good as they used to be doesn't mean many other development teams haven't been founded or improved their output. It's not like the only development teams around today were the ones who existed in the 1990s.
I'll go with Monolith Productions.
From 2000-2009 they released: NoLF 1, NoLF 2, Aliens v Predator 2, Tron 2.0, FEAR, FEAR 2, Condemned, and Condemned 2. A run of diverse, unique, and critically-successful FPS games if there ever was one. Sure, there were also two flops in this period (Matrix Online and Contract JACK), but 8 great games in 10 years is impressive.
From 2009-present they released Gotham City Imposters, Guardians of Middle Earth, Middle Earth: Shadow of Mordor, and are working on Middle Earth: Shadow of War.
Bleh.
From 2000-2009 they released: NoLF 1, NoLF 2, Aliens v Predator 2, Tron 2.0, FEAR, FEAR 2, Condemned, and Condemned 2. A run of diverse, unique, and critically-successful FPS games if there ever was one. Sure, there were also two flops in this period (Matrix Online and Contract JACK), but 8 great games in 10 years is impressive.
From 2009-present they released Gotham City Imposters, Guardians of Middle Earth, Middle Earth: Shadow of Mordor, and are working on Middle Earth: Shadow of War.
Bleh.
If Nintendo was serious about keeping them would they really have taken that risk? Sadly I just don't think they saw them as that much of an asset with how the GameCube was going.
I say this as someone who loved them during the N64 days i also loved nuts and bolts and Viva Pinata..
I think the market kinda changed after the N64.. seemed like a lot more gamers were touting for mature games and turning into Sony lovers. Rare just ended up inbetween a rock and a hard place.
I mean look at Timesplitters.. I think that's what people wanted from Rare at the time and it was somewhere else. Which I can only imagine could be a bit of Nintendos fault.
Omg this hurts so much...
KuwabaraTheMan
Banned
It's definitely Rare. What a complete fall from grace.
I skimmed the thread, but didn't see anyone say LucasArts yet.
They were the best thing about PC gaming in the 90s - XWing, Tie Fighter, Grim Fandango, Monkey Island, Jedi Knight, and more. There was a time when I would buy any LucasArts title without knowing anything about it, just because I knew it would be awesome no matter what,
Eventually they cranked out lame prequel bullshit, and other critical failures lead them to implode.
They were the best thing about PC gaming in the 90s - XWing, Tie Fighter, Grim Fandango, Monkey Island, Jedi Knight, and more. There was a time when I would buy any LucasArts title without knowing anything about it, just because I knew it would be awesome no matter what,
Eventually they cranked out lame prequel bullshit, and other critical failures lead them to implode.
SavoyPrime
Member
Bioware, Rare, and Konami are the first that come to mind.
Just watched it and oof: Terrible music and a hold-left to win level, all combined with graphics that make it difficult to make out the platforming. The sky boxes were pretty though --- and probably took more effort than the level itself to make.
isaacnukem
Member
Konami. Not because of Metal Gear, but because of Castlevania and Suikoden.
Papo Swing
Member
Bioware for real. Some of the others I can think of have gone through issues, some not of their doing, but their games have been enjoyable or better to me at least.
Bioware? I liked Mass Effect 3 but even by 2 they weren't they Bioware I loved and raved over before.
Bioware? I liked Mass Effect 3 but even by 2 they weren't they Bioware I loved and raved over before.
almostjuliuscaesar
Member
they broke my heart with ME:A, so Bioware. I can't believe I wouldn't even trust them to be able to do another KotOR game
From the Nintendo point of view it is a bit different:
- The Stamper brothers wanted a payday - so they ask Nintendo to buy their part of the company;
- At this point in time Nintendo has some reservations about Rare - in short, they believe that the amount of resources Rare needs/wants is not proportional to the benefit they bring.
- In pursuit of a better payout the Stamper brothers gets a Microsoft bid on the company.
- This bid evaluates Rare much higher than what Nintendo is willing to pay.
- In the end Microsoft ends up paying 375 mio. USD.
The rise in project cost and scope, and the relatively (much) more expensive American dev. cost also hits at the point in time where the Nintendo thinking on project scope/scale/content/market starts diverging from the American perception. This places Rare in an awkward spot when compared against the lower cost base of the rest of Nintendos (internal)developers.
Part of this also comes down to Nintendos thinking about acquiring external studios: In short, they believe that the important part of the studio is the creative talent. If they simply buy a studio from the founders (the creative talent) the talent now has a lot of money and no "skin in the game" so they could leave relatively easily. If this happens it basically leaves Nintendo with a lot of extra people to pay - but without the talent that was the reason they originally wanted the studio.
Tavernacle12
Member
I'd say Bioware. Rare has certainly fallen but I feel like they've just flown under the radar making adequate games as opposed to Bioware which lost a lot of the good will they once had.
Dreams-Visions
Member
the fact that Rare is associated with "adequate" games speaks to just how far they've fallen.
They were the Pixar of gaming. Every release from Donkey Kong Country to Killer Instinct to Goldeneye was a master stroke.
I'd be like if they started making movies roughly equivalent to Shark Tale.
Rare were the gods of the arena. Now they...I don't even want to think about it anymore.
Dlink16
Member
Absolutely. It's sad because Andromeda is getting the most heat while being a completely different team from the group that created all those earlier great games, but in the eyes of the average gamer it doesn't matter, the developer still has the Bioware name.
The Atari 8-bit line debuted in 1979 and was the most popular home computer line from then until the C64 went down to $300 in 1983.
Magic Mushroom
Member
wipeout364
Member
Criterion : I mean they used to be the goto engine developer with render ware in the PS2 days. GTA 3 was made with their tech. They made burnout paradise and need for speed on PS3 and now they are basically a support group (and that is probably being generous) for other studios. Sad how they have fallen under EA.
TheExhaustedWalrus
Member
For me, it's Rare. Their games were so important to me when I was a kid and they haven't made a good game since Viva Pinata. However, Sea of Thieves looks reallllly promising, can't wait to check it out.
petran79
Banned
AtariST was also very popular in Europe. Amigas were used mostly for graphics while AtariSTs for music production up to the mid-90s. I remember my uncle who is a music producer at a national radio station, composed his tracks on an AtariST sequencer setup, around that time. He even showed me a live demo.
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