A little twist on the "Top Ten Games" topic, and one that's a little more difficult to do - what are your top 5 gaming companies? Doesn't matter if they are developers, publishers or a combination of the two. Here's mine:
1) Interplay. They went to shit after the turn of the century, but they are responsible for making or publishing too many of my favorite games over nearly my entire life to not put them at number 1: Bard's Tale, Wasteland, Neuromancer, Battlechess, Fallout 1 and 2, Planescape, Freespace 2, and more that don't come immediately to mind. The list of games they made or published that I enjoyed but wouldn't classify as favorites is probably 5x as long.
2) Sierra. King's Quest, Space Quest, Leisure Suit Larry, Police Quest, Quest For Glory, Gabriel Knight, Manhunter, not to mention all the games that they published. They're pretty much just a "name brand" now more than an actual company but like Interplay they pretty much dominated my gaming world growing up so they're pretty high on my list.
3) Troika. Short lived and couldn't keep themselves afloat, but the three games they did make are some of my favorite RPG's ever: Arcanum, Temple Of Elemental Evil, and Vampire The Masquerade: Bloodlines. I wish that I didn't have to imagine what else they could have done if they had stayed together.
4) Looking Glass Studios. I only know of them through four games, but they are some of the best games ever made in my opinion: Thief 1 and 2 and System Shock 1 and 2.
5) LucasArts. I didn't get to play any of their games until years after their release due to only using Apple computers for most of my life, but the gameplay, humor and stories in their adventure games holds up against any modern game. Grim Fandango, the Monkey Island series, Maniac Mansion, Zak McKraken, Full Throttle, Loom and Sam & Max. I'd place them higher but adventure games don't have much replay value for me, so LucasArts has to lose out.
1) Interplay. They went to shit after the turn of the century, but they are responsible for making or publishing too many of my favorite games over nearly my entire life to not put them at number 1: Bard's Tale, Wasteland, Neuromancer, Battlechess, Fallout 1 and 2, Planescape, Freespace 2, and more that don't come immediately to mind. The list of games they made or published that I enjoyed but wouldn't classify as favorites is probably 5x as long.
2) Sierra. King's Quest, Space Quest, Leisure Suit Larry, Police Quest, Quest For Glory, Gabriel Knight, Manhunter, not to mention all the games that they published. They're pretty much just a "name brand" now more than an actual company but like Interplay they pretty much dominated my gaming world growing up so they're pretty high on my list.
3) Troika. Short lived and couldn't keep themselves afloat, but the three games they did make are some of my favorite RPG's ever: Arcanum, Temple Of Elemental Evil, and Vampire The Masquerade: Bloodlines. I wish that I didn't have to imagine what else they could have done if they had stayed together.
4) Looking Glass Studios. I only know of them through four games, but they are some of the best games ever made in my opinion: Thief 1 and 2 and System Shock 1 and 2.
5) LucasArts. I didn't get to play any of their games until years after their release due to only using Apple computers for most of my life, but the gameplay, humor and stories in their adventure games holds up against any modern game. Grim Fandango, the Monkey Island series, Maniac Mansion, Zak McKraken, Full Throttle, Loom and Sam & Max. I'd place them higher but adventure games don't have much replay value for me, so LucasArts has to lose out.
). Interplay/Black Isle won't be mentioned as it is pretty much a given and already occupies the top of the Hall of Fame:
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