Game Developer Research releases "Top 50 Developers 2008" report

Totally agree with what you just said.

Like they said, this list is, a combination of sales, review scores, number of developed titles, and surveys of industry professionals in order to determine the studio's reputation within the industry. Telltale Games just hasn't made that big of a splash outside of a small group of internet gamers/industry pros...that immediately handicaps them when compared to the likes of Nintendo, Infinity Ward, etc.

"Wonder how the Sony or MS die hard club feel about that..."

http://www.joystiq.com/2008/03/04/which-publisher-gets-the-best-review-scores/

We feel great, thanks for asking :]

Sorry we're talking about proper results like this, not paid off reviewers.

Looks like someone slept through the Gamespot problems LOL.

But if you'd like to play the review score game, why hasn't the PS3 put out a 90+ rated game yet? Which publisher had the highest rated game of this (currently, Galaxy), last gen (TP) and the generation before that (OoT)?

Plus when you factor in the Wii and DS outselling everything.

Nintendo really grabbed themselves by the balls after the N64 and Cube problems.

you conveniently forgot to mention the 10 trillion shitty games the wii has to the maybe half dozen decent ones it has (not including gamecube/ps2 ports, although it's reassuring to know the wii can run them).

Sure the ps3 may not have a 90+ game in its first year (which will likely change this year), but a bunch of 80s is better than 1 or 2 90s and a bunch of 50s 60s and 70s when you're doing a total average

tmacairjordan87,

This is a Developers list not a Publishers list. Yes, Nintendo has a lot of shitty published games. The titles they develop are pretty f'in outstanding in my opinion.

You mean like the PS2? About 5 or so excellent games and the rest being drivel.

I always said the Wii would be the next PS2 as well. But then it went and outperformed it on the sales charts.

Lots of angry Anti-Nintendo people around!

"Sorry we're talking about proper results like this, not paid off reviewers"

Er, please let me know which other method is available to tell which publisher had the best ratings...

"But if you'd like to play the review score game, why hasn't the PS3 put out a 90+ rated game yet? Which publisher had the highest rated game of this (currently, Galaxy), last gen (TP) and the generation before that (OoT)?"

mmm, I think you should have specified by saying exclusives, because the PS3 has 3 games over 90.

Galaxy does seem like Mario 128...anyway, great game (despite the fact that I didn't like it), but this generation has just started.

Lol, its funny that you mention TP as a last gen game, I though Nintendo fans like to claim that it is game from this gen. Anyway, no, it isn't the best rated, it is Metroid Prime, but guess what? the PS2 had its game called Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3, and Xbox had Halo also rated at 97.

And about OoT, well, I did enjoy the game, although I think that Majora's Mask is the one that should have become famous.

"Nintendo really grabbed themselves by the balls after the N64 and Cube problems."

Sorry but they are doing pretty much what they did before, I mean, their online service is almost non-existant, no 3rd party focus, rehashing of old franchises.

All they did fix this time was the price of their console, that and selling a casual game to attract that group.

"You mean like the PS2? About 5 or so excellent games and the rest being drivel."

If you only found 5 excellent games on the PS2's library then you sir are missing a hell lot.

"I always said the Wii would be the next PS2 as well. But then it went and outperformed it on the sales charts."

Outperformed? I have yet to find a non first party game that has performed well on the Wii...unlike the PS2.

And I doubt it will be the next PS2, I doubt any of the consoles this gen are able to achive that.

Nintendo have had a very good year. The Nintendo lovin' is starting to feel un-justified, i think; they've put out good games, but there's almost no innovation whatsoever when it comes to the premises of these games. They've really fallen back on their big-guns in the fresh context of their new platform, but they set themselves up for this really; no other developer on the list was in Nintendo's position for such potential market dominance.

Either way, my 3 favorite developers were in the top 5 (Nintendo, Valve, Blizzard). They all performed well this year, and good. These are 3 developers i've loved very much for a long time, and they've made some very wise decisions this year.

LOL, week in, week out. NDP in, NDP out. The Wii constantly out performs the PS2 in the same time frame. (http://vgchartz.com/hwlaunch.php?cons1=Wii®1=All&cons2=PS2®2=All&cons3=DS®3=All&weeks=156 or Nishino can't read or something)

Ladies and gentlement - the new PS2 takes a bow.


To balance all my arguments out I haven't played on a Wii or DS since Xmas and I hate Metroid Prime 3 (too linear).
But like I said they really do know their stuff. To have 2 machines that perform better than last gens behemoth is incredible.

"LOL, week in, week out. NDP in, NDP out. The Wii constantly out performs the PS2 in the same time frame. (http://vgchartz.com/hwlaunch.php?cons1=Wii®1=All&cons2=PS2®2=All&cons3=DS®3=All&weeks=156 or Nishino can't read or something)"

Noshino does know how to read, unlike you who doesn't know how to type someone's nickname well.

Here is another chart for you to check:

http://vgchartz.com/hwlaunch.php?cons1=N64®1=All&cons2=PS®2=All&cons3=®3=All&weeks=400

wow, the 64 was beating the PS for such a long time, look how that turned out huh.

At this point, the Wii depends on its casual appeal, unlike the other 2 consoles. It has been over a year and the only 2 hardcore games were NMH and Z&W.

Like I stated before, none of the consoles this generation have what it takes to become the next PS2, they need an appealing price point (around the 200s), 3rd party support (which Nintendo doesn't have, shovelware doesn't count), vast library of different genres. Thing is, Nintendo is the closest to it, but because they have hanged this "casual" title (when Variety reviews your games, then yes, you have "casual" stickers all over you) that many of the hardcore crowd don't feel comfortable with...

Then there is the 360, but its history will not allow it to go as high, I think next gen it will be runner up to that seat.

And the PS3 has too high of a price point to even appeal to everyone, and I doubt they are anywhere close to hitting the 200s...


"But like I said they really do know their stuff. To have 2 machines that perform better than last gens behemoth is incredible."

yah yah, business, I guess the fact that they rehashed old technology is what disappointed me this time, good ol' N, anyway, let me know when they get a machine that has the guts to actually compete, not on sales, with the other 2 (Lol, that reminds me, last time I had a conversation with Fernando, the only thing he was bringing up was the games, not even he was able to bring something against that, and to say that you aren't disappointed by the path Nintendo took this time is utter bs, they have always been trying to bring the most powerful console all around, yet not this time with the DS and Wii)...

I think Noshino pretty much mopped this one up, but I can't let this point sit:

"Sorry we're talking about proper results like this, not paid off reviewers."

Apparently, average review scores collected from various corners of the internet are horribly biased (since every single reviewer is paid off, naturally), whereas the individual findings of a single magazine, whose ratings system is devised from an unrevealed algorithm with their own weighting, are honest to goodness "proper results." Makes perfect sense to me.

Play Drill Dozer for GBA. Right now. DO IT.

*note

Oh and good to see EA Canada (FIFA makers) up there =)

I know what you mean, but that's like, in stead of listing Bungie and Rare separately listing them all as Microsoft Studios (I am aware Bungie has become independent, but you know what i mean).

EA is a very large company. More like an empire really, with down-trodden conquests put on merciless dead-lines. :-)

Well, this is a developer rankings list, not publisher rankings. Despite the infamously evil antics of the EA publishing empire, their development teams are usually better regarded by industry pros...if anything, they get bonus points if they're able to put out a decent game despite EA Publishing forcing them to spew out sequels/rehashes.

Realtime World's got praise because Crackdown was their breakout project, even though it was composed of industry veterans

Now i go to brave Snow and ice and drifts and indecipherable roadways to claim Brawl

Kill's id's credibility, or the list's? All they released in the last year was Quake Wars, IIRC, and that didn't do all that well as far as I can tell. The fact that they've been a Doom/Quake factory since, well, forever, definitely lowers their standing, in my book...especially since none of those games have been all that great.

Oh, and Game Developer magazine is pretty well respected by industry pros, so this list carries some weight. The magazine's like the Wall Street Journal of Gaming when compared to most other gaming publications.

Completely agree CXM.

id are some of my fave devs (alongside Nintendo, Valve and the pre-2000 Factor 5 and Rare). But they've not had the best time recently. Did id even work on Quake Wars, I only played a bit but didn't another studio take over?