MrCunningham
Member
Yup.
FIFA
Madden
NHL
As long as they continue to make anual sports games people will be buying them in droves keeping the company afloat for decades to come.
Game companies you can't believe still exist
- Thread starter Phediuk
- Start date
Yup.
FIFA
Madden
NHL
As long as they continue to make anual sports games people will be buying them in droves keeping the company afloat for decades to come.
2 words: Football Manager
Hero of Legend
Member
Kemco. they're quite old and were once publishing retail games in the west IIRC. And now they're very niche only publishing mobile and occasional console/handhelds ports of said mobile games in Japan (with some of those ports getting localized).
You'd not be blamed if you thought they were no more.
You'd not be blamed if you thought they were no more.
Hero of Legend
Member
Square-Enix have ZERO stake in the Mama series. All that happened was that Taito published some of the earliest entries, they stopped a few years ago and Office Create, which became Cooking Mama Ltd, sort of reformed as a sister label or even company and now publishes the games in JP. Trying to remember if the IP is indeed under the Cooking Mama Ltd name or Office Create.
OC never published in the west to my knowledge, and Majesco was obviously the most tied to the IP since day 1, well I think 505 Games in EU also published them all there, not sure.
Edit: Whoops, DP.
Edit: It's under the Cooking Mama Ltd name.
That said, SNK-Playmore. With their lack of game output and failed attempts, it's a headscratcher how the 2nd SNK even lived this long.
Those slot machines make more money than I thought.
Remember, this is Japan we're talking about.
The group who made Top Gear still exist... wow.
MrCunningham
Member
I get this feeling that Id software might be restructed as an in house engine development group for Berthesda. Even with their lead tech guy John Carmack gone, they still have a lot of people in id who can still continue Carmack's work and develop new itterations of id Tech. Already; Wolfenstein: The New Order , The Evil Within, Dishonored 2 (apparently) and of course Doom 4 will be using id Tech 5, so the engine has been adopted pretty well with in Berthesda's studios. I can see this trend easily continuing.
Basically they could be Berthesda's own Rockstar San Diego.
Hero of Legend
Member
Yep. Beaten on Kemco, but wow, totally forgot Sunsoft as well!
Sunsoft were BIG on the SNES, I even bought the Bugs Bunny game they did and really liked it. Nowadays they're a Mahjong house.
I remember Vic Ireland's partnership to revive their glory days and how they actually got a new Blaster Master on WiiWare, but then, poof, gone.
They also do the Senran Kagura games and the fighting engine with them is actually not bad.
Hero of Legend
Member
What a waste for them to not have been picked up by Takara Tomy to do the Wii reboot of Toshinden, instead they got Dream Factory which hadn't made good games for a long while, they did Naruto Ninja Destiny on DS IIRC.
malboroking
Banned
Why do people like games I don't like? Why don't these idiots play games with Real Gameplay? People are so stupid!
Red Mage
Member
Capcom. I know what has kept Konami and Sega, but how is Capcom surviving pissing all over their fans?
Anything Rot3K is HUGE in the East.
Anything Rot3K is HUGE in the East.
moltonasty
Member
Honestly, Platinum. They make the best games ever (basically) but yet everyone is a flop of epic proportions. How do they stay afloat? The world may never know.
everything from suda. his games bomb so hard, and yet he lives on. i am so glad about this. also, some decisions like, bioshock infinites team going defunct still boggles me. or why tomb raider the reboot is a failure... seriously, they sold more than any other iteration of the old games and still call this a failure... there is so much wrong these days in the industry...
AlwaysPlaying
Member
They wont ever let my babies go. Man I miss Banjo and Conker
This thread should be bookmarked for the end of the new generation.
I suspect we are going to lose a lit if companies this gen, and signs are there that it will be ugly.
Closing down of large number of retailers, AAA games reduced in number as the limits of sustainability have been tested, and the increased focus on mobile, apps, f2p, etc is having an incredible impact.
The days of videogame stores from the 90s and a diverse and healthy console market are over.
I suspect we are going to lose a lit if companies this gen, and signs are there that it will be ugly.
Closing down of large number of retailers, AAA games reduced in number as the limits of sustainability have been tested, and the increased focus on mobile, apps, f2p, etc is having an incredible impact.
The days of videogame stores from the 90s and a diverse and healthy console market are over.
StalkerUKCG
Banned
They are awful each title has a worse artstyle, Less features and more "filler"
Just ship a title with solid graphics, a incredibly deep CAW editor and a Roster that includes Attitude, Legends and Current stars.
It's a toss between WWE and Dragonball for the most badly milked franchise in gaming.
They tried to do Toshinden again? Did they ever manage to put those character designs to good use? I'm guessing no from the way you mention it.
They didn't use one single classic Toshinden character, the roster was completely new. Weird, really.
I hope they plan to, so Nintendo can buy their rights for a good price. I've been told Rare as we knew them back in the day are long dead and buried, but I just want a Banjo Kazooie and Tooie 720p 60fps remake on Wii U.
dcx4610
Member
Codemasters is one. I always remember them making pretty terrible games on the NES. I can't believe they survived.
Atlus is a bit surprising. They were always at level right below Capcom and Konami in their prime. Kinda similar to Sunsoft. You knew when you played a game from them it was going to be better than average and sometimes great but not exactly top tier. I'm pleasantly surprised they have survived and continue to make good and interesting games.
Atlus is a bit surprising. They were always at level right below Capcom and Konami in their prime. Kinda similar to Sunsoft. You knew when you played a game from them it was going to be better than average and sometimes great but not exactly top tier. I'm pleasantly surprised they have survived and continue to make good and interesting games.
R_thanatos
Member
what ? why ?
Their games are good. And aren't flops . and they actually bothered to support dragon crown with multiples patches.
Sure they take time to output games but i haven't seen a single bad vanillaware game
The fact that they are the king of 2D action is only a reason why they should exist regardless of how long it takes for them to make another game.
Can't go wrong with a company that outputted dragon crown , muramasa or odin sphere.
They're one of the old-dogs in the industry, and while it's sad that they've pretty much been turned into a CoD-Map Factory - I'm glad Activision has at least kept them around. Partially because they're really the only prominent developer based in my home state of Wisconsin. I remember getting a tour of their studio when I was, like, 12. Seing X-men Legends and Quake 4 banners everywhere - it was pretty cool.
I think there secret is that the company only had like 3 people.
OldKingDoran
Banned
Sure they've been dicks regarding megaman but USF4 is pretty much a fanbase driven product. They are supporting a 5 year old game and youmgot to respect them for that.
Also Dragons Dogma is one of the best arpgs in recent years, and Monster Hunter is low cost-big revenue
Hero of Legend
Member
SPEAKING OF, a new 3DS game was just leaked; a monster bug Pokemon-like game for 3DS. Seems to be a sequel to the GBA they made.
I love Square Enix for doing well with Sleeping Dogs and FFXIV but man... they've totally shot their customers in the foot with their constant lies and false promises lately with FFXIII Versus > FFXV, not doing localizations for other games hurts them too. Even if Square Enix "thinks" it won't sell well. (Bravely Default sales obviously proves this wrong). I'm sure I'm missing a few things but luckily Square Enix is improving.
LiquidMetal14
hide your water-based mammals
I came in to say this.
And I actually think mainly of Japanese devs when this topic is posed since they must sell like under 20k copies of certain games and still keep ticking. Not that I don't love some of that niche stuff but from the business side some of these Japanese devs being in business is a miracle to me.
CaptainSlow
Member
Yukes.
They were great in the PS1/PS2 days, but since then have been absolute shit. I have no idea why 2K is still using them. Everything from the AI, commentary, audio, models to textures is PS2 like.
Edit: Also 3D Realms. I swear it's just a bunch of people sitting in an office just putzing around on their computers and not actually making games. The ONE game that they do release has to be saved and taped together by another developer.
They were great in the PS1/PS2 days, but since then have been absolute shit. I have no idea why 2K is still using them. Everything from the AI, commentary, audio, models to textures is PS2 like.
Edit: Also 3D Realms. I swear it's just a bunch of people sitting in an office just putzing around on their computers and not actually making games. The ONE game that they do release has to be saved and taped together by another developer.
Chunsoft.
They're Spike Chunsoft after a merger, but it's still crazy to think that the company that made the original NES Dragon Warrior/Quest is basically still around, and making great games like 999 and DanganRonpa.
Not sure if they even have the same people there these days, but the Chunsoft name remains alive.
They're Spike Chunsoft after a merger, but it's still crazy to think that the company that made the original NES Dragon Warrior/Quest is basically still around, and making great games like 999 and DanganRonpa.
Not sure if they even have the same people there these days, but the Chunsoft name remains alive.
ultratruman
Banned
Guerilla Games.
Being technically proficient isn't enough in the crowded FPS genre, especially for a first party developer. Shadowfall was a complete step back for a series that should've been dumped this gen, and only sold decently thanks to a gifted launch slot and extremely aggressive bundling.
They need to be shuttered or turn into a middleware / engineering studio.
Being technically proficient isn't enough in the crowded FPS genre, especially for a first party developer. Shadowfall was a complete step back for a series that should've been dumped this gen, and only sold decently thanks to a gifted launch slot and extremely aggressive bundling.
They need to be shuttered or turn into a middleware / engineering studio.
LiquidMetal14
hide your water-based mammals
You have to break it down more from a financial success rate. GG is the answer I would not expect from a thread like this. KZ sold well enough and they are backed by Sony. They also have some equity within the company. Maybe before Shellshock I would agree but since then, they make a lot of sense in still being around.
LithiumSpade
Member
I hope they plan to, so Nintendo can buy their rights for a good price. I've been told Rare as we knew them back in the day are long dead and buried, but I just want a Banjo Kazooie and Tooie 720p 60fps remake on Wii U.
Out of interest, what was wrong with the 1080p/60fps re-releases that are already on Xbox Live?
I can't really think of an obvious company that I can't believe still exists. Plenty that don't...
I'm sure it's already been said in this thread, but my vote is going to Splash Damage. It has been a significant time since they put out a popular, well received title. Really surprised they're still going.
Red Mage
Member
They're doing the usual Capcom thing and milking the SF title. They did the same thing with SF2, and it's billion versions.
I like what I've played of Dragon's Dogma so far, but aside from that and the SF games, consider their other series:
Breath of Fire: Browser/iOS FTP games seems to be it's fate.
Devil May Cry: Fairly hated reboot. Fate uncertain.
Final Fight: Killed after Streetwise.
Ghost n Goblins: Microtransaction-laiden iOS games.
Lost Planet: LOL
Resident Evil: Horror... what's that?
Sengoku Basara: Let's give the U.S. the inferior version and then complain when it doesn't sell as well as we expect.
Square Enix, Konami, and Capcom used to be some of my favorite publishers, now all three can be seen turning tricks at the corner of Free-to-play and Crap-Tier.
And they still couldn't make a definitive Worms game after Armageddon/World Party. Reloaded is alright but it could use proper UI, more weapons and fun ninja rope. Oh and fun modifiers from World Party.
thekonamicode
Member
That is incredible. I just watched this video and I really wish we had something like this in America. I operate an arcade and this format solves so many problems I encounter as an operator.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ND7DFcbHLrc
they dont know how to count do they?
also I played the shit out of Works 1 on PS1. Too good.
Rare. They're pretty consistent at being awful and selling badly. Not mention the amount of projects they've had cancelled... And yet they're still around
Rebellion, who make complete crap outside of the sniper elite games (which they've finally caught onto and have done nothing but sniper elite games since)
Insomniac. I guess latching onto big publishers keeps them afloat. But they're one of the most inconsistent developers atm imo.
Square enix, their self made games have been nothing but crap for a long time and they sell badly on top of that...if it wasn't for the eidos buyout they'd be dead imo.
Rebellion, who make complete crap outside of the sniper elite games (which they've finally caught onto and have done nothing but sniper elite games since)
Insomniac. I guess latching onto big publishers keeps them afloat. But they're one of the most inconsistent developers atm imo.
Square enix, their self made games have been nothing but crap for a long time and they sell badly on top of that...if it wasn't for the eidos buyout they'd be dead imo.