Most hated video game companies?

[Prowler]

Well, one of the companies that developed games for LJN was Rare. Rare has made a lot of classics throughout history. Yet all of the games they made for LJN seem to be considered crappy. But when they made games for Nintendo they put out classics after classics. So there seems to be a denominator here.

LJN probably didn't give developers enough of a budget or time to make good games.

[Leo656]

Yeah, that's always a factor. Such as the case with E.T., infamous for being "terrible" but it's surprisingly not-that-terrible for a game that was slapped together in two weeks or so by primarily One Guy. It's impossible to know how it would have turned out if it had a proper development cycle.

The strict adherence to "ship date" is a consistent problem in the industry. I know budgets are a factor but in many cases it seems like companies are more interested in quarterly dividends and holiday windows than anything. And that never bodes well for the actual game itself. "It'll be out by Christmas" is usually a red flag. It's an indicator of misplaced priority.

[Prowler]

Many years ago I read a comment on an AVGN video where someone suggested James to make a "What we're you thinking?!" series where he interviews people who worked in some of the bad games he reviewed. But someone else replied "why? All of them will just say the same thing. They were under time and budget constraints."

The video game industry sounds stressful for developers. And if you put them under a time constraint nothing good will come out of it.

There are some good games that have managed to be good despite such setbacks, but you can still tell they were rushed in parts. Wind Waker is a big example.

[Nickokapo]

• Hi-Tech Expressions

• Capstone Software

• Titus Interactive

[oldmanwinters]

For me, HudsonSoft and Acclaim, because they got a license to publish console ports of arcade games and started to act like they made everything themselves or even tried to rip off the idea into their own IPs.

[Andrew NDB]

We haven't all agreed it's Electronic Arts yet? Because it's Electronic Arts.

[Nickokapo]

I've read that Acclaim's license for the simpsons for consoles was a possible reason why the simpsons arcade game was never ported to the Sega genesis or SNES =_=;
Oh, also...

• Edge Games

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edge_Games
For being sue-happy trademark trolls and following hi-tech expression, titus and capstone's tradition of releasing crappy licensed games, such as "Garfield: Big Fat Hairy Deal" and "Snoopy: The Cool Computer Game"

Originally Posted by Andrew NDB

We haven't all agreed it's Electronic Arts yet? Because it's Electronic Arts.

Yeah, for sure. Tho it seems Activision is competing for the title of most hated video game company pretty fiercely.

[serpentnight]

Originally Posted by Prowler

Hate is a strong word maybe but you get my point.

I personally can't stand EA. They acquired Maxis and murdered Sim City. And from what I understand, every company that gets bought by EA goes through pretty much the same process.

Oh and the FIFA series is just a brainless money making machine. PES from Konami was better than FIFA for a long time, and when FIFA overtook it it was because Konami dropped the ball and stopped making great PES games. Not because FIFA upped its game much. I played a bit of FIFA at display stands in stores some years ago... the game still plays the same as it did in 2005. What makes FIFA relevant still is the ultimate team mode.

The biggest game series for the world's most popular sport is an EA IP. Truly tragic.

What about you? Any gaming companies you hate or dislike? And why?

I liked Electronic Arts back in the day. EA Games, not so much.