Just thought I'd ask what you think about your history with all the mega-publishers over the years.
To get the ball rolling:
Activision (or as I like to call it, "Das Viert Reich"): Thankfully, in my entire history of gaming, I've only bought four games from the company, three of which I can say were I was proud to own (Heavy Gear 2, Hexen 2, Vampire-The Masquerade: Bloodlines), the fourth was an FPS with a modern setting that was released in November of '07 that I purchased for the full 60 dollars in a lapse of judgement, and left at a friend's house and never bothered to try and get it back (no prizes if you can guess what it was). I'm proud to say that I've only had the briefest of flings with their rhythm games, and at this point with a new one coming out every two weeks, they're starting to hurt my brain.
EA: I'll submit, with this company's sordid history, I have little excuse for buying games from them for as long as I have (Admittedly, I did suffer from an addiction to Allied Assault, but I was particuarly partial to Command and Conquer and Battlefield). Thankfully, they've (mostly) reformed their image with Dead Space and Mirror's Edge (a game, despite it's faults, I absolutely adore).
Ubisoft (particularly from the Montreal studio): I'll admit, as a bit of a francophile, Ubisoft in my mind is the model game publisher. They have for the most part released games of relatively consistently good quality and they don't have a habit of running their franchises into the ground as unabashedly as EA and Activision. Also, since the French are ostensibly communists, their games do have a keen attention to aethetics that stands out amongst other western developers and publishers.
THQ: Until Starcraft II comes out, this is the company where I get my RTS fix (Supreme Commander, Company of Heroes, Dawn of War, and hopefully within the next few years, Homeworld 3). Also helps that they had the first S.T.A.L.K.E.R. in their line-up.
1C: Like Dave, I do have a fondness for games from the Eastern Bloc. Sure they might be technically dodgy and the localization jobs might occasionally give the Japanese a run for their money, but their games just ooze with ambition and potential.
Activision, got to say they are fucking up but they brought me the MWs and the good Tony Hawk games. Never really went to them for anything else except maybe some ports like Jedi Knight 2. But they have been fucking up and I cant see anything but going down hill. The way they have over exposed the Guitar Hero franchise and the genre as a whole is retarded and so is the release of Tony Hawk Ride.
EA: They release something good every year that i need to get but usually hate them. Getting the exclusive NFL license was a bitch move. The NBA and Madden games have never been good for me. Battlefield 2 was probably the highlight of my time with EA. Other than that, they have given me rehashes or done horrible business decisions.
Ubisoft. As much as i dont like french stuff, the Tom Clancy games have been fun and while I got burned by Assassin's creed, they make some good games. Dont have a grudge against them but dont really fall over for their games.
Take 2: 2k games? Well GTA and the 2k sports games have been awesome. They put out Oblivion and Fallout 3. Cant really complain about them.
THQ. Havent made a good game for me since WWF No Mercy. Unless they stop making these crappy wrestling games, I will not go back.
" I don't have a relationship with any particular publisher. If they make good games, I buy them. "
Exactly.
Just stay away from the uninspired junk that the money grabbers make. Saying stuff like this aloud makes you sound (not you specifically) like an elitist. I hear people still saying Ubi and EA suck and are just money hungry. It's like movies dude. Support what you want and hope that the rest of America stops being dumb.
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