Game Companies That Deserve Your Attention

 Double Fine

Psychonauts, Brutal Legend, Costume Quest, Stacking, Middle Manager of Justice, Iron Brigade, The Cave

Tim Schafer is a video game genius, and his team at Double Fine have been making truly unique games. What I like about Mr. Schafer, is that unlike the other great gaming minds of our day, he never lost that boyhood love of adventure, and all of his games reflect it. Costume Quest being my favorite, is an rpg that takes place during Halloween, where the children really believe that they are what they are dressed as. Schafer came from LucasArts, and his success got him ship jumpers from Capcom, and The Grim Fandango team. Every game that his name attached to it immediately gets my attention, and Double Fine Adventure, his new point and click, is due to release any day now.

 Bioware

Shattered Steel, Jade empire, Mass Effect Series, Baldur's Gate series, Dragon Age series

Bioware was started by three med-students who took a little bit of programming in college. What I love about this company, and what should grab your attention is that they listen to their fans. In an industry with companies like Nintendo who couldn't give a shit less what we actually want, Bioware opened up their forums, read every single comment and criticism about Mass Effect, and fucking changed the game accordingly. Not to mention that when everyone freaked the fuck out at the sight of the shitty ending for ME3, they changed it. 

Firaxis

Sid Meier series, Civilization series, Civilization Revolution, Xcom: Enemy Unknown

Sid Meier is another one of those gaming geniuses that I mentioned when talking about Tim Schafer. Sid's team Firaxis has been around since 96, and have been crafting the greatest sim and strategy games for 17 years. Despite losing some of their better minds to the Spore project, Firaxis made Civilization Revolution for the 360, (my lady's favorite game) and the unbelievable, and in my opinion, greatest RTS ever made, Xcom: Enemy Unknown. There are some truly innovative things that come out of Firaxis every year, and it behooves you to pay attention to them.

Bethesda

Elder Scrolls series, Fallout series

Before Oblivion, I considered Japan to be the makers of great rpg's, not America. After I played Fallout 3, well, I have looked down at Japan snobbily ever since. Bethesda changed the way the sandbox rpg should play, and set a new standard for western rpg storytelling. Now, Im one of those weird guys who love Fallout more, but the Elder Scrolls series is the premiere sword and sorcery game out there. There isn't much I can say about Bethesda that you don't already know, but let us try one piece of random trivia, did you know that Bethesda actually made two drag racing games? I'll bet you didn't, and until five minutes ago, either did I.

Valve

Half-Life series, Portal series, Steam, Left 4 Dead series, Team Fortress, Counter Strike

Founded by Microsoft employees, Valve took a very crowded industry and forced its will upon gamers. They made their own distribution service, and made it successful with top tier games. Half-Life changed FPS, Counter Strike changed online FPS, Portal changed puzzle gaming, Left 4 Dead changed the zombie game genre. Every game they make has a huge impact on the industry, and Steam continues to be consistently rated higher than Playstation Network, Virtual Console and Xbox Live.

Rockstar

Grand Theft Auto series, Manhunt, State of Emergency, Bully, Red Dead Redemption, Max Payne series, L.A. Noire, Midnight Club, the Warriors

I love Rockstar Games because of their philosophy. They have, in numerous interviews, stated outright that they intentionally avoid making FPS games. They strive to be unique, they aim to be different. They also encourage controversy. Grand Theft Auto is by far, the most controversial gaming franchise ever, and to this day people still freak the fuck out about it's insane violence. Instead of going over the top with the shock value of it's brands, Rockstar instead put more of an emphasis on the storytelling, making you want to play Grand Theft Auto not because you want to piss off your dad, but because they are a blast to play. Also, L.A. Noire is the best mystery game that I have ever played, and thats saying something. 

CD Projekt RED

Witcher series, Cyberpunk 2077

CD Projekt is a Polish company based in Warsaw that translates video games into Polish, a huge undertaking and responsible for the continuing European gaming boom. After making buckets and buckets of money, they decided to start making games of their own, so they started CD Projekt RED and they made The Witcher. Then they made The Witcher 2, and got everyone's attention. This company is new and weird yes, but the fact that the Witcher 2 is so fucking good, makes this a very interesting and exciting company to watch. Now that they've got their confidence, they are going to start doing some projects other than The Witcher, and I can't wait to play them.