Most underrated game company?

Simple; what developers/publishers do you think deserve more credit than they recieve? My picks:

Electronic Arts: It sadens me to say so, but as much as I used to (and still do to an extent) hate EA, they own/publish some of the best games bar none, and this year especially have really improved a ton. Franchises like Westwood's Command & Conquers and Maxis' Sims games, the Medal of Honor series, NFS: Hot Pursuit 2, LotR: Two Towers etc are all top notch stuff, and they practically own the PC industry aside from Westwood and Maxis stuff, with games like Black & White, the Sid Meier games, the Total War series, Clive Barker's Undying, American McGee's Alice, the Ultima series, Freedom Force, Battlefield 1942, Dungeon Keeper, etc etc.

Eidos: They get a lot of flack for the whole Tomb Raider thing, and yes, they have produced plenty of garbage, but lately they've been picking up in quality quite a bit, with stuff like Deus Ex, the Soul Reaver/Blood Omen games, Anachronox, Theif 2, the Fresh Games label, TimeSplitters 2, and recently the excellent (imo) Hitman 2.

Take Two: Now of course, Take Two couldn't develope a game internally if they wanted (literally), but as a publisher, they're practically the mature, M-rated Sega. With franchises like Grand Theft Auto, Max Payne, Duke Nukem, Mafia, Serious Sam, etc. Not to mention great lighter stuff like Tropico. Hell, they even published Typing of the Dead for PC.

Well, considering that 95% of ALL PC games being published are from EA......it's kind of hard not to have a couple of good games in their lineup....

True. But hey, you didn't answer the question! ;)

Shiny: I've yet to play one of their (console) games that I didn't like.

Gaelco: No one even knows they exist, even though they've made some of the best arcade games on the planet.

Midway: This company has a such a rich history, yet people only choose to focus on their negative aspects. I'm looking at you, 787.

Hey c'mon, I'm highly looking forward to MK:DA :)

... Midway blows ass... i don't care about Classics, Midway sucks today

... and i'd say Shiny is definately underrated. MDK and Sacrifice are two of the greatest games ever made

Masaya: not too many people talk about them, but they had Langrisser series and that was some of the best strategy gaming around :)

Andy: I feel no pity for any company being "underrated" that consistently tops the sales charts like these guys. Poor underappreciated rich fucking bastards. Cry about it.

I'm going with tri-Ace. They get overshadowed by Squaresoft, but they make the best RPGs around, IMO. Valkyrie Profile was genius.

Quote:

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Originally posted by Frogacuda
I'm going with tri-Ace. They get overshadowed by Squaresoft, but they make the best RPGs around, IMO. Valkyrie Profile was genius.

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Didn't they also do the Star Ocean series, that was also great IMO :)

Masaya: Wings of Wor and other shooters they've developed such as Gley Lancer & Cybernator aren't bad either. Wings of Wor pushes the limits of its 4 Meg Genesis cart with its well-detailed enemies & backgrounds, great BGM, and insane wavering effects (that may be part of the reason for the ad's "Avoid eating before playing this game" joke).