TNL's Favorite Publishers

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Originally Posted by MarkRyan

I plead ignorance on Montpelier--I haven't played Rayman 2 or Beyond Good and Evil. Both games turn me off with their art style so I never attempted to play them.

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You're really missing out.

BG&E was incredible.

I take it I should play Dreamcast Rayman 2 if I play any version. I remember some praise for it. Or is the PC version any better?

Rayman 2 was the first game to out-Mario 64 Mario 64, and BG&E was the first to out-Zelda Zelda. Very, very playable games.

The art style is very, very European, but I like it. Probably helps to have some affection for Amiga-era computer games.

And hell, I love Relentless and that has the worst art style ever.

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Originally Posted by Tain

I take it I should play Dreamcast Rayman 2 if I play any version. I remember some praise for it. Or is the PC version any better?

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DC Rayman is definitely the best of the ones I played. I don't recall there being any complaints with the PC one, though. PC BG&E is jacked though (no controller support).

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Originally Posted by Melf

Couldn't we say the same thing about Sony, Sega, and a half dozen others? MS has some decent teams who've put out some great games since 2001, but I don't think it puts it in the same league as Capcom, Konami, and others because of the short time it's been publishing console games (I don't know what games MS publishes on PC, so I'm not factoring that in).

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If we're talking Xbox-only, Microsoft has Rare and not much else. They don't own the developers of Halo, Project Gotham, Gears of War, etc. At least Frog understood what I meant.

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Originally Posted by Opaque

The hardware I'm sure, but has MS really lost money on the overall project? Including software and Live spanning both consoles?

Seriously, I have no idea.

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I believe they are still in the red overall. I haven't read anything to the contrary.

Meh, I doubt they are in the red, they make be making it look that way. Creative accounting FTW

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Originally Posted by Frogacuda

Not even for Ubi Montpellier? Beyond Good and Evil is so good. Ubi Shanghai can die, and Montreal is hit or miss, but I love their Montpellier studio.

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I think Shanghai is getting better. Splinter Cell: Double Agent had some absolutely fantastic levels in the JBA HQ. Those levels are the first time I have seen a game go beyond simple stealth to something more closely resembling what a real spy would do - blend in but acquire documents and other information whenever possible. The level set in Shanghai (heh) was also pretty spectacular. Scrambling from shadow to shadow in between fireworks was amazing.

As for Ubisoft Montreal, I really don't understand how anyone could hate Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time. That was the single best game I played last generation. I can admit that the rest of their games aren't for everyone.

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Originally Posted by Frogacuda

DC Rayman is definitely the best of the ones I played. I don't recall there being any complaints with the PC one, though.

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PC Rayman 2 has a draw-in issue with the Lums. It's a real pain to track them all down when you can't see them until you're really close. It's sort of like how Mario 64's coins popped in, only a little more annoying. The Dreamcast version is definitely the best.

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Originally Posted by Frogacuda

There's a rumor floating around that Frederick Raynal (designer of Relentless and Alone in the Dark) is working with Ancel on a Beyond Good and Evil game, and if that's true it will be the greatest thing to ever happen to the human race.

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Do you have a source for this rumour? That sounds absolutely incredible... plus I'd like a reason to bump my pipe-dream BG&E2 thread.

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Originally Posted by Bailey

Meh, I doubt they are in the red, they make be making it look that way. Creative accounting FTW

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Red Ring of Death says hello, they're in the red

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Originally Posted by bVork

IAs for Ubisoft Montreal, I really don't understand how anyone could hate Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time.

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Indeed. I think it's one of the few 3d sequels to a old 2d franchises that manages to surpass the old games. Also, does Ubi own Gameloft, the other Montreal studio that did Prince of Persia Classic on XBLA? That was really well made, too.

And, MarkRyan should give BG&E and Rayman 2 a try. Even if he doesn't like the art, these games can carry themselves on design.

BG&E is a hell of a game. I don't like euro designs much, but it didn't bother me at with this game.