Coffee Talk #109: What Game Companies Do You Miss?

Are there any videogame companies that you miss? There are several ways to answer that question. When I asked myself this question yesterday (yes, I sometimes talk to myself), I thought of two companies — one that’s still around and one that’s been gone for years.

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Are there any videogame companies that you miss? When I asked myself this question yesterday (yes, I sometimes talk to myself), I thought of two companies — one that’s still around and one that’s been gone for years: Sega and Working Designs.

I miss what Sega used to be. The company rocked me with early Sonic games, Toejam & Earl, and so many others. I loved the end of the Saturn era with Burning Rangers, Panzer Dragoon Saga, and Shining Force III. The company was cutting-edge cool during the Dreamcast years with Jet Set Radio, Samba De Amigo, Seaman, Space Channel 5, and more. Sega was a creative powerhouse and these days it’s…a serviceable publisher.

As for defunct companies, I miss Working Designs. The company brought so many cool Japanese role-playing games to America. I loved that I got to play titles like Arc the Lad, Alundra, Dragon Force, and Lunar thanks to Working Designs. The company also served up the best “collector’s editions” in the world back in the day. The packaging and goodies were top-notch. They really made you feel like you were buying something special.

I better stop before I get all misty…. How about you guys and dolls? What are some of the game companies you miss?

Author: RPadTV

https://rpad.tv

78 thoughts on “Coffee Talk #109: What Game Companies Do You Miss?”

  3. I miss what Konami used to be. I remember great games on the NES like Jackal, the good Castlevanias, and Bayou Billy. At least they kept Metal Gear going strong.

  4. @ RROD

    I swear man your the only person that Ive met (well not really met lol) that knows Bayou Billy! That game was STUPID hard for me, I was like 4 or 5 maybe younger and could never get past the second stage, same go for the game Demon Head.

  6. @Big Blak

    I was young too when I played Bayou Billy but I was able to beat it. It just took time, there were no game saves back then.

  9. Definitely Sega and Rare.

    I also seemed to like square products more before they merged with Enix.

  10. @Raymond Padilla

    You wanted me to let you know when I got to the Labyrinth in God of War III, well I got there last night. Amazing, I've never seen a level done like that before. I'm still blown away by this game. Also, I checked my time and I'm 11 hours and 47 minutes into the game and haven't finished it yet. I've read a couple of reports saying that the game is only 8 hours. I don't see how anyone finished the game in 8 hours unless they did some sort of speed run on easy. But I did get stuck for about 30 minutes on one of the puzzles though.

  11. @big blak happy birthday! enjoy it man, cause when you hit 30, things begin to breakdown, your body doesn't want to recover as fast, its all downhill from there. that's why I am 29 and holding!

  14. @Big Blak

    Happy birthday man, it was just my fiance's yesterday. so between that and the green beer it was a long night, lol.

  15. @ bsukenyan

    I bet it was playa lol

    @ slickfats

    I cant believe my eyes man, whenever I bring up Bayou Billy people look at me like I have 5 heads.

  19. @Big Blak

    I see you live on the East coast. As you can see by my pic I live in the ATL. Where are you?

  21. lol @ Bad Dudes. That brings back memories…..

    @Slicky: I miss those old D&D licensed games that Black Isle worked on, some in partnership with Bioware. Not to mention the old Fallout games.

  22. @N8R

    Ha, I remember Karate Champ. Do you remember arguably the best boxing game ever, Ring Kings?

  24. @ RROD

    Im way up here in Boston, yes Boston and yes I love all my Boston teams lol

  25. @ Big Blak

    Just so you know, we all hate the Patriots. We were all hoping for Tom Brady to finally be honored with the cover of next year's Madden… but it's looking like it's going to Drew Brees (bad news for Smartguy… that on top of Kate from lost surviving the feral Claire attack, he might be looking at a bad year).

  26. @ N8R

    Unless your from here you hate the PATS, when was the last time your region won a title? (let the sports wars begin!)

  28. @RPAD

    Yes she is, a close friend of mine (we all grew up together) used to date her and now hes kicking himself in the ass.

  30. Like RROD said, I miss what Rare used to be. I know they still exist in name only and that the their last years were more of a decline than anything, but I still miss Rare at the peak of their game.

    @ Big Blak;

    Happy birthday, man. I'll be there in three months.

    @N8 & Mr. Padilla;

    Yeah, what's up with UNO? I'm just itching to kick somebody's ass at that game online. Name your date and time (EST or otherwise).

    -M

  31. @ Iceman

    Apparently, it's next Thursday… one week from today. Set your calendar, practice up, because there can't be dos, there can only be Uno.

  32. LOL don't know what just happend

    @RROD

    Karate Champ was fun and simple. Tried it about a year ago and only made it to second floor.

    I miss Pro Wresting on the NES, I always played as Amazon.

  34. @R-Pad

    I'm in on the UNO.

    The internets have failed me. I haven't found a single weapon guide for FFXIII. On the plus side, Amazon didn't fail me.

  35. i gotta go data east as well

    kid niki

    captain america and the avengers

    bad dudes

    heavy barrel

    karnov

    cobra command

    the real ghostbusters

    robocop

    simpsons pinball

    last action hero pinball

    tmnt pinball

    and to a lesser extent, williams

    joust

    robotron

    moon patrol

    centipede

    sinistar

    smash tv

    can someone bring back smash tv?

  37. @big 3lak

    How you like that ass whipping my Saints put on your Pats this year? Embarrassing.

    @slicky

    battletoads is so much better left in the past. I watched the youtube playthrough and cussed the whole time.

    Isn't Earthworm Jim supposed to come out on xbla and psn soon?

    I miss the days when the arcade was somewhat relevant. I had lots of fun playing Virtual On, T Mek, Pinball, and house of the dead.

  39. Oh, I forgot one. Rare. These guys crafted the masterpiece known as Goldeye and the also crafted great games like Perfect Dark, Banjo Kazooie, and Conker. Now they are just average. It’s like Microsoft sucked all of the creative juices out of these guys. No other developer had such a long fall from grace.

  41. THE ADVENTURES OF BAYOU BILLY!!! lol

    Today I turned the big 24, Im almost a quarter century old.

  42. @Big Blak

    Happy Bday dude. Yeah, you were too young to be able to end Bayou Billy. I was about 10 or 11.

  44. I think Splinter Cell will be my next purchase. I really enjoyed the demo on the hardest difficulty.

    Perfect Dark remaster looks and plays good as well. Tempting.

  45. Back in the day Capcom used to make some of the best platforming games out, especially the Disney games and Mega Man. Now it just seems like they are down to a few titles (SF, LP, DMC?,).

    @ RROD
    I always hoped Konami would do a new installment of Zombies Ate My Neighbors, Almost like a gag filled Left 4 dead. and I always wished for another installment of the Conker’s BFD as well. Oh well atleast we have perfect dark on xbla to look forward too. : /

  46. @RRODisHere Rare became mediocre before Microsoft bought it. The company lost too many key creators, like the guys that started Free Radical.

    I’m glad you liked Labyrinth. Mark Cerny wrote the design doc for that level. He rules!!!

  49. On topic I would have to agree with Rare. Maybe I am too young to really miss a lot of other companies out there, but I just don’t remember too many good companies or games from when I was younger that are no longer. Sega was not too big for me, I liked them and some of the work they did, but it wasn’t really that revolutionary for me, or memorable. I was more of a Nintendo person back then.

  51. I would have to say I miss old school Rare also:

    RC ProAM
    BattleToads
    Blast Corps. (why has there not been another?)
    Killer Instinct

  55. I’m gonna get a little more old school… Midway. Not because of MK or any of the awesome games they put out, but because of the countless scores of pinball machines I played growing up as a kid. I was down with pinball, and Midway did it best.

    @ Big Blak

    Happy Birthday dude.

  57. @ RROD

    I thought of Data East when I was talking about Midway. They too put out a bunch of pinball machines.

    They also out out arguably the first fighting game ever… Karate Champ.

  60. @ Big Blak

    I’m from Pittsburgh. I may live in Cali now, but my blood runs black and gold.

    So to answer your question, Football – 2009, Hockey – 2009, Baseball – 1979 (sigh). We don’t have a basketball team, but I do live close LA now and that might count the Lakers… but I’m more of a Clippers fan.

  61. @ N8R

    Thats right bro I forgot you told me that on xbl! The Terrible Towels, you got me on that, I can care less about hockey but I do follow it loosely.

  64. @big blak

    happy birthday, mine is in 2 days,

    and im sure you were a huge pats fan back in the pre 2001 steve grogan days

    6 years of excellence doesent make up for 40 years of mediocrity :)

    if it sounds like im bitter, i am

  65. Go Saints, err I mean Falcons! I love all the teams in the NFC South, except for the Panthers. I dont really know why, I just dont like them.

    Oh, yeah, the Pats suck!! so do the Giants! Brady is a has been, Eli is a never been. Redmond is where its at!

  66. Wow! I know I’m late to this party, but I had to go to court and then NCAA tourney has started. I miss taito. They brought us bubble bobble, operation wolf and elevator action. Oooh and space invaders!

  67. @tokz_21

    how is your bracket looking so far? Mine is gonna probably get looking pretty bad soon, but I’ve predicted some of the upsets so far.

  69. @N8R

    at face value…it sounds a bit queer.

    However I hope it was the one with the alligator and not you know who.

  70. @bsukenyan

    I'm not looking good. I was 10-6. I should've continued my hatred of Notre Dame that's one Elite 8 team down and Georgetown was a Sweet 16 I lost too. What about you?

  71. @Tokz

    My copy is a standard DVD. I chose it because I read that TDK wasn't noticeably different and the sound isn't very robust. Perhaps the bluray is the difference? IDK about TDK. (haha)

    @big 3lak

    If it is any consolation…it was the 3rd greatest game ever played in the Superdome.

    1. NFCCG Saints vs Vikes

    2. Dome reopening Saints vs Falcons (could easily be 1b)

    3. Saints vs Pats on MNF. Domination.

  72. @smartguy

    I bought the blu-ray for like $15 bucks, so i didn't mind. The only difference I see that the Imax scenes are in a different ratio to keep the Imax apect, like the scene where is on top of the Sears tower that filled up the whole Imax screen from top to bottom, straying from the 16:9 Widescreen format that it is normally filmed in. I'm with you about being IDK on TDK when it comes to dvd digital copy. hahaha.

  73. Kind of a rant and a question.

    Yesterday I was sorting through DVDs and blurays. I noticed that my copy of TDK advertised a digital copy with the disc. I put the disc in as instructed and input the code. It brought me to a screen for me to purchase it for $1.99. WTF? It never anywhere said I’d have to buy it, also it wouldn’t work on an apple product; specifically an Iphone.

    Are all of the digi copies with blurays and DVDs like this?

  74. @smartguy
    No, i have the blu-ray of TDK and was able to download it without a prompt to pay $1.99. I didn’t dowload it into my iphone but it’s on my pc and ipod.

  75. @ Smartguy

    It was a very nice ass whipping but I am one who believes in karma so we kicked ass and took names for a few years now its the reverse.

    @ thundercracker

    I was back then, the thing about Boston is even if the team sucks we still love em to death!

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