Your favourite current publisher.

[Defeated Detective]

Atlus, Valve, and CDProjekt Red.

Might add in Ubi if FC3 Red Dragon ends up being good i they end their DRM practices all together.

 

[Joccaren]

There is nothing in that post that made any sense. You claim that only 10% of fans will buy the WiiU, based on absolutely nothing. You're also assuming the absurd notion that people won't buy the WiiU because of this game. Sure has me interested. Have you asked fans of the game if this drew their attention to the WiiU? Or are you assuming that they all share your irrational hatred for Nintendo?

Also, if you have problems with Nintendo, I wonder how you feel about Microsoft and Sony. Neither of them seemed to think getting this game was crucial. Only Nintendo was interested, it seems. So you're angry about Nintendo wanting YOU to get the chance to play an upgraded version of a game you loved.

Is it cold down there in the curb?

/me checks previous posts to see if it is person who posted in support of companies forcing consumers to buy a variety of consoles and waste their money.
Yep, it is.

You seem to be missing a key component of context for these sorts of things every time, and just make up for it by claiming others hate the company.
This key bit of context is as follows;
We are consumers, and we don't want to spend $500 when we don't have to.

It has nothing to do with hating Nintendo. I love Nintendo. I have no interest in the WiiU because I have a PC, and getting a WiiU would be a waste of money when I already have a gaming platform - and I've got better things to waste my money on than something I'll use for one month at best then never touch again. What it has to do with is selling out your customers to some company to help them move maybe 1000 more units of their console. That's a dick move to the consumer.
I don't care that Nintendo paid for it, or that MS and Sony didn't bother, I care that the publisher - the companies we're talking about ATM - of Deus Ex decided to NOT release the upgraded version of their game for all platforms. No, you couldn't get it for free if you already owned the game like what CD-Projekt do, no, you couldn't pay another $5-$10 and get the content, you've got to buy the game again, AND buy a WiiU too! How wonderous this is for the consumer.

It's those sorts of practices that are bullshit. They exist to harm consumers, so its rather understandable that consumers don't like them.

OT: Toss up between CD-Projekt and 2K.
CD-Projekt are just amazing in how they treat their fanbase. No DRM. Free content upgrades. Amazing games. Everything I've seen them do [Debatably apart from the suing stuff, but that's more neutral IMO] has been in the consumer's best interests. That's what I like in a company.
2K just publish amazing games. Yeah the original Bioshock and its Sequel had some shitty DRM, and Infinite is tied to Steam, but the games are amazing. Then there's the Civilization series. Amazing games. Sure updating Civ IV was a pain, and I haven't agreed with everything they've done, but they're awesome and amazing IMO.

 

[Doom972]

It's a dick move because as a good business, and not a crappy one, I expect them to deliver the best experience that they can provide with the resources available to them (while still remaining profitable of course). If they would've said that they couldn't, I would say fair enough - but here they fixed the things they learned about through fan feedback, only to provide this improved experience to new customers, while telling basically telling new consumers to get a a new console and a new copy of the game to enjoy it the way it was meant. That's a dick move.

"While still remaining profitable"?

Has it occurred to you, that in order for these changes to be profitable that they may required both:
A - exclusivity bonuses via Nintendo
B - re-selling the game

And lacking BOTH of those conditions the changes would not have been made at all? Because to do so would have been unprofitable? This isn't a patch of the game. It's a new edition with new content such as updated graphics, re-worked AI and sequences, etcetera. This stuff costs money.

Yes, it has occurred to me. In this case, they should have just done nothing and put their focus into something else instead of screwing over their game's fanbase. It's bullshit though - we've seen other developers doing so in the past and they still seem to be doing great. The best example that comes to mind is The Witcher 2: Enhanced Edition - Which is a very similar case, only that the improvements were added to existing PC version owners instead of just the X-box 360 port - for free. I guess it is profitable.

 

[Baron_Rouge]

Probably 2K. I've recently fallen in love again with Bioshock 1 & 2, and I'm really looking forward to Infinite when my holidays start. Additionally, they've put out Civ 5, XCOM: Enemy Unknown, and Spec Ops: The Line. They even Published Borderlands & its sequel, which are great fun! A pretty awesome publisher overall.

My second choice would have to go to Square Enix. An unpopular opinion, I suspect, but I really loved Tomb Raider and Sleeping Dogs, and Deus Ex: HR, FF XIII-2, and Dungeon Siege 3 were a lot of fun too.

 

[digital_critic]

It's a toss up between Mojang AB, Bethesda, Valve, and People Can Fly. Mojang AB for Minecraft(Had it since beta 1.4), Bethesda for The Elder Scrolls series and the recent Fallout games, Valve for Team Fortress 2 and CSS/CS:GO, and People Can Fly for Painkiller, and, to a lesser extent, Bulletstorm.

 

[Another]

2K, CD Project Red, Atlas, and Square Enix. As far as I'm concerned these companies have been making pretty good examples of themselves. Welllllll, maybe not Square's internal development branch, but you can't win them all

 

[KarlMonster]

Valve, because Valve.
Also because they technically publish everything on Steam. So yeah.

Steam is a platform for delivering digital content, and doesn't so much displace/replace other publishers as give developers a direct line to a market/existing consumer base. And Valve has grown more and more developer friendly of late. So definitely yes, thank Gabe for Valve.

Also on my A list are 2K Australia, Ubisoft Montreal for FC2 and FC3,

Paradox not just for a host of good strategy games, but for allowing/encouraging modders in the Paradox forums. You really can't take that for granted these days. Bonus points for the Europa Universalis III "Raaaaage!!!" thread. It's made of internet memes but it smells like win.

Bethesda gets points for feeding iD Games and the Fallout/Elder Scrolls franchises; but points off for Quake 4, Rage, and Brink. Yeah, yeah, these each had a reason for being, but could have been better with relatively little effort, and in Brink's case someone needed to say that it doesn't matter what exclusive clothes the Emperor is wearing, he's still walking behind a manure spreader. Runner up.

Kalypso would rate higher if they had slapped Haemimont around until they made Omerta a better game. I'd gripe about DLC, but many of the Tropico add-ons are reasonably good. Honorable mention.

 

[CityofTreez]

2K/Take Two.

Bioshock, Civ, Red Dead, Max Payne....not bad at all.

 

[Killclaw Kilrathi]

Um, does GOG.com count? Or would they be a distributor?

Really, I'm not that fond of any of the major publishers. But I suppose 2K has some of the more interesting titles for me.

 

[Fluffythepoo]

Blizzard.. they simply refuse to not make good games.

 

[triggrhappy94]

Bethy for the win.
I think they've been good to stay out of the news, and their games tend to be fun.

 

[ronald1840]

Atlus USA

Persona 4 Golden, SMT4, and Soul Hackers all coming out this year. I also just completed Catherine and they published a lot of my favorite games, like Radiant Historia, and the Devil Survivor series.

 

[Kikyoo]

Capcom is my favorite publisher. They are one of the few companies that acually make games that I want to buy. It's just a shame that Capcom hates everyone. So while they are my favorite, I have to curse them every time they come out with something new, because they hate you, me, everybody.

It's sad to say but I overlook a lot of the crap they try to pull, because I love Monster Hunter. I loved dragon's Dogma. I loved the DMC series before it got taken over by someone else. I loved Megaman. I can't say i'm ever as excited to hear about new releases from any other company as i am for Capcom, it just sucks that they treat me like garbage for it, and keep retiring series that i love, or killing them off. I will never forgive them for killing Breath of Fire.

 

[BearShark]

Valve, as they came out with Portal, Half Life, Team Fortress 2, created Steam, gave us the tools to make things, and genuinely seem to care about their customers.