Techland

Founded in 1991 this Polish Video game developer started their time distributing software in Poland. They later branched off and by the late nineties they were selling outside of Poland. Now they have a focus on creating high-budget video games like the Call of Juarez. Their focusing on three platforms;

Top 10 Gaming Companies

Nintendo

Nintendo is known for the hard core gamers, its more for the laid back people or the ones being introduced to games. Some are people that are older and still play, like people are more  addicted to Mario, Zelda, even Bubble Bobble, ect. This company is well known a go to brand. I would consider Mario Galaxy a solid Mario game; stars shouldn’t talk to you just collect them. Then again it’s Mario

Spotlight on: Square Enix

Reviewer: David Lam

Company: Square Enix

Square Enix is a Japanese video game publishing company that is responsible for three very large franchises known as Final Fantasy, Dragon Quest, and Kingdom Hearts. Square Enix was formed by the merge of two companies known as Square co. and Enix Corporation.  The merger occurred in 2003 and since then we have seen differences in their games. They are well known for finding franchises based on popular characters and media. Enix was responsible for the publishing of Fullmetal Alchemist (manga series) and because of this they made a lot of money by creating an anime show based on the manga. The Dragon Quest franchise is considered third most popular game after Pokemon and Mario.

                Their most recent franchise being Kingdom Hearts is very popular while their older franchise Final Fantasy (which has been worked on for 20 years) still continues to show a high amount of popularity. Other media that the company dived into was online gaming and the MMO experience seen in one of their pretty recent Final Fantasy games. This company has benefited from the merger and they have even gone into the filming industry which stars one of the most popular final fantasy games. The company is large and so are the various franchises that they continue to work on. It is simply amazing as to how they keep coming up with new idea while reusing the same old concept. Simply put Square Enix is a very large, well known, and popular company.

Spotlight on: Orisinal

Author: Amy Pistone

Company: Orisinal

  

Orisinal is an under-appreciated indie website by Ferry Halim that offers free online games. The difference between these games and the generic versions of Tetris and pinball is innovation. Orisinal prides itself on having unique games with new concepts that will not bore the player. A personal favorite of mine is Winter Bells, a snow-themed game in which a bunny must hop from bell to bell to score points within one continuous drag of the mouse. Other games include A Daily Cup of Tea, in which a team of mice must dart through shelves of falling objects to obtain sugar cubes, and Starry Night where the player must bounce a star on bubbles, making sure they do not pop. Orisinal currently has 58 completely unique games, and all are entertaining and addicting.  Phenomenal graphics are utilized within each game to capture the player’s

attention, or maybe just to look pretty. Backdrops are realistic and characters are animated in a way that gives them charisma without the use of a storyline. Overall, Orisinal is a quirky company with strong game design, so next time you get board, step away from the Tetris and try one of their games, you will not be disappointed.

Spotlight on: Irrational Games

Author: Dan McDonough

Company:Irrational Games

Irrational games is a video game developer based out of Quincy, Ma. Take Two Interactive is its parent company, and this branch is also known as 2K Boston. It was founded in 1997 by Ken Levine, Jonathan Chey, and Robert Fermier, three former Looking Glass employees. Irrational was purchased by Take-Two on January 9, 2006. They have developed several critically acclaimed games including System Shock 2, Swat 4, and the Bioshock Series. They have also developed Tribes: Vengence, and Freedom Force. Irrational is currently working on Bioshock Infinite which is set to come out in 2011. 

Official Website: http://irrationalgames.com/

Spotlight on: Ubisoft

Author: David Lam

Company: Ubisoft

                Founded in 1986, Ubisoft is a video game producing, developing, and publishing company. It is in France and is best known for their most successful game Assassin’s Creed II. The Assassin’s Creed series is probably one of the most successful series of story driven games of today.  It is the third largest independent videogame publisher in Europe and fourth in the USA. Yves Guillemot is the CEO of the company and the company had a revenue of 508 million in Euros from 2003-2004. With the release of the Assassin’s Creed series this revenue has gone up exponentially.  The series contributed to the revenue positively and their revenue in 2008-2009 reached 1 billion Euros. There were five Guillemot brothers involved in the founding of the company. Yves made deals in order to have their games distributed. Ubisoft became a public trade company in 1996 and opened offices throughout the globe.  It is known as the fourth largest video game company in the world and has begun hiring thousands of new employees recently. They have made many famous games and their best works are Assassin’s Creed 1, 2, and the third Bortherhood. Other well known games include Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six and Splinter Cell. Rayman is one of their classic games along with Prince of Persia. They publish many games and the third Assassin’s Creed is being highly anticipated. The game is being revered as the best of the series. It features a sandbox game style combined with a well developed story line. You, as the main character, must use stealth in order to kill and investigate. The game ties very well with the culture in Europe since parkour is such a well known hobby in Europe. The main character must use parkour as means of transportation in the game and that has appealed to many Europeans especially the French since parkour originated in France. All in all Ubisoft is a more modern company known for publishing good games.