Ben-DutkaNo, we're not going to finish that sentence. That's up to you. 🙂
But as this generation grows a little long in the tooth, it's a viable question: which developer, in your estimation, has most impressed you over the past five years or so?
Many will immediately mention Naughty Dog, as the Uncharted series is arguably the best of the generation. The level of quality in those titles (especially the last two) is absolutely undeniable, and often trumps any competition. And oh yeah, The Last Of Us … But they're not the only horse in this race; die-hard RPG fans might toss Bethesda's hat into the ring, as the likes of two Elder Scrolls titles ( Oblivion and Skyrim ), and a couple Fallout games make them a legitimate contender. They only seem to make Game of the Year nominees.
Then again, there's always the stable of Sony first-party studios that have delivered Killzone , Gran Turismo 5 , God of War , LittleBigPlanet and inFamous . There's a possible dark horse pick in Thatgamecompany, who is about to deliver their third title – Journey – after two excellent downloadable titles, Flow and Flower . Ubisoft maybe shouldn't be counted out, as Assassin's Creed is a multiple award-winning and multiple million-selling series, and it's hardly the only franchise under the French publisher's umbrella. Rayman , anyone?
But what about Rockstar? Grand Theft Auto IV and Red Dead Redemption alone put them in the running, but Max Payne 3 and GTAV are approaching rapidly. BioWare has Mass Effect and Dragon Age . Maybe all it took to convince you of superiority was a single title; i.e., Quantic Dream's Heavy Rain and Kojima Productions' Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots . Insomniac delivered three great Resistance titles and several entertaining Ratchet & Clank titles, and they've got a new project in the works, too ( Overstrike ). And we say Resistance was under-appreciated.
No, it's not an easy decision. But give it a try, anyway.