In the PC game listings, it would make more sense to list the developer, rather than the publisher, of titles. The quality of a game and the way it plays is far more affected by the developer. In the PC Game market, players know the developer more often than they do in other markets I think. Everyone knows Nintendo published Pokemon... but does everyone know who Game Freak is? However, while Doom 3 was published by Activision, everyone knows id is the developer behind the franchise.

Definitely for PC Games, and perhaps for console games, I think the developer should be listed right below the title, rather than the publisher.

Myrddin

This was the answer last time.

Thank you for the link mark, though I dispute the conclusion... for PC Games, I believe the publisher is identified with the title less than the developer. However, this could be because I'm essentially a 'hardcore' gamer, and I pay attention to who makes the games more than a casual gamer might.

In the game world, the developer has an intro cinematic as often as the publisher does. That would be equivalent to Directors or Producers getting an opening cinematic at the beginning of each movie, just like New Line or Dreamworks. The closest I've seen to a 'developer' cinematic in movies is Pixar and LucasArts. Most movies don't have that.

Also, developers move from one publisher to another kinda often, without a significant change in the quality of their games. Quick: Who published Half Life? It wasn't the same as Half Life 2. Heck, the publisher doesn't even rate an intro movie in Half Life 2. But everyoen who knows about Half Life knows about Valve.

Who published Doom? It wasn't the same as Doom 3. The developer for a particular set of IP and gameplay stays the same more often than the publisher stays the same.

And when that's NOT the case? Look at Civ 3... didn't do so well without the original developer. That developer left to make Alpha Centauri, a better game than Civ 3. But he returned to make Civ IV... and with it returned the quality of the series.

I don't think there's a way to determine if I'm right or wrong about people identifying games with developers more than publishers; not without some kind of survey/poll. And it's not really worth that kind of effort.

But I still think I'm right. ;-)

Myrddin