The most improved company this year

[Big Daddy Bling Bling]

I've got to give the nod to Midway. In the not so distant past, Midway and Acclaim were virtually indistinguishable qualitywise. Now one of them is bankrupt while the other is On Fire.

 

Shadow Hearts: Covenant stands out as the crown jewel of the lineup. It is the best RPG of the year on PS2, and may take that honor on all systems if KOTOR 2 doesn't deliver.

 

NBA Ballers is the top arcade b-ball game, and gives EA's cookie cutter NBA Street Vol. 2 a nice kick in the jaw.

 

I haven't played The Suffering or the new Mortal Kombat, but they're also supposed to be good, and Psi Ops was solid as well.

 

 

Definately a huge improvement for the same company that put out Spy Hunter 2 last year.

[rustyjaw]

Moved this to general since it covers more than one platform.

 

I'd put Codemasters on this list. From not having any Live games in 2003 (AFAIK), they put out two superb Live racing games this year, TOCA 2 and Colin McRae 5.

[Romier S]

I take it we are talking publishers here so that being the case I would also give the nod to Midway for many of the reasons listed above. I've just had a great time playing thier most recent games. Being that Midway for years was synonymous with crap, it's great to see them refocus and pull things together.

[Mark E]

Can't argue with Midway.

 

The release of MAT and MAT2 alone is something that shows somebody was listening.

 

I've been wanting some of those games on my home console for over a decade.