Heavy Hitter Developers for PS1 (Konami, Capcom, Square)

[Rydon]

While replaying Parasite Eve I was thinking about how much of a colossal impact PS1 games had on my video gaming, and I am sure on many others. I also thought on some of the heavy hitters during this generation. Konami and Capcom of course had been around for a while at this point and were hugely sucessful, and Square had too, but hadn't enjoyed the huge success they would within the PS1 era.
Going through the US release list of the companies is pretty dang impressive and really highlights quality work by the developers at those companies:

Capcom:
Mega Man 8
Mega Man Legends Series
Mega Man X series
Resident Evil Series
Strider 2

Konami:
Castlevania Symphony of the Night
Silent Hill
Metal Gear Solid
Suikoden series
Contra series
Gradius

Square Soft:
Final Fantasy Series
Parasite Eve Series
Einhander
Xenogears
Brave Fencer Musashi
Chrono Cross
Vagrant Story


It is pretty wild to think back on these titles, some set huge waves in the industry, and to think of our current gaming climate. Where these companies don't really develop much anymore, publish mostly, and the games they do develop are sequels that take a decade to create. For example Capcom developed two games for the PS4 generation (that released in the US), Resident Evil 7 and Devil May Cry 5. Both great games, but nothing really new or trend setting.

But I digress, why don't we look back on the great retro days of the PS1 and discuss some of these (and other) great titles from these fantastic developers.

From my Parasite Eve playing I have this to say. The game is pretty cool to go back and play. Neat (if not non-nonsensical) story of rampant mitochondria randomly reeking havoc in NYC, that randomly sets people on fire, and mutates animals into horrific creatures. It is clear that Square was looking toward Resident Evil when they were developing this, but they put that 90's PS1 SquareSoft flair into it: beautiful CGI FMVs, turn based ATB gun battling, experience leveling, stat tuning, etc. Pretty neat little game.

I need to get Parasite Eve 2 and try it out. I believe it is a lot different, much more action oriented, which would be neat to see the progression they made. I have played 3rd birthday but haven't gotten very far.

EDIT: Capcom also developed Monster Hunter World, so three games.

[racketboy]

They definitely received the lion's share of solid third-party support in that era.

A lot of those were heavily supporting Nintendo (and to a lesser extent, Sega) prior, but seemed to really see the strengths of the Playstation platform from a developer standpoint.

[marurun]

Konami does very little outside of gambling machines these days, but Capcom is still in it. They had a massive hit in the form of Monster Hunter World, for example, during the PS4 era. But beyond that, a decent portion of the PS1 era output of Konami and Capcom also was on the Saturn.

[Rydon]

They definitely received the lion's share of solid third-party support in that era.

A lot of those were heavily supporting Nintendo (and to a lesser extent, Sega) prior, but seemed to really see the strengths of the Playstation platform from a developer standpoint.

Yeah, I know Nintendo had really bad 3rd party practices going into the N64,PS1 era with carts having to be purchased through Nintendo, but the developer/publisher was responsible for sales/marketing, etc. So, if you misjudged how many carts you would sell, Nintendo would still have a profit and the publisher was left holding the debt/cost.

I also remembering hearing that SquareSoft was just fed up with Nintendo and was partially responsible with coaxing other developers over to the PS1. Which Nintendo held a big grudge against them due to that.

[Rydon]

Konami does very little outside of gambling machines these days, but Capcom is still in it. They had a massive hit in the form of Monster Hunter World, for example, during the PS4 era. But beyond that, a decent portion of the PS1 era output of Konami and Capcom also was on the Saturn.

Ah man, I missed that one. Last time I looked at Capcom only developed games there were only two, RE and DMC. Still Monster Hunter World is still part of the Monster Hunter series and another sequel. Not the worst thing, but I miss the days of them taking chances like RE1, Dead Rising, MMLegends, etc.

[Limewater]

A lot of those were heavily supporting Nintendo (and to a lesser extent, Sega) prior, but seemed to really see the strengths of the Playstation platform from a developer standpoint.

Do you really think development factors were a big deal, versus financial factors?

I don't really know the details, but Sony was new to the home console market and had deep pockets. They likely offered third-party developers more favorable terms than Nintendo. Once it became clear that PlayStation was going to "win" that generation that is an even bigger factor for third-party support.
Up through 2012, at least, which was last time I checked, I'm pretty sure SCEA lost money more years than they turned a profit. I don't think I checked for Sony's computer entertainment divisions in other countries.

Or maybe financial issues are what you mean. I am taking that term from a technical standpoint.

[racketboy]

I'm sure there were more factors, financial being one of them, but it wasn't a secret that a lot of developers weren't a fan of learning how to properly harness the Saturn's full hardware capabilities (and lesser 3D capabilities in some respects).

And, later on, once it was more apparent that the Saturn wasn't doing well in the retail market, that gave more incentive to prefer the Playstation.
Also, once the N64 was around, many preferred the CD format vs cartridges -- especially for Squaresoft...

[Ziggy]

A lot of those were heavily supporting Nintendo (and to a lesser extent, Sega) prior, but seemed to really see the strengths of the Playstation platform from a developer standpoint.

Yeah, I was gonna say, Capcom and Konami were heavy hitters for the NES, SNES and Genesis as well. For those three consoles, if you wanted to know what good games were outside of the first party ones, just look at Capcom and Konami. And Squaresoft on the SNES (and NES to a lesser extent).

[marurun]

The other thing hurting Capcom, at least, was that they had a lot of trouble rising to the task of producing high-budget titles and making back their investment during the PS3 era. So they went into the PS4 generation having to pick their battles. Lower-cost DS and 3DS titles really sustained them.

[Rydon]

A lot of those were heavily supporting Nintendo (and to a lesser extent, Sega) prior, but seemed to really see the strengths of the Playstation platform from a developer standpoint.

Yeah, I was gonna say, Capcom and Konami were heavy hitters for the NES, SNES and Genesis as well. For those three consoles, if you wanted to know what good games were outside of the first party ones, just look at Capcom and Konami. And Squaresoft on the SNES (and NES to a lesser extent).

I am not denying that, more just want to focus on PS1 era. We had a lot of console game series that were trying to transition to 3D, new tech that was being taken advantage of (CDs!), etc. and I find it interesting to think about that era with PS1. There were the other consoles, but going back and playing PS1 games kinda shows what a power house Sony was back then. Not saying those developers were not hitting high on other consoles, but it is cool to look at the new franchises created, and the existing ones that were morphed to 3d, etc.