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Naughty Dog Vs. Insomniac Games, who is the premier Sony developer?

Who is the boss?

  • Naughty Dog, obviously

    Votes: 212 34.4%
  • Obviously Insomniac Games

    Votes: 241 39.1%
  • I lean Naughty Dog, slightly

    Votes: 92 14.9%
  • Insomniac Games by an inch

    Votes: 72 11.7%

  • Total voters
    617
Naughty Dog by a country mile.

They obsess over small details that are easy to miss in their games. It just goes to show how well crafted a ND game world is.

Last of Us 2 amazing small details:
1. Blood will soak through bandages over time
2. Your torch casts the color it's pointed at around you
3. There are amazing snow physics
4. Clicker breath shows in the cold, and characters have 'heartbeats' to govern breath sounds
5. Ellie squints when you zoom in (I believe she also does this when you shine a light in her face)
6. Safes make a different click when you hit the right number
7. Ellie actually puts the things she finds in her bag
8. Trap mine explosions plaster people chunks to the ceiling and the bits fall down
9. Notes are wet if you read them in water
11. When you strip a gun at a workbench you have to reload the chambered bullet

There are many more
 
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TLZ

Banned
According to that list, insomniac by a HUGE mile. Great looking games and great fun gameplay.
 

Kilau

Gold Member
I personally feel ND didn’t make a good game until Uncharted and a great game until Uncharted 2.

Crash games were just okay but I found the Jak series to be ugly and awful.

Insomniac has been much more consistent for me, maybe ND just has higher highs and lower lows.
 
I'm gonna go with neither. Despite not being my pick (which would be Insomniac), by pretty much every metric available the premier Sony developer is Santa Monica.
 

leo-j

Member
Uncharted and the last of us changed the gaming landscape. The new Spider-Man was a master piece of a release, which no one thought would be able to top ps2 Spider-Man 2.
 
Naughty Dog imo kinda fell off during PS4, super high production values but I wasn’t blown away by Uncharted 4 or Last of us 2 in any way except graphics - their PS3 output is definitely the best they’ve done but those are also some of the best games ever - they are still above insomniac in most ways that is a no brainer. Sony Santa Monica has been better than both tho imo
 
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Insomniac actually makes good games... Naughty dog used to make OK games up until the PS3 released and then became wannabe hollywood directors.

Spyro > Crash (BY A FUCKING MILE)
Ratchet > Jak (also by a large margine)
Resistance, Sunset Overdrive, Spider-Man > anything Naughty Crap did since Jak
Oooh Look people we've got a hipster in here.
 
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Represent.

Represent(ative) of bad opinions
Resistance is fucking awesome.
lmao
Insomniac makes games that are simply fun to play. ND enjoys sniffing their own farts.
"fun".... Any dev can make a "fun" game. Are you 6? Why is "fun" the only standard?

Naughty Dog games move the entire medium forward, and raise the motherfucking bar for AAA gaming EVERY time. They are constantly raising the bar.

"fun".... smh :messenger_poop:
 
Profit wise- Naughtydog
Awards wise- NaughtyD
Influence wise- naughty
graphics wise- naughty
gameplay wise- insomniac
best ip- naughty
spyro or crash- naughty
less likely to trigger neosofts- insomniac
automatic buy games- naughty

Insomniac has a bad track record without sony. They have made alot of horrible games. Not even all Ratchet games are really that good. The most recent remake isnt even better than the original. The random uncredited environment art designer that wrote the orginal was funnier than T.J. Fixman, Kevin Munroe, and Gerry Swallow. Their biggest success came from a licensed ip. How you pick insomniac idk.

Now if they made Ratchet open world...
 

Arun1910

Member
Depends what you mean.

Insomniac have better game diversity and make some really good/fun games, but the Naughty Dog team has absolutely insane talent when it comes to pretty much everything.

Say what you want about ND games from story standpoints but you can't fault their animation/art departments or attention to detail.
 

ZywyPL

Banned
Graphics/tech-wise ND are Sony's no. 1 (followed closely by GG), but gameplay-wise IG shits on all Sony's studios combined, and that's my pick.
 

DenchDeckard

Moderated wildly
It’s easily insomniac. They consistently deliver great looking and performing games with excellent playability that feel a joy to pick up and play.

naughty dog are brilliant but I one and done their games and maybe have a play through at a later date in the case of last of us.

uncharted 2 was incredible and I played that a few times but I don’t think they’ve nailed that magic since.
 

Neo_game

Member
I voted for second option. ND are having good track record but also overrated IMHO. SSM, GG, SP are not bad either. So I think all good studio are right up there talent wise, irrespective of ratings or their fanbase
 
I’ve enjoyed one of the last five ND games and four of the last five Insomniac games (will surely be 5/5 by June) so definitely Insomniac for me.
 

SoraNoKuni

Member
I voted for insomniac for the way they treated Spidey, it got so many qol updates and improvements post launch.

TLOUS2 hasn't even gotten a PS5 patch while it's considered the holy grail of Sony.

I literally have the game and I am waiting for a patch
 

GymWolf

Gold Member
Santa monica, arguably gow is the best sony games from last gen and probably still better than ratchet and morales.

Also ND and insomniac do different things, it is hard to choose a winner.
 

killatopak

Gold Member
I like Ratchet more than any other IPs in the comparison list.

Imma have to go with Insomniac for pure childhood nostalgia.
 

STARSBarry

Gold Member
Its literally a question of gameplay over graphics and looking at the poll it seems people are all in favour of graphics..

Naughty Dog got less and less gameplay focused as they evolved as a company, Insomniac never forgot to make there gameplay take front and centre, making a game slowly turn into a movie works wonders for the casual audience too.
 
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Shubh_C63

Member
I would say in terms of importance,

Naughty dog is slightly declining
while Insomnia is steeply rising

ND needs a new IP fast with a new formula. Currently ND is king for Sony.
 

Isak

Neo Member
Insomniac have always excelled at fun gameplay and at that quirky brand of humor that has become so characteristic of them at this point, some things that personally speaks to me the most. ND have also been great especially in terms of technical detail and storytelling. But Insomniac games were a highlight of my childhood, so for that reason alone Ima go with em here.
 

Ozzie666

Member
Naughty Dog might suffer from trying to be absolutely perfect. Insomniac seems to be willing to take more chances, and not chase perfection. Both are technically gifted. Naughty Dog excels at story, but I think Insomniac is more creative in their game design. Both are great. But I believe Insomniac has started to either narrow the gap or slightly surpass, punching above their weight now. Combined with being very productive in comparison.

It's a pity Insomniac and Naughty Dog didn't own Spyro and Crash Bandicot.

What Sucker Punch did with Ghosts, rivals both ND and Insomniac's efforts.
 

SkylineRKR

Member
Insomniac has an impressive rate of output but none of their games were high on my goty lists. ND isn't my cup of tea either because they target AAA Hollywood blockbusters but they are consistently succesful even though TLOU2 is considered a bomba accoring to some narratives (it isn't).
 

Banjo64

cumsessed
Insomniacs work is unrivalled IMO. Ratchet games simply ooze class, and are bags of fun. Especially the PS3 trilogy.

Spider-Man was a top 4 PS4 game IMO alongside Bloodborne, Horizon and God of War. Sunset OD, one of the top Xbox One exclusives.

The Spyro trilogy, platforming perfection. Best PS1 games by a mile.

Even their worst trilogy, Resistance, was a great and fun series, and much better than other PS FPS games like Killzone.

Naughty Dog’s amazing games boil down to ;Jak 1, Uncharted 2 and The Last of Us. They’ve made some good games; Uncharted 1, 3 & 4. And then there’s the rest. I’m sorry but Jak 2 & 3 are absolute wank, I platinumed them both but felt like I was stuck in a time warp. Crash trilogy, it’s ok. Nothing amazing, not exactly shit. TLoU 2, haha no.

Insomniac win hands down and know how to make a FUN game with serious themes.
 

Bryank75

Banned
I prefer Insomniac and Santa Monica Studio over Naughty Dog.

I also think Naughty Dogs best game of late was Lost Legacy. TLOU2 and UC4 have significant pacing issues and I'm not a fan of the writing in TLOU2..... still very high quality games though.

Overall, I think the gameplay in Insomniac games and GOW games along with the methods they use to tell the story are simply more effctive and frustrate me far less. The emotional moments in Spider-man and GOW 2018 hit me much harder than anything in TLOU.

But that's just me.
 

Bryank75

Banned
Naughty Dog might suffer from trying to be absolutely perfect. Insomniac seems to be willing to take more chances, and not chase perfection. Both are technically gifted. Naughty Dog excels at story, but I think Insomniac is more creative in their game design. Both are great. But I believe Insomniac has started to either narrow the gap or slightly surpass, punching above their weight now. Combined with being very productive in comparison.

It's a pity Insomniac and Naughty Dog didn't own Spyro and Crash Bandicot.

What Sucker Punch did with Ghosts, rivals both ND and Insomniac's efforts.

Yup, Sony should try and get those IP back now that Skylanders is basically finished. Maybe buy Toys for Bob too.
 

skit_data

Member
They make quite different games, Its like comparing a scifi epic like Interstellar to a fun yet smart comedy like The Big Lebowski. Both excel at what they aim to accomplish.

Yet, I would give Naughty Dog the slight edge on which one is more premium.

Better studio as a whole? Best gameplay? Thats another question.
 

Loope

Member
Looking from the outside (i don't own any Sony console) i would say ND. They certainly seem the big fish in that pond.
 

ToTTenTranz

Banned
Naughty Dog might still spearhead Sony in technical terms to provide the most photorealistic games, but after TLoU2 I don't think they'll release games that I care about anytime soon.

Comparing to Insomniac seems unfair, as they only recently became a 1st-party studio for Sony. Why are Santa Monica and Guerrilla not part of the list?
Heck, even Bend might be a contender if they're fast and effective at adopting Unreal Engine 5 for whatever game they're working on.
 

A2una1

Member
Naughty Dog might still spearhead Sony in technical terms to provide the most photorealistic games, but after TLoU2 I don't think they'll release games that I care about anytime soon.

Comparing to Insomniac seems unfair, as they only recently became a 1st-party studio for Sony. Why are Santa Monica and Guerrilla not part of the list?
Heck, even Bend might be a contender if they're fast and effective at adopting Unreal Engine 5 for whatever game they're working on.
The good thing is you don't have to choose.. Both make good quality games.
 

SuperYoshi

Neo Member
C'mon, it's ND. Ya'll are delusional if you say otherwise. Insomniac has not had the critical acclaim like ND in awhile. They've matched their success with Spiderman but they've have not done it with Ratchet and Clank.
 
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