Creative leads the pack, but there are others.
1)Gaming: If you have a SoundMAX AD1980 (or better) onboard sound chip, then the quality is almost as good as it gets and the benefits of having a separate soundcard are only limited to EAX 3.0+ (even for this, you must have a Creative soundcard).
2)Audio: Again the SoundMAX (AD1980 or better) onboard does exceptionally here, but the Audigy2 would get you a bit extra quality, I think.
3)DVDs: Here, having a separate soundcard is better. With a good soundcard, you can enjoy a better implementation of DTS sound (onboard sound is only designed for Dolby Digital, not DTS), and have a somewhat better experience.
Creative is the only one with EAX 3.0+ support, but if you care less about EAX 3.0 and 4.0, Gainward is offering a sound card based on VIA's Envy24 chipset that supports 24-bit, 7.1 channel audio and most bells and whistles of Creative soundcards (it costs about Rs. 2000-2200)