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Age of Empires Online announced for PC from Robot Entertainment
Ensemble Studios may be no more, but Microsoft hasn't forgotten the franchise it created: Age of Empires. Heading into GamesCom 2010, the company has announced a revival of the series in the form of Age of Empires Online, which is being developed by Robot Entertainment, a studio that knows a thing or two about the subject. That's because it was started by Ensemble Studios founder Tony Goodman. Details on the game are fairly slim, other than its target platform (Games for Windows) and the fact that it's an online title with persistent capital cities and the ability to embark on adventures cooperatively. Microsoft has promised that screenshots and a first trailer for the game are incoming -- we'll have them up for you just as soon as possible.
Ex-Ensemble Studios lead designer responds to Bettner rant (update)
Aside from a very small handful of points, it would seem there's a major disconnect between two ex-Ensemble Studio employees over why the studio was shuttered by Microsoft last year. Ian Fischer (an ex-lead designer at Ensemble, now at Robot Entertainment) details on his blog the many disagreements he has with (claimed) ex-creative lead Paul Bettner's recent rant at the Game Developer's Conference in a panel called "Fired and Fired-up: Jobless Developer's Rant." We say "claimed," because even Bettner's job title is called into question during the response. "Neither you, nor anyone else, was 'Creative Director' at our studio," Fischer alleges. Further, Fischer rebutes Bettner's claim that Ensemble shut down due to a "reliance on crunch" to finish projects that got more and more expensive by the year, saying it had more to do with "chasing after the MMOs and FPSs and RPGs and RTS-differents we constantly had in prototype." He also says that the communication with Microsoft never broke down and that if the publisher had wanted to lower the developer's operating costs, "they could have done so with a phone call ... ES enjoyed a long relationship with Microsoft (as many ex-Studios people now at Robot or Bonfire still do), first as a partner and then as part of the corporation after 2001." So, according to Fisher, what was the reason that Ensemble shut down? "If you want to find mistakes with what we did, I'd suggest that those trips into the weeds, looking for new territory, with a partner who wasn't fond of being there, was more our error," he suggests, referencing the aforementioned prototypes. Update: You can find Paul Bettner's full response to Fischer's claims after the break.
Halo Wars, Fable 2 join Europe's Xbox 360 Classics
Eurogamer reports that two new games have been added to the Xbox 360 Classics budget line in EU territories. The two games are Fable II and Halo Wars. If you need a refresher, Fable II is Lionhead's brilliant, charming adventure that we kind of liked back in 2008. Halo Wars on the other hand, serves as both the first Halo RTS spin-off and the swan song of Ensemble Studios. The games can now be had for the tempting price of £19.99 ($31) apiece. Both are worth picking up -- just be sure to watch out for those Warthog rushes.
Halo Wars title update beefs up Scarab, fixes bugs
We always figured that the Scarab was a pretty hefty Halo Wars unit -- it is the very end of the Covenant tech tree, after all -- but apparently it needed a little extra juice. A new title update now available for the game grants Scarabs with 25 percent more health and 25 percent more damage. If you weren't terrified of them before, you might want to reconsider. Other changes include Gremlins requiring two reactors to build, Grunts doing more damage to air units and more. The update also fixes some bugs including the cryo/reactor glitch, which sounds like it was pretty awful. See the full list of changes and fixes -- politely cribbed from HaloWars.com -- after the break. [Thanks, Ben]
Halo Wars stats wiped, may not come back
Hey guys, we've got some great news: Convincing girls in bars with bizarre priorities that you're the world's top Halo Wars player just got a heck of a lot easier. Shacknews reports that all of the game's leaderboards were wiped out by a glitch in Xbox Live and developer Robot Entertainment says that they may not ever be recovered.To that one poor soul who actually was at the top, we can offer only this pat on the back, along with the assurance that even though it seems like this tragedy has made his hours of Halo Wars sacrifice meaningless, it's simply not so. ... No, they were meaningless way before that.
Halo Wars Historic Battle DLC available now
click to Brute-size Always there with a friendly reminder, Major Nelson sends word that the Historic Battle Map Pack for Halo Wars is now available on Xbox Live Marketplace. The new content includes four new multiplayer maps: Barrens (1v1), Blood River (1v1), Memorial Basin (2v2) and Glacial Ravine (3v3). The DLC also adds four new Achievements worth a total of 100 points. If you need some new space to rock out with your tiny Spartan death squad, the Historic Battle Map Pack will run you 800 ($10). Check out some fresh images of each map in the gallery below.Download the Historic Battle Map Pack to your Xbox 360%Gallery-68426%
Former Halo Wars dev bites into Apple
When Ensemble Studios closed its doors earlier this year many of its staff landed behind a desk at either Robot Entertainment or Bonfire Studios, a pair of outfits that rose up from the Age of Empires and Halo Wars dev's splintered remains. Not Graeme Devine, however -- he's far too trendy for that business. Instead, the Halo Wars lead designer revealed to Kotaku's @crecenteb via Twitter that he opted for a job at Apple, working for the company's iPhone group. It's unclear exactly what he's working on at the popular fruit company, though given his experience perhaps Apple is looking to bring game development in-house. We've reached out to Devine for more, though whatever he's up to we're sure there's an app for that.[Via Develop]
Halo Wars 'Strategic Options' DLC available now
The advanced AI known as Major Nelson informs us that Halo Wars' "Strategic Options" DLC is available now for 800 ($10). The pack includes three new game types and 100 points of Achievements (no maps?).If the price seems a bit steep for a few game types, we've got that covered too. We've got a post up now to win one of five free codes. Good luck![Add Halo Wars Strategic Options DLC to your queue]%Gallery-50724%
Halo Wars patch live, review the notes
Robot Entertainment has released the Halo Wars patch, which the company teased last month. The update allows for the Flaming Warthog and Honor Guard Wraith skins, improves game balance and fixes some bugs -- like a patch should.The company also expects to add more information about the upcoming DLC for the console RTS "shortly." So, we expect to bring you news regarding it "in the near future."
New Halo Wars dev blog talks unit balance
click to Spartan-size In the latest Halo Wars developer blog, lead technical designer Tim Deen discusses the game's unit balance. Most Halo Wars fans are probably familiar with the game's "Rock, Paper, Scissors" (or RPS) balance, but Deen goes into extreme detail, even providing the complex chart seen above. If you'd like to move beyond RPS basics and start learning the difference between a 'soft' kill and a 'hard' kill -- and which units do which -- it's definitely a good read.Sadly, Covenant fans out there are left in the cold, as the chart itself only addresses UNSC units. Hopefully, someone at Robot will be kind enough to put together a new chart for our Covie friends. Then again, we only build Brutes anyway.%Gallery-50271%
Halo Wars title update incoming, new details
A post on the Halo Wars website has announced that a title update for the Halo RTS is on the way. The update looks to address some matchmaking bugs, fine tune game balance and implement a new feature. While the bulk of the update remains a mystery, community manager Aloysius does mention two changes.One, the Prophet of Regret will have his land speed reduced to match the speed of the other Covenant leaders, thus balancing the Prophet rush tactic (which is a lot of fun, by the way). Another fix will allow users to enable the Honor Guard Wraith and Fireball Warthog units (available to collector's edition owners and those who pre-ordered the game, respectively) inside of multiplayer matches with other players. We're not sure why that wasn't included in the game in the first place, but it's a welcome addition.No details are given regarding when the patch will release, but Aloysius promises more info will appear on the official Halo Wars site.
Robot to develop further Halo Wars content, new IP
Recently formed Robot Entertainment has answered the question of who's going to support Halo Wars after its launch on March 3: the people who made it. Robot -- created by ex Ensemble Studios staff, including its founder, Tony Good -- will not only provide online support and community management for the Halo universe RTS, but will be working with Microsoft Game Studios to create future content for the game.Robot will also be working with MGS on the Ensemble-created Age of Empires franchise going forward, with the intent to handle support for current and future titles in the series. In a release issued today, the developer also announced that it has begun work on a new project based on an original IP. Given the various unannounced projects revealed when Ensemble closed its doors, we'd be surprised if this new game turns out to be another RTS.
Ensemble Studios founder creates Robot Entertainment
It's been just under two weeks since Age of Empires and Halo Wars developer Ensemble Studios closed its doors and already one of the two previously announced development studios springing from its demise is forming like Voltron -- appropriately, they've named the new studio Robot Entertainment. Tony Goodman, founder of Ensemble Studios way back in January of 1996, appears to be heading up the studio, whose website promises "big ideas" and ... well ... not much else. Will Robot Entertainment be the studio supporting development of the promised Halo Wars dlc? That remains to be seen but, given co-founder Bruce Shelley's words last month in his final blog post on the community site (which is now shut down), there's roughly a 50/50 chance: "There are at least two new studios being formed by ES [Ensemble Studios] employees and I expect both to do very well." We've put in word to Robot Entertainment for comment and will update this post accordingly as news comes in.[Via Gamasutra] [image]
