500°

Ensemble: "Microsoft made a mistake"

Ensemble Studios' Graeme Devine has stated that he believes Microsoft has made a mistake in shutting down the studios.

Talking to D+PAD last week, Devine stated:

"I've been working on Halo Wars for over 4 years, so I'm not about to walk away from a game I've spent four years of my life with. It'd be very easy for us to just mail it in and finish a game and sell that but we are not really in it for that. It's our proud shout to Microsoft, and the reason why their mistake is obvious."

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dpadmagazine.com
ultimolu6070d ago

Well, wouldn't be the first mistake they've made...

slak6070d ago

I liked Ensemble .....MS fu*k up again and thats to bad

ultimolu6070d ago

Yeah, Ensemble sounds like a very impressive studio to me.

ChrisGTR16070d ago

ensemble was/is an amazing studio but i think ultimately they closed it down do to pc piracy and sales slowing down in general. i loved all 3 age of empires though, and mythology.

Charmers6070d ago

I was wondering could I have some of what you are smoking ChrisGTR1 because piracy had absolutely nothing to do with ensemble's closure. It is a matter of record that MS is culling costs and developers to try and make as much profit as possible out the xbox 360 and to help pay for the price reduction they just did on their console. So if you want to blame a system then blame the xbox 360.

StephanieBBB6070d ago (Edited 6070d ago )

Ditch/revamp anything Halo related in Halo wars and rename it "Total wars" or something, and then release it as a multiplatform RTS title for PS3, 360 and PSP.

That should stur things up.

The Matrix6070d ago

Ensemble was a great developer. I grew up playing Age of Mythology and Age of Empires. I hope they can become a separate company and continue to make great games despite a retard move by Microsoft.

Bodhi6070d ago

ultimolu... Was it necessary to say it? I've seen you say Sony has made mistakes too but it's not necessary to put have first post of the article to downplay MS.

Maybe it was maybe it wasn't, looked a bit fanboyish being the first comment.

Viper76070d ago (Edited 6070d ago )

I am with ensemble with this one, thats one studio they should not have shut down.

For ages I have thinked that Age of empires series (and why not age of mythology) have been bright diamonds within the big pile of "microsoft"
Now they are suddenly ripping off the diamonds and giving this **** as thanks for the best game studio they have, I mean wth?

Even tough I am somewhat MS hater (for variety of reasons not really related to consoles) I did hope that they would let Ensemble to keep up the AOE franchise, which is basically still one of the best lan games ever made.
Not to mention one of the best realtime "realistic" strategy games.

When I heard they where working for halo wars I was slightly disapointed but still hoped them success.

whoelse6070d ago

They couldn't have cut the price without closing down these studios.

gaffyh6070d ago

What if these guys go Wii/PS3 exclusive because of this? That'd be very bad for MS, but I doubt it

xenogamer6070d ago

lets get a awesome established franchise, and make a stupid ass RTS out of it just because... yeah lets do that yea... idiots

ultimolu6070d ago

Bodhi, Sony does make mistakes. All companies do but what matters is what you do to correct those mistakes and making sure they never happen again.

Why drag Sony into this when it wasn't about Sony?

+ Show (9) more repliesLast reply 6070d ago
GWAVE6070d ago

Microsoft makes plenty of mistakes. Their mistakes are even more evident when their biggest supporters (Bizarre Creations, Ensemble, Bungie, etc) don't even support them. It's hard for me to put faith in a company that not only is unable to fix its own hardware problems, but is also unable to manage even a handful of 1st-party developers.

(and lolololol flamebait! flamebait! Sony makes mistakes too. But we're not talking about Sony here, are we?)

ultimolu6070d ago

You just know someone's gonna mention it. o_o

Tony6006070d ago

They are unable to manage their own studios,how poor is that?How can you build faith in such companies like microsoft?Sad,sad,sad!Sony knows how to manage their first-party studios,thats why I love sony!

PoSTedUP6070d ago (Edited 6070d ago )

i still cant believe their will be no AoE4, i was really looking froward to that game man. and EA shutting down eaBIG, no more SSXTrickey?!?!? wtf is this world coming to?!?! f*** MS and F*** EA (but i still have faith in ea) just very disappointed.... (-_-)

Itrguy0016069d ago

yeah SSX was never good after Tricky.

mrdxpr26070d ago

MS needs too get in check cause they are loosing alot of talent that if not treated well they are gona leave them and go somewhere else..That team has been working on HALO wars for 4 years and MS does that to them wow thats F up yo ...

aggh im on fire6070d ago

does suck but if there opening a new studio with a lot of the same people then why doesn't the guy just go there if its just a change of name. Suppose he has his reasons.

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120°

Halo Wars lead explains why Master Chief was actually “off the table”, and it wasn’t Bungie’s fault

Did Bungie actually hate Halo Wars? Why wasn't Master Chief in the game? Lead designer Dave Pottinger reveals all.

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videogamer.com
franwex190d ago

I would be very interested in seeing a third game. I won’t hold my breath tho.

60°

The Halo Wars Formula Has Potential to Fit More Microsoft Franchises

Halo Wars is still widely considered one of the best and most accessible RTS games around, and that formula could work with other Microsoft IPs.

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gamerant.com
gangsta_red841d ago

I think Crackdown would fit in a more turn-based tactics system via Xcom then a RTS type game play. Being able to customize multiple agents, deploying that group in an crime infested urban zone, going against other super powered enemy and fodder type thugs. The potential for that is huge if they won't do another successful, ground breaking, GOTY open world outing like Crackdown 3....

P_Bomb841d ago

I could see that. I feel like State of Decay could spin-off into something strategic as well.

giovonni840d ago

Actually that would be kind of fly if they made it a turn base RTS.

lellkay477d ago

Crackdown tactics would be legit!!

110°

10 Best Halo Games

NoobFeed Editor Joshua Burt writes - There are many games in the famous Halo Franchise that are stellar titles and need to be revered. And some that do not. These games stand out from the crowd and deluge of colossal Halo titles. Games that made Halo great. We do need to iron out what qualifies the game for this list. They have to be in the Halo franchise… Obviously.

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noobfeed.com
1150d ago
1150d ago Replies(2)
-Foxtrot1150d ago

Halo CE over Halo Infinite anyday

Not to mention the impact it had at the time

Flawlessmic1150d ago

Halo 3 at the top is correct the only thing id change is swap infinite and halo ce around.

AuraAbjure1150d ago

Halo 4 best campaign and multiplayer. Halo 3 best story.

ChubbyBlade1149d ago

Are you trying to give people cancer?

AuraAbjure1148d ago (Edited 1148d ago )

Halo 4 has the hottest Cortana too which explains why the MC is the hardest in that campaign and why H4's multiplayer is the illest. Chief ain't afraid to take on teleporting enemies that can one hit melee kill.

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