Kotaku: age of empires

Kid Played Too Much Age Of Empires, So Took Up Archery

Luke Plunkett — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 02:30:00 MST

Yesterday, the Australian Youth Olympic Festival kicked off in Sydney. Mostly boring. Less boring, though, is the story of the flag-bearer for the ceremony, who only took up sport after being kicked off his computer.

Ryan Tyack, 17, is competing at the festival as an archer, having taken up the sport in 2001. Why'd he take up the sport? Because his mother was "despairing" at the amount of time he was spending on his PC, hacking away at Age of Empires.

So she urged him to take up a sport. And he picked archery.

I just sat around playing Age of Empires all the time and my mum wanted me to do a sport and meet some kids. So I chose either fencing or archery as Age Of Empires had swordsmen and archers

Lucky he wasn't playing Grand Theft Auto...

Aussie Sports Star Thanks Age Of Empires [Kotaku AU]

Microsoft Confirms Ensemble Closure, Announces "New" Dev House

Michael McWhertor — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 20:00:41 MDT

The owner of Ensemble Studios and publisher of the upcoming Halo Wars has confirmed that the developer will be closing down once work on the Xbox 360 title is complete. In a statement to GameSpot, Microsoft said that the closure of the Dallas-based studio "does not reflect at all on Ensemble’s talent or the quality of Halo Wars," adding that the team has made "invaluable contributions to the games industry with their Age of Empires and Age of Mythology games."

Microsoft calls the choice "a fiscally rooted decision that keeps MGS on its growth path."

While Ensemble will see closure come launch date, the statement further explains that a "leadership team" from the studio will form a brand new development entity one that will continue to support Halo Wars post launch and work on unspecified Microsoft Game Studios titles.

Those let go from the studio may find a home at the newly formed, as Microsoft stated it was "working to place as many Ensemble employees who do not move to the newly formed studio into open positions within Microsoft as possible."

Good luck to all involved.

Confirmed: Microsoft closes Ensemble [GameSpot]

Rumor: Halo Wars Dev Going Belly Up

Michael McWhertor — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 16:20:00 MDT

All "non-essential" employees at Ensemble Studios were laid off today, according to a report from Shacknews, citing "multiple independent sources." The Age of Empires developer is said to close its doors after completing work on the Halo universe real-time strategy game Halo Wars, with those still employed at Ensemble receiving unspecified incentives, according to the report.

Ensemble, which was founded in 1995 in Dallas, Texas, has sold over 20 million copies of its Age of Empires series. It plans to ship Halo Wars in early 2009.

We've contacted Ensemble and Microsoft for further details.

Rumor: Halo Wars Dev Ensemble Shutting Down, Non-essential Employees Axed [Shacknews]

Mexico's Gaming Presidente

Brian Ashcraft — Tue, 26 Jun 2007 06:40:25 MDT

In Mexico, nothing says politics more than video games. Former Mexican president Vicente Fox once invited some orphans over to "play Nintendo," and current prez Felipe Calderon is a big time game nerd who even admits publicly he games. During his president campaign, Calderon doted his campaign site with flash games, which unfortunately are now gone. Still! He is one of us. His favorite title? Age of Empires. Not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing, though... Brian Ashcraft

Mexican President Likes Games [Insert Credit]