Looking back at the RTS maker in light of Age of Empires 2 HD's release on Steam.
Doom level designer Sandy Petersen has taken to X (formerly Twitter) to explain the closure of Ensemble Studios, where he worked in the 2000s. According to Petersen, Ensemble and its in-development Halo MMO were scuttled by Xbox boss Don Mattrick to protect a short-term, profit-based bonus he was elligible to receive.
@dveio Why, is the reddit official and run by Microsoft? I would've thought a developer from the team is a legit source. Or is it fanboy-run?
While I can't stand Don Mattrick and how he ran the Xbox business into the ground with incredibly anti-consumer decision-making, I can't help but feel like this post is suspicious. Why would this level designer have any clue about Mattrick's compensation package? Mattrick was not C-suite and probably didn't make enough to exceed the SEC reporting threshold. It doesn't seem likely that Mattrick would share that kind of information, either.
Bare with me this is long.
Tbh the anti consumer choices imo isn't necessarily what hurt xbox immensely. Part of it? Yes definitely of course but I think it's simply not investing in AAA games back then. Specifically in 2011 the year they went dry. short term fads like Kinect and casual games is what really hurt them and got them to where they're at now.
If they bought those same studios in 2011 instead of 2018, 2020 and 2021 (excluding ABK because they wouldn't need them) they would release the games the traditional way selling the console being competive with exclusives and content. Of course the first 3 to 5 years MS will have their usual stumbles like canceled projects delays etc. Around 2017 and beyond they would finally have the rhythm and start releasing games.
GP probably won't be a thing just GWG. Releasing games on PC I think would still be thing but it probably won't be day and date they'll take Sony's approach and release a year or so later on PC. The best thing about all this is that Ms wouldn't have to fully absorb the Xbox because they're finally profitable thanks to those games being released, selling hardware. Theyll still sell less than PS. I'll say they'll be around just shy of 70 or so million, not bad. The other big thing is if MS were to make changes, it would be slower not as aggressive and hardly any double talk or goal post moving. It would be clear and concise messaging because they have their gameplay and sticking with while slowly looking into other things.
Again the anti consumer stuff definitely hurt them but the topic of constant discussion at the end of it was no investment in AAA Studios. That's what got xbox where it's at now. Being dog walked every which way, the double minded Console killing MS we have now.
Theory: Microsoft buys some of the best studios and editors. Fact: Microsoft pays too much for them. Effect: Staff is fired and the best of them go to other studios and editors. Postmortem: Microsoft buys empty franchises and kills them.
You're right that the years-long games drought prior to and around the launch of the Xbox One also substantially contributed to the demise of the Xbox division. But, I have to disagree that there was a path to success for them, simply because the culture of MS (which bled into Xbox) is so anti-consumer.
Where they wanted to take console gaming clashed harshly with what gamers wanted. Consoles must check-in every 24 hours; game discs are locked to the first console in which they are played (no second-hand market); unnecessary TV integration for advertisement revenue. What was Kinect about? Fun? Games? MS doesn't give a flying fuck about those; at heart, they are not an entertainment company. No---it was about selling your information.
Moreover, MS doesn't win at anything because of the quality of its products; they win by all sorts of media, sales channel, and market manipulation. MS only entered the home-console market to redirect the growing PlayStation userbase back to Windows, enact DRM, and monetize this userbase in new ways. Office 365 was put online in the 2010-2011 timeframe. Full digital games were already available on the Xbox 360. The foundation to move console gaming to an all-digital (and anti-consumer) future had already been laid. Nobody asked for this shit. They can't even respect their own physical products now by putting playable builds of games on their physical media. It's called false advertising; that's grounds for class-action.
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There likely has never been a more vibrant community around this 21-year-old game.
Because its a classic. It was one the first PC games I got hooked on. Learned alot of history from that game.
Absolutely love this game. When I get bored of new games this has been my go to game for years.
Whether you're a long-time fan of real-time strategy games or just looking for something good to play, this list of most popular RTS games should set you on the right path. Now stop wasting your time and let the games begin!
I dont know there are many more enjoyable rts games to play as well. There is halo wars for a start wlthough not sure it is playable on pc, should imagine it is.
C&C franchise-There is also one of the most enjoyable rts franchises with so many to try and it's also the high def video story's that make command and conquer worth playing, especially seeing the beautiful lady's either as evil or good guys which is the added bonus in the C&C franchise..
Tom Clancy Endwars, only one was made and what a shame Ubisoft had a gem and I loved the game. Endwars had voice communication, as well as controller for units which was very responsive but the gameplay is where the game excelled. With rock scissors paper like combat and the ability to take your units and retreat before they got completely obliterated in perks death, made you think about the battle, after all you didn't want to take a high level unit and keep fighting when there was no hope or someone dropped a nuke on your units. Also Endwars factions really set themselves apart, Endwars was ace from start to finish..
Lord of the rings- battle for middle earth (if not mistaken) similar to halo wars style where your base has points that you convert into buildings rather than just putting buildings where you want like C&C. Those hobbits are little pests on that game and very dangerous. The game itself is lovely looking.
Star trek armada 1&2- well what can I say this rts was wonderful with so many ships and lots of factions and plenty to do but the Borg says it all and it's a shocker when you see there big holocube and how much screen space one of them takes up lol. Because the game is in space which is mostly black this game seems to handle maxed out jnits better than other rts games.
Universe at war- this was a real surprise for me, the game was crazy and a really good game as well as challenging, I forgot who the developers were but they did a splendid job I thought..
Supreme commander- this was the daddy for owning the most units I thought, the maps were big and you were pretty much free to put units where you wanted, freedom and max unit size were this games pro And was worth playing this game just to see how it the wars could get.
Hooligans- a very old rts game and exactly what your thinking it's football and was one hell of a crazy game and everyone should give it ago just once even if you do it just to see the cheat active on the handgun units. Pull about a hundred out at a time and have them all use there special power which there saying was (shoot the bastards) now imagine that being said 100 times on a crappy pc which they were back 14 years ago around and the lag that was produced, I will just say that it was one experience and half and joke when you do it in a room full of people who are trying to learn and that starts happening.
There are many more but off the top of my head can not think.
It is however a real shame that at one point this genre was everywhere and now it's dwindled and it's rare you get to see an entry in this genre.
Let's not forget Warhammer 40k Dawn of War!
But yeah, everything you listed is great also.
Yeah, these are all great titles (the ones I know)! C&C was a big-time favourite back in the day, especially Red Alert 2. Have you played Empire Earth? Also damn good game.
And then, I've always loved the Impressions Games series of RTS title (Pharaoh, Caesar, Zeus, Emperor). Bit more of a citybuilder though, but damn I poured half my life into those games lol.
Starwars empire at war- Also there was a star wars rts, I loved it but at the time my pc couldn't run it. I thought the game was ace though.
I actually played that a while back! It's a bit outdated now lol, but still a fine RTS. And who doesn't love Star Wars!
I am literally playing Age of Mythology these days. Having stupid amount of fun again.
Plan to finish expansion and move to WC3 > SC2 again.
Also, 7 click/pages for 7 games ? I hate this site.
I've recently got back into Age of Empire 2, playing the HD edition with loads of mads and all DLC. Still one of the most brilliantly designed RTS title I've played
