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Forums - Microsoft - Confirmed: Microsoft closes Ensemble

I hope AOM and AOE3 continues to get supported by online means. I haven't even tried AOE3 yet. (due to mixed reviews) I wish AOE2 still had its online back in the old days. (zone.com)



Generation 8 Predictions so far.....(as of 9/2013)

Console that will sell most: Nintendo Wii U

Who will sell more consoles between Microsoft/SONY: SONY

 

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regin2005 said:
I hope AOM and AOE3 continues to get supported by online means. I haven't even tried AOE3 yet. (due to mixed reviews) I wish AOE2 still had its online back in the old days. (zone.com)

I hope so, too. I'd recommend that you give AoE3 a go if you're on the fence about it. It does seem to be the cool thing to do to bag on it, but I've sunk countless hours into it and its two expansions, and have enjoyed every minute.



Stupid move by Microsoft. Ensemble was a highly profitable developer that always had hits game and sold 2 millions units every year. Why didn't they close Rare isntead? Rare is nowhere near as profitable or as good as Ensemble Studios.

Kyros said:

That will motivate them to make a truly outstanding game. Its a bit sad that RTS are not en vogue anymore but with MS focus on console games it's not surprising. Let's hope for Blizzard.

RTS not en vogue?! RTS are the most profitable games on PC except MMORPGs. RTS games development are also a bit cheaper, and there are several million-sellers of them every year.

Infact, just like 2007 was the year of FPS - 2009 will be the year of RTS games:

Starcraft 2
Empire: Total War
Demigod
Dawn of War 2
Anno 1404
Majesty 2
Society
Company of Heroes Stand-alone expansion (rumored)
Halo Wars (Xbox 360)
Stormrise (PC/X360/PS3)



Squilliam said:
I am pissed.... Confirmed.

 

 thats bungie, Bizarre Creations , some say bioware, now this... M$ already short 1st party studios are even shorter. Mab they can get 3rd party timed exclusives for the rest of the 360s life. then 6 months later the will be on the ps3. O mab they are preparing for something big? I dont under stand why they are doing all this.

w/e tho i still like my xbox and it has good games. but i wonder why M$ is closing down or selling everything?



starcraft said:
KBG29 said:
Microsoft is going crazy this gen. Were do they expect to get exclusives from? They have let go of so many studios that were loyal to them or owned buy them that it makes my head spin. In a time when both of Nintendo and Sony are showing that first party is what sets you apart, I don't see were MS is going with this. Maybe I just can't see the genious in this? All I know right now is this is making me nervous for the future on my 360, and the future of Microsofts console buisness.

How have Sony done this?

And I don't mean how do you anticipate Sony will do this.  I mean what titles that have already released have shown that Sony's first party is having a quantifiable effect on saving the PS3?

 

There is no need to "save" the ps3 as it has been kicking 360s ass for a year almost now... Your a crazy blind fanboy and Sonys 1st party titles are nuthin short of awesome.

 



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starcraft said:
KBG29 said:
Microsoft is going crazy this gen. Were do they expect to get exclusives from? They have let go of so many studios that were loyal to them or owned buy them that it makes my head spin. In a time when both of Nintendo and Sony are showing that first party is what sets you apart, I don't see were MS is going with this. Maybe I just can't see the genious in this? All I know right now is this is making me nervous for the future on my 360, and the future of Microsofts console buisness.

How have Sony done this?

And I don't mean how do you anticipate Sony will do this.  I mean what titles that have already released have shown that Sony's first party is having a quantifiable effect on saving the PS3?

 

Sony 1st party games that sold over a million

uncharted

Ratchet

Resistance

Motorstorm

Grand Turismo Pro 5

heavenly Sword

Other good and noteable 1st party games

Hot shots gulf

Folklore

Eye judgement

MLB: the show

Sing Star

Ratchet quest for booty

etc.

Sony's games had had one of the biggest effects on the ps3 and to say other wise is foolish

 

 

 



Dno said:
starcraft said:
KBG29 said:
Microsoft is going crazy this gen. Were do they expect to get exclusives from? They have let go of so many studios that were loyal to them or owned buy them that it makes my head spin. In a time when both of Nintendo and Sony are showing that first party is what sets you apart, I don't see were MS is going with this. Maybe I just can't see the genious in this? All I know right now is this is making me nervous for the future on my 360, and the future of Microsofts console buisness.

How have Sony done this?

And I don't mean how do you anticipate Sony will do this.  I mean what titles that have already released have shown that Sony's first party is having a quantifiable effect on saving the PS3?

 

Sony 1st party games that sold over a million

uncharted

Ratchet

Resistance

Motorstorm

Grand Turismo Pro 5

heavenly Sword

Other good and noteable 1st party games

Hot shots gulf

Folklore

Eye judgement

MLB: the show

Sing Star

Ratchet quest for booty

etc.

Sony's games had had one of the biggest effects on the ps3 and to say other wise is foolish

You actually believe anyone of the million sellers (with the possible exception of the GT5 demo in Europe) has ANY real effect on console sales?

As for the last part?  Your post failed dramatically when it reached Folklore.

 



starcraft - Playing Games = FUN, Talking about Games = SERIOUS

pbroy said:
I'm not surprised

Really? How so? This IS a surprising move, but you aren't surprised... you must be an insider lol.

 



Just kiss the tip.


starcraft said:
Dno said:
starcraft said:
KBG29 said:
Microsoft is going crazy this gen. Were do they expect to get exclusives from? They have let go of so many studios that were loyal to them or owned buy them that it makes my head spin. In a time when both of Nintendo and Sony are showing that first party is what sets you apart, I don't see were MS is going with this. Maybe I just can't see the genious in this? All I know right now is this is making me nervous for the future on my 360, and the future of Microsofts console buisness.

How have Sony done this?

And I don't mean how do you anticipate Sony will do this.  I mean what titles that have already released have shown that Sony's first party is having a quantifiable effect on saving the PS3?

 

Sony 1st party games that sold over a million

uncharted

Ratchet

Resistance

Motorstorm

Grand Turismo Pro 5

heavenly Sword

Other good and noteable 1st party games

Hot shots gulf

Folklore

Eye judgement

MLB: the show

Sing Star

Ratchet quest for booty

etc.

Sony's games had had one of the biggest effects on the ps3 and to say other wise is foolish

You actually believe anyone of the million sellers (with the possible exception of the GT5 demo in Europe) has ANY real effect on console sales?

As for the last part?  Your post failed dramatically when it reached Folklore.

 

 

 Wow, your 360 propaganda machine is off the chain today.

Sure, sony's first party offerings may not have moved consoles on their own but they no doubt kept the ps3 relevant during its LAG phase which is why the ps3 is alive and thriving better than ever today. If not for Res 1. Ps3 and motorstorm. Launch ps3 owners would have being in a horrific game drought. R1 and MS1 weren't enough but they served as a band aid during the early months.



"Dr. Tenma, according to you, lives are equal. That's why I live today. But you must have realised it by now...the only thing people are equal in is death"---Johann Liebert (MONSTER)

"WAR is a racket. It always has been.

It is possibly the oldest, easily the most profitable, surely the most vicious. It is the only one international in scope. It is the only one in which the profits are reckoned in dollars and the losses in lives"---Maj. Gen. Smedley Butler

Groucho said:

I have worked with both Sony and MS as publishers.  I've never worked directly with Nintendo.

I can say that Sony likes to give its 1st party teams the leeway to operate as they always have -- they bought them *because* they were good at what they did, and they don't fix what's not broken.

MS, on the other hand, prefers to muscle its 1st party (and 2nd party, actually) studios into being clones of MS' internal development style.  This can be pretty disruptive for game developers, who often are not used to thriving in a corporate atmosphere.  This might partly explain why they close, or let go, of 1st party studios fairly frequently.

This move doesn't surprise me in the slightest, even though Ensemble was, as I recall, originally formed by former MS employees.

I assume you're not refering to Bungie.  They operated much as they always had, internally, after the acquistion.