Age of Empires in Uruguay: Patrick Hudson is one of our two Executive Producers and in a past life he spent some time working in Uruguay. He was recently invited to return to Montevideo and be a judge in Uruguay’s second annual game development competition (there were sixteen entries). The contest was sponsored by one of the local game companies (Powerful Robot), the Uruguay government, and the US Embassy. Gonzalo Frasca of Powerful Robot was the chairman of the competition. While there Patrick was asked to give a presentation about Ensemble Studios to the attendees (about 120 people). He was amazed at the welcome he received and how knowledgeable the game community there was about our studio and our games.

For most gamers in the advanced nations of the world Uruguay sounds like a very exotic place, but Patrick’s photos and account of his trip made it appear like a game conference anywhere in the world. The city itself is located on the beaches of Rio de la Plata, the widest estuary in the world, and looks very inviting. Although proficient in Spanish, Patrick spoke in English with translation, but says most attendees listened to him in English. Here are photos of his visit, one of the audience, one of game developer Batovi Games, and a third of the recreation room at Powerful Robot (office is a converted home).

Best Microsoft Games of 2007: Last year was maybe Microsoft’s best year for publishing games and some (my local newspaper, for example) say it was the best year ever for video/computer games. One of the perks associated with working in games for Microsoft is receiving a copy of everything they publish. Since many of us worked in the past for companies that threw nickels around like they were manhole covers, these regularly appearing gifts are pretty sweet.

I did an informal survey asking everyone at Ensemble Studios to list their favorite games that our parent published last year, other than Halo 3 and The Asian Dynasties. Seven games got mentioned by at least one person and many people added comments on what made their choices favorites. Here is the result of my unscientific survey, in order of most popular, with some of the comments that came with the votes. (Disclaimer: Viva Piñata and Gears of War released originally on the X360 in 2006, but the PC in 2007. Most of us played the X360 versions.)

Scene-It:

• My whole family got to play together over Christmas vacation (we played with 4 teams of 2);
• Was fun to actually have a game that my mom could play with us and compete in;
• A fun game that anyone could enjoy;
• Get a drink, some chips, and sit down and play;
• Perfect game for movie nerds, groups, and family (wives).

Crackdown:

• Easily my favorite game from any publisher in 2007;
• Awesomely fun to just navigate the world and full of quests you could give yourself through a really clever use of achievements;
• Dizzying heights, spectacular jumps;
• Incredibly visceral ‘platforming’ and combat that made you feel like a badass;
• The way your character upgraded his abilities, and the way this increased your options while traversing and exploring the city, was very well executed;
• It was clear that someone loved the idea of making jumping cool;
• It’s fun beyond belief to jump around that city;
• Best game ever for achievements;
• Great sensation of power and freedom, and the whole orb-collecting RPG mechanic was a blast;
• Great co-op;
• Generally just great mayhem and a fun game to pop in and just screw around;
• Played with my daughter in sandbox mode and we laughed more in that game than we have in any game in a while.

Mass Effect:

• I liked the universe;
• It hit all the right notes to feel like epic science fiction, but was still something new that was fun to explore;
• The music was particularly fitting- it had a really retro sci-fi feel without being too campy;
  The various races, for being of the bumpy-headed alien school from Star Trek, had recognizable traits, characteristics, and histories  I hope there is a chance to visit the universe again;
• Great plot, wonderfully detailed world, and haunting music;
• Great RPG and development of the ideas started in Knights of the Old Republic;
• Overall experience was very enjoyable to the point of me starting over to explore choices not taken the first time through;
• Delivered on story and setting.

Forza Motorsports 2:

• Like it so much I bought the Forcefeedback wheel and a Playseat chair;
• The car physics and driver AI is unmatched in the car sim racing world;
• The car customization/painting feature delivered much more than anyone anticipated, allowing the user to paint “anything” on their car and share it with the world;
• The auction house was also something not realized in console games previously;
• Beautifully detailed simulation, great graphics, and a matchmaking system that generally kept me in competitive games.

Viva Piñata:

• The depth and polish on the game were very satisfying from the piñata ecology to the encyclopedia of all critters and their behaviors;
• Excellent sounds and animations throughout;
• A more freeform, creative, and less competitive game that spanned all age and experience groups.

Gears of War:

• By FAR my household’s favorite.

Shadowrun:

• My 11 year old son found it the PERFECT multiplayer game;

Age of Empires Collection Charity Auction: The large set of Age of Empires products we offered on e-Bay last month sold for $720, with 25 bids. The proceeds after e-Bay fees will go to Child’s Play, a non-profit group that donates toys and games to children’s hospitals. Thanks to the winner and other bidders.

Shooters Blues: We noted that two first-person shooter (FPS) titles with substantial expectations launched near the end of last year without making a big splash in sales. Rob Fermier, one of our Lead Programmers and a very active gamer, shared his opinions on what is going on.

• Great graphics are no longer enough to propel PC game sales; Crysis was positioned as the best looking FPS ever but that was not enough.
• FPS is a brutal market to be in; they aren’t cheap to make, there is a lot of competition, and even the best don’t sell well or have long shelf lives.
• The “old” PC market is in pretty serious shambles compared to the sales of console games. Casual games, WoW, and a handful of older PC franchises still can move reasonable numbers, but no new intellectual property has been launched on the PC for years.
• Way too many games are coming out in the holiday season; some games that came out recently might have done much better if not part of the huge glut; our industry needs to develop additional key release seasons, like Hollywood has.

Bruce Shelley