Ensemble: Passing Of A Titan

[Telefrog]

Just wanted to let you know that there is an awesome retrospective at Crispygamer about Ensemble Studios (http://www.crispygamer.com/features/2008-12-16/age-of-ensemble-part-1-a-titan-passes.aspx). The writer got some great background and interviews from folks at Ensemble.

Board games, therefore, became an important part of the corporate culture. "I wanted people to understand games at a level where computers didn't control them," says Goodman. "If you and I are playing a game without a computer, all the fun is on top of the table. It's transparent." Computers, he argues, introduce "magic" into a game such that you may not be entirely sure why you enjoy it. Board games leave the rules exposed for analysis and understanding. "Anyone can analyze why that game is fun."

They also proved to be valuable tools for job interviews. Candidates were encouraged to play board games with their prospective colleagues, and this could be a deal-breaker. Programmer and designer Dave Pottinger remembers RoboRally being a particularly valuable litmus test. "We had one person interview for a position and say nothing the entire time. Another one got so mad he threw his pieces."

[Telefrog]

Part 2 is here (http://www.crispygamer.com/features/2008-12-17/age-of-ensemble-part-2-perfecting-the-formula.aspx) and features some great tidbits.

"By this point [the late 1990s], we'd done two historically-themed games and two expansions," Ian Fischer recalls, "and there was interest in working on something that would allow us to explore new territory. We had several all-day, full-team brainstorm sessions during which we collectively concocted and discussed the merits of approximately every possible setting for an RTS. Age of Submarines, Age of Elves, Age of Mad Max, Age of Lasers, Age of H. G. Wells' Time Machine, Age of Angry Dinosaurs, Age of Tanks, Age of Dirigibles, Age of Vampires, Age of Umpires -- somewhere there's a document with dozens and dozens of pitches."

[Telefrog]

Part 3, of course, features the eventual closing (http://www.crispygamer.com/features/2008-12-18/age-of-ensemble-part-3-the-closing-chapters.aspx)of the great studio.

[KingGorilla]

Making me cry a bit.

[Johan]

It's as if MS took a diamond, and squeezed a lump of coal out of it. :(

[Shadowstorm]

It sucks that Ensemble had to close down. What a gem of a studio.