The first part of my history of Ensemble Studios is up at Crispy Gamer. Yes, the first part. The article was so long that my beleaguered editors had to chop it into three pieces. And it could have been much longer. I have hours of audio, long emails, extra comments from colleagues and peers…all kinds […]
Entries Tagged as 'History'
A History of Ensemble
December 16th, 2008 · 3 Comments · Crispy Gamer, Ensemble, History, Industry
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Sid Meier’s First Game?
August 3rd, 2008 · 3 Comments · History, Industry
Stanford University is at the forefront of game preservation efforts. Eric Kaltman is the official blogger for the Stephen M. Cabrinety Collection. And he found this little gem. The idea that Meier’s earliest published work wasn’t a flight sim is an intriguing one. The “I can make a flying game better than this” bet with […]
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Romance of the Three Kingdoms and Historical Thinking
July 30th, 2008 · 10 Comments · History
There’s now a demo for the PC version of Romance of the Three Kingdoms XI, Koei’s strategy/RPG set in the declining Han Empire. I started Luo Guanzhong’s epic novel while traveling back and forth to E3. I just finished one volume and have three more to go. I’ll admit to not quite getting the popularity […]
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Ben Fritz Thinks Colonization is Bad
June 26th, 2008 · 16 Comments · Blogs, Design, History
Ben Fritz, a video game blogger at Variety has some issues with the upcoming Colonization expansion for Civ IV. But goddamit, am I the only one who think it’s morally disturbing to make a game that celebrates COLONIZATION? It’s ironic, actually, because just a few months ago a friend sent me a link to some […]
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There Goes Another Hour
June 2nd, 2008 · 2 Comments · Blogs, History
I love maps. It could be because I love history and it could be because I have no sense of direction. Strange Maps proves to be the perfect place for someone like me to lose himself for sixty minutes when I should be doing something else. Despite the name, not all the maps are really […]
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Culture as a Mechanic or, Get Out of My Head Michael
March 3rd, 2008 · 5 Comments · Blogs, Design, Firaxis, History
While trying to use propaganda posts in Sins of a Solar Empire last week, I started thinking about cultural control in strategy gaming, how culture assimilation is an either/or proposition, how an homogeneous culture is assumed to be better than one with spillover from neighbors, how rival cultures bring nothing with them but trouble. Then […]
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