Age of Empires: A Franchise Retrospective

Age of Empires took over the RTS genre while you weren't looking. Here's how it ascended to the throne.
Sources:
[1] Ensemble Studios interview
www.gamespot.c...
[2] Bruce Shelley (MicroProse/Ensemble Studios)
www.arcadeatta...
[3] The Real Reason Halo's MMO Was Never Released (
www.looper.com...
[4] Halo Wars: Bungie saw it as "whoring out franchise" says Ensemble founder
www.gamesindus...
[5] Tony Goodman: "The publisher as we know it may become extinct"
www.gamesindus...
[6] Postmortem: Ensemble Studio's Age of Empires II: Age of Kings
www.gamedevelo...
[7] The Game Developer Archives: 'Postmortem: Ensemble's Age of Empires'
www.gamedevelo...
[8] “The least-worst idea we had”-The creation of the Age of Empires empire arstechnica.co...
[10] Age of Empires III "a huge mistake"
www.eurogamer....
[11] 20 years later, they're resurrecting the original 'Age of Empires'
mashable.com/a...
[12] Why Age of Empires, the RTS where you could “win with a Wonder,” still matters www.pcgamesn.c...
Books:
Gamers at Work: The Stories Behind the Games People Play by Morgan Ramsay www.amazon.com...
Blood, Sweat, and Pixels by Jason Schreier www.amazon.com...

[@epitaph8704]

I still don't know how this channel isn't more popular

[@computergamingyesterday]

I appreciate it! We'll get there.

[@SteelerFan716]

I am absolutely blown away by the production value of your channel.
Keep up the great work, man!

[@computergamingyesterday]

Thanks!

[@MrMFgoon21]

@@computergamingyesterday Your sub and view counts don't do your work any justice. Keep 'em coming!

[@troop5100]

Very well done. Your content is very much appreciated.

[@computergamingyesterday]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@KimHarderFog]

Loved AOE1 when it came out - I'm fairly certain that the ancient history focus of the game was what fueled my interest in that part of the human history.

[@rad_sci_guy]

Also the level of detail that they provided in the rulebook and tech tree was incredible. And the legendary soundtrack brought it all together with fantastic graphics and sound effects.

[@OrbitalFoxzorz]

Wow what an amazing video on an equally amazing franchise. Albeit i only played the first 2 iterations of it 😅 interesting stuff. Thanks for the video!

[@TheArtkaw]

Very informative! Didn't realize how big the series was.

[@computergamingyesterday]

Glad you found it useful Artkaw!

[@Ballistic-vn6em]

Thanks for the video, i love this franchise

[@Snittemayor]

Awesome video my man. Looking forward to more!

[@orangetoes223]

I’m really liking aoe4 especially after the new update. I don’t think it will ever get same spotlight StarCraft 2 does, but I think it has enough of a following to where it will get a couple expansions and become a damn good game and be one for the history books.

[@the9thinning1]

age of empires babyyyyy. still prefer age of mythology tho

[@computergamingyesterday]

Age of Mythology is great, no doubt.

[@warandthecorridorsoftime5180]

I bought the hd and the definitive. I dont really get what the differences are. People like empire but I remember buying it when it came out and thinking it sucked lol. I just got back into age and found this channel. I was a westwood/blizzard boy but did manage to play several hours of age back in the 90s. Starcraft doesnt work in steam, and only the classic C&Cs work in steam too (I bought red alert 2 in this weekend and it doesnt even play!). Anyway, cool deep dive.

[@MattPritchardOfficial]

You included a surprising amount of detail about the Series's history, but you did get a few details wrong.