Microsoft brings back from the dead Age of Empires and Flight Simulator series

NZXT30

NZXT30

NZXT30

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Yes that's right. didnt see that coming at all.

Age of Empires Online

Exciting news from GamesCom! The best-selling real-time strategy series of all time continues with Age of Empires Online! Join friends and friendly rivals from around the world as you create a living, growing online empire. Centered around your unique online capital city, embark on quests, play with or against friends, and immerse yourself in epic tales, quirky characters, adventure, history and strategy. Age of Empires Online will offer free-to-play experiences via Games for Windows. Visit the Age of Empires Online site or read the full press release to get more details.


Microsoft Flight

The Microsoft Flight Simulator series has captured the imaginations of millions of fans. Now Microsoft Flight brings a new perspective to the long-standing genre, welcoming new pilots and long-time fans to experience the magic of flight!


http://www.microsoft.com/games/en-us/community/pages/gamescom.aspx
 
Yep, they abandoned the original development teams in favour of cheap labour in China.

A couple of years ago MS released Flight Sim as an API for civil/military simulation market, allowing the engine to be a common platform for various training devices. Many companies paid hundreds of thousands of dollars to train their staff in development of synthetic training devices with the FSX api. When MS pulled the plug on FS, they also hindered future support of the FSX engine - causing a lot of resentment in the training industry. To defuse the situation, MS admitted that they would continue support and development of FS, but from China.

So I am half expecting a half-finished product full of malware with unauthorised payments disappearing from my bank account.
 
Yep it sounds like a really watered down version - I'd say Aerosofts new sim will be much better. GFWL wouldn't really mix with a proper flight sim I don't think.
 
Se7ven said:
Age of Empires was practically an online game anyway :p

but good to hear, hope its more an AoE2 type game than AoE 3 ^^
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Yep, thoroughly enjoyed AoE & AoE2 -even my wife did!! Unfortunately during my house clearout (need the room for a nursery) I gave away my original AoE2 box collection to the wife's nephew. A brilliant introduction to rts and a bit of history lesson is ideal for an 11 year old.
 
just been on it, not much info on there, seems good, seems like it will be a bit more accessible, I guess it will have a lot more "game" to it then just sim, more missions etc then fsx.

ShaggyD, didnt they sell that part to lockheed?
 
Hank_Marvin said:
just been on it, not much info on there, seems good, seems like it will be a bit more accessible, I guess it will have a lot more "game" to it then just sim, more missions etc then fsx.

ShaggyD, didnt they sell that part to lockheed?
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I cannot comment much on it, apart from I did recently see a new military classroom-based cockpit trainer that was running a fast jet simulator utilizing the fsx api as the visual database system. This trainer was in development by Lockheed and the software team (all 2 of them) did expess their views, mostly about their problems with MS over lack of support due to scrapping of the original FSX development/support teams. They also felt cheated after Lockheed spent a fortune on purchasing the api and training their guys.

From my understanding, the fsx api was access to the engine code, which was heavily modified to be compatible with most sim industry formats and open to propietry modification & custom toolsets.
 
http://ageofempiresonline.com/faq/

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Why did Microsoft choose Robot to develop Age of Empires Online? Why dissolve Ensemble only to bring back the franchise?

Microsoft Game Studios is always evaluating its business model to determine what is best for both gamers and the company. Many factors were considered in the difficult decision to close Ensemble Studios, but we feel it helped us better align with our goals and long-term development plans. Robot is made up of many of the creative minds behind classic Age of Empires titles, and we’re incredibly proud of the work we’ve done together on Age of Empires Online.
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