over 1 year ago - Age of Empires - Direct link

Transcript (by Youtube)


6s Hi this is Aaron Greenberg and just wanted to say a huge thanks for asking me
10s to share what Ages of Empires means to me.
13s This is a franchise that I go way way way back on.
17s In fact I think I've spent more time playing Age of Empires 2
22s than any other game before I joined the games business.
26s When I was working at Microsoft early in my career,
28s it was a game I had on my laptop,
30s I played it everywhere I went, whenenever I was there,
33s and got me dreaming of "maybe I could actually work in games some day."
36s And to be part of a team that has brought Age 2 back,
40s that has worked to bring Age 4 to life,
42s has just been one of the career highlights for me,
46s and to be part of a team that's done that.
47s 2017 when we were in Germany was a very special moment,
51s when we announced that we were making Age 4,
54s and to see the fans, all around the world,
57s in so many different countries, in so many different languages,
60s growing and supporting and building the community that we have today.
64s And I'm really excited about what's coming next in the future.
67s So that's what Age of Empires means to me.
68s It's deep deep deep rooted from my early days to today
72s one of my absolutely favorite franchises
74s and I can't wait to see what's next.
76s Hi folks, my name is Sam Reynolds.
78s And I work bringing all XGS titles to Steam for our PC users.
82s I've been a gamer since I was probably about five years old,
85s and in all of that time, some of my strongest and fondest memories
89s are of the original Age of Empires.
90s I first watched it being played at a friend's house
93s with about six of us all crowded around the screen.
96s Everybody was shouting out different advice,
98s nobody knew what was going on,
100s not even the person controlling the mouse.
102s And then a little bit later on, someone actually installed it
105s at our PCs at school.
106s So every chance we got a group of us would rush over
109s try and grab a seat, and get down to some serious LAN.
112s And I just loved the game!
114s The historical setting and the way things worked
116s meant that every match was essentially a story.
119s The way that the Ages progress means that you've always got to be
122s balancing your military versus your economy versus your research.
126s And the thing that really brought it home for me,
128s was that there were so many different ways to win.
131s I annoyed a lot of my friends by being a bit of a "turtler"
134s and this was back in the days before the trebuchets
136s so I could kinda get away with it.
138s Obviously I wanted to own it myself, so I could finally play the campaign.
143s So I had to wait until Christmas, and when Christmas rolled around
147s we were on holiday, so I had to wait another two or three weeks.
150s Very frustrating! But back in those days
153s I could pass the time looking at the manual
155s and the tech tree, which came in the case.
157s And they must've been the most read bits of paper
160s for a thousand miles. I read them a million times.
164s My disc was actually stolen a few years later,
166s So I dropped out a little bit, but I'm now very happy to be
170s the proud owner of all four titles.
172s And, yeah, it's amazing to see the franchise come so far,
176s it's amazing to be celebrating the 25th Anniversary...
178s And, yeah, I look forward to seeing what the future holds.
182s Cheers.
184s One of the things I absolutely love about our franchise
186s is how there's so many different ways to experience Age of Empires.
189s I'm mostly a casual player, I like to play Skirmish a lot,
192s but I also really enjoy playing with my family and my kids.
195s Some of the fondest memories I have are of learning
197s about history together through the campaigns and the videos.
201s We also like to play multiplayer against each other.
203s We essentially play these one hour, and longer, treaty games.
206s We like to take the time to build up our eco,
208s to create these beautiful medieval towns full of castles,
211s to build up our big armies, and then load them up with trebuchets and bombards.
215s And then all bets are off!
217s It's every person for themselves after that.
219s So for all of you who also have similar stories
221s and experiences with Age of Empires,
222s thank you so much for your support over all these years.
226s Hi everyone!
227s Age of Empires is a very special franchise for me.
231s Personally as a gamer, but also as a Marketer.
236s My career started in 1997,
240s when I was hired as the Product Manager for PC Games in the Netherlands.
244s And one of the first games that I worked on, was Age of Empires.
248s And one of the most beloved boxes
251s that I have in my collection is this one.
253s It's a signed copy by Bruce Shelley
257s who used to come over and excite the teams and the media
261s about the franchise.
264s I'm very grateful that I've been part of this franchise from the beginning.
268s And it's also interesting to see, kinda like, how our fan base
273s has grown over the years as well.
275s I used to play the game, just with my friends
279s and in today's environment, with Age of Empires IV
283s I'm actually enjoying the games with both of my daughters
287s as well as my son.
289s So I'm just very excited that I'm part of the franchise,
293s That I can work with all the talented people,
296s that I can see the reactions from the fans out there.
299s And I'm very, very excited about what the future will bring as well.
304s So thank you all.
305s The story of "AoE and Me" is one of nostalgic dreams forming into reality.
312s Age of Empires was one of the first games that I remember playing growing up.
316s Way back in 1997, 1998, my family got our first at-home computer,
322s and among the games we had was one from Ensemble Studios.
327s From the first time I launched Age of Empires, I was hooked.
332s Not only did I like the city-building aspect,
335s but this was a game where I was learning history as well,
338s and, more importantly, I could build out maps and scenarios.
344s This was my first gateway into game design.
350s I recall a vacation where I wasn’t allowed to bring the family laptop,
354s so I brought pens and graph paper, and I was drawing out Age of Empires maps!
361s If 10 year old me knew that I would one day be working for Age of Empires,
367s I would have been blown away!
370s This is a game franchise that I grew-up playing,
373s aging up myself as the titles aged up as well.
377s Every time I expanded my horizon on game design,
381s there was Age of Empires with a new expansion,
386s new title, or peripheral product to teach me more.
390s I always viewed myself as an educator as well as a gamer,
396s and Age of Empires is that same perfect blend.
401s Flash forward in time: I’ve gone to college,
405s I've gotten my Master's of Education,
407s and I've moved to the Pacific Northwest to be with my husband.
410s And I'm looking for a job in 2019, when a recruiter contacts me and says:
418s “Have you ever heard of a game called Age of Empires?”
422s Hello, I was lucky enough to be,
425s already be in Microsoft 25 years ago.
428s And in fact the person who hired me to Microsoft
431s and the gaming industry, eventually became the producer for Age of Empires.
435s So being able to work on Age of Empires again
438s is literally coming full circle back to, like back home.
441s And it is a game that obviously we all love,
445s and it is really really awesome to be able to work on something
449s that so many people feel very attached with,
452s and that includes me obviously, as well.
455s And sometimes I literally pinch myself to say like
458s "Hey, I get to work on Age of Empires!" It's awesome.
460s And so thank you very much everyone out there who's playing the game still.
464s And I hope you will also continue to spread the love of Age of Empires
470s to all our friends and family and more people in the world.