Welcome to this fifth day of March, 2015. I’m John “Boomjack” Hoskin and this is Here Comes The Boom – EP #27.
Many of you love your Throwback Thursdays. I find it somewhat ironic that the #TBT hashtag, which apparently started on Instagram only dates back to 2011. Yet, I aim to please and so I give you this Throwback.
You're only as old as you believe you are
Age of Empires was the first game that I was ever a part of, in the sense of being part of a gaming community. I spent hundreds if not thousands of hours playing Age of Empires, helping build the game and more importantly to me, cultivating the community that rose up around it.
AoE Heaven, the place where everyone who enjoyed the game hung out, was a site that I incubated. I owned an ISP in those days and hosted game sites for free.
Some great people, Mike McCart (who later went on to work at Ensemble Studios) and Steve Cherrier (who is a PR gaming genius) were just two gentlemen who I was fortunate enough to work with in those days. Rick Goodman and Bruce Shelley of Ensemble Studios were incredible mentors. The game and the people that I met because of it have helped shape me as a person. It's no coincidence that my children love games.
So there is my throwback and here are pictures of the original AoE Foil (signed by Rick and Bruce) and AoE inked art. My apologies for the glare, but these are hanging on my office wall. Very few people have ever seen these. The inked piece of art is one of a kind. The foil is one of very, very few.
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What games shaped who you are or what you do for a living?
If you received even an iota of enjoyment from this then please support both myself and TenTonHammer by doing one of more of the following:
- Read my previous columns
- HCTB 26: Memories and Moments
- HCTB 25: Winners and Losers – Iron Tide
- HCTB 24: First World Gamer Problems
- HCTB 23: Strongbad is Back
- HCTB 22: Free Steam Keys
- HCTB 21: Destiny Bounty Guides
- HCTB 20: Destiny Video Farming Guides
- HCTB 19: Casino Cave Closed
- HCTB 18: Why Light Is Important in Destiny
- HCTB 17: Do You Like Green Engrams?
- HCTB 16: Destiny Is A Nursery Rhyme
- HCTB 15: Is This My Destiny?
- HCTB 14: Censored
- HCTB 13: Hype and Hope
- HCTB 12: Irritated by Ice Bucket Challenge
- HCTB 11: Censored
- HCTB 10: I Got Fireflied
- HCTB 9: Gaming Junkets, Do We Need Them?
- HCTB 8: Need For Speed or Gaming Gourmand
- HCTB 7: Every Breath You Take
- HCTB 6: Dear LPBs and Twitch
- HCTB 5: Comments
- HCTB 4: If MMO Fans Were World Cup Fans
- HCTB 3: Censored
- HCTB 2: Censored
- HCTB 1: EA vs Activision
- Follow me on Twitter (@BoomjackTTH)
- Whitelist us if you use adblocking software
- Comment below (even a “this sucks” will do)
Thanks again. I appreciate your support. Who’s awesome? You’re awesome!
To read the latest guides, news, and features you can visit our Age of Empires Online Game Page.