Video Games

I and my partner Jason Rubin founded Naughty Dog, Inc. in 1985 and ran the company for almost twenty years. While there, I was a design/co-director/technical lead on Math Jam, Ski Crazed, Dream Zone, Keef the Thief, Rings of Power, Way of the Warrior, Crash Bandicoot, Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back, Crash Bandicoot: Warped!, Crash Team Racing, Jak & Daxter: The Precursor Legacy, Jak II, and Jak 3. I was lead programmer (and sometimes sole programmer) on all of these games except for Crash Team Racing.

Overall, games I’ve been lead programmer on have sold more than 40 million copies worldwide.

The story of my earliest days as a programmer can be found here.

Below is an index of my posts about video games development. To see all the games posts inline click here. Eventually I plan on doing series about each of my games, but I’ve only tackled the first Crash Bandicoot at this time.

_

Crash Bandicoot

Making Crash Bandicoot – part 1 - the idea

Making Crash Bandicoot – part 2 - characters

Making Crash Bandicoot – part 3 – the tech

Making Crash Bandicoot – part 4 - gameplay

Making Crash Bandicoot – part 5 - crates & more

Making Crash Bandicoot – part 6 - E3 & beyond

Crash as a Startup

Crash Bandicoot – An Outsider’s Perspective

Crash Bandicoot Programming – GOOL

Crash Bandicoot goes to Europe

Crash Bandicoot goes to Japan – part 1

Crash Tools – part 1

Crash Tools – part 2

Crash Tools – part 3

Crash Bandicoot Russian Fan Interview

Old 20 Questions from NDI website

Crash Anniversary Memories

Crash Launch Commercials

Crash Fan Tribute

_

Jak & Daxter

PS2 Memory Lane

Jak & Daxter Q&A

Jak & Daxter Collection

Jak & Daxter Video Retrospective

_

Miscellaneous

How do I get a job designing video games?

Video Game Programming – Why

Video Game Programming – The Specs

Video Game Programming – Getting Started

Video Game Programming – School

Video Game Programming – The Method

All Your Base Are Belong to Us

Ready Player One (awesome video game novel)

Musings on LISP

WOW Expansion Cinematics

Uncharted 3 Reviews

Way of the Warrior – Lost Interview

Dark Souls – Mini Review

Naughty Dog – A Pedigree Breed

Naughty Dog – 25 Years

Games, Novels, and Story

Diablo 3 Beta Preview

Diablo 3 Barbarian

Barbarian in Inferno

Mists of Pandaria Leveling

WOW Endgames – Vanilla

WOW Endgames – The Burning Crusade

WOW Endgames – Wrath of the Lich King

WOW Endgames – Cataclysm

WOW Endgames – Pandaria

World of Warcraft – 8 Year Anniversary Video

_

Pingback: Crash Bandicoot – Interviews “R” us « All Things Andy Gavin
Pingback: Making Crash Bandicoot – part 1 « All Things Andy Gavin
Pingback: Old Crash 20 Questions « All Things Andy Gavin
Pingback: Eyeborg – Resistance is Futile « All Things Andy Gavin
Pingback: So you want to be a video game programmer – part 1 – specs « All Things Andy Gavin
Pingback: So you want to be a video game programmer? – part 1 – Why « All Things Andy Gavin
Pingback: So you want to be a video game programmer? – part 3 – Getting Started « All Things Andy Gavin
Pingback: So you want to be a video game programmer? – part 4 – School « All Things Andy Gavin
Pingback: Crash Memories « All Things Andy Gavin
Pingback: So you want to be a video game programmer? – part 5 – The Method « All Things Andy Gavin
Pingback: Crash Launch Commercials « All Things Andy Gavin
Pingback: Ready Player One « All Things Andy Gavin
Pingback: Lispings ala John McCarthy « All Things Andy Gavin
Pingback: Making Crash Bandicoot – GOOL – part 9 « All Things Andy Gavin
Pingback: Expansion of the WOW Factor « All Things Andy Gavin
Pingback: Crash for Charity « All Things Andy Gavin
Pingback: Uncharted 3 Reviews Live « All Things Andy Gavin
Pingback: Way of the Warrior – The Lost Interview « All Things Andy Gavin
Pingback: Dark Souls :: All Things Andy Gavin
Pingback: Introducing the Gallery :: All Things Andy Gavin
Karen

Andy Gavin you (and Jason Rubin) are truly legends! Playing the Crash games as a kid, I had no idea how revolutionary they were to the gaming industry. I feel like I owe a lot to crash for not only being the first game character I loved but also giving the gaming industry a boost, and an incentive to step up their performance. Crash is such an important figure to me, and I do hope one day that gaming trends will shift somewhere back to those colorful, cartoony, exciting worlds that Crash Bandicoot gave to us, despite the fact I still love gritty/dark games. I also hope that some day, i don’t care when, Crash will return, and when he does, he’ll give us something great and wonderful to play, perhaps not as good as the originals, but surely better than what we’ve been given today.

Also, as for your other video game articles, I’ve read them all and they are very interesting! Thanks for taking the time to blog these for us!
Also, I was wondering… do you personally think a re-make of the original crash bandicoot would be cool if done right? As in, if characters were given back their original designs and the linear/platforming system of gameplay was restored? I know free-romp is much more popular now but I personally prefer platformers, and I feel like they should still be around. At times it feels like we’re being given the same games over and over again, at least to me. :/
Sorry for ranting! You have just been such an inspiration on my future career choice, and these articles have really gotten me interested!

-Karen
- http://all-things-andy-gavin.com Andy Gavin
  
  Thanks for the kind words!
Pingback: Jak & Daxter Collection :: All Things Andy Gavin
daniel.collins15

A week ago, i got off my computer, off WOW, off my Diablo 3 beta, off it in general. I sat down, dusted off my old PS2 and put in the best game i have ever played. Jak and Daxter, The Precursor Legacy. There are so many different things i want to say, but the best one is thank you. Thank you for making a game that i enjoyed thoroughly through my childhood, a game that never ceases to amaze you or challenge you. All the Jak and Daxter games that were developed by naughty dog were truly amazing, ill say it again, Thannk you so very much.
- http://all-things-andy-gavin.com Andy Gavin
  
  You are very welcome!
  - daniel.collins15
    
    One more question ive been dieing to ask the right person (Looks like ive found him)
    
    Is there a future for Jak and Daxter? I had to ask
    
    One other thing aswell, what was your involvement in J&D The Lost Frontier?
    
    All the best
    - http://all-things-andy-gavin.com Andy Gavin
      
      There is the Jak & Daxter Collection, coming in a month or so. Beyond that, who knows?
NDs CB-J&D Fan

Mr.Andy , i have two simple words for you YOU RAAAAWWWWK!!!
naughty dog is and always have been number 1 to me since the early days of crash bandicoot ..

i have a question that has been in my mind a while …
Lisp is not a well-known “game” programming language , yet you made amazing games with it … how did that happen? how did you manage to make gool and goal and make awesome games with it ? and lastly do you think any language is capable of making good games ? ( i’m talking about python , it’s easy but never seen a decent 3d game written in py)
- http://all-things-andy-gavin.com Andy Gavin
  
  Any language could make a great game, but some are better at certain tasks than others. Python for example, in its typical implementation, isn’t designed to run in super tight memory environments as it is usually interpreted with a garbage collector. Game machines haven’t typically supported that kind of system because GC pauses can ruin the game.
  - NDs CB-J&D Fan
    
    thanks for answering my question … since i’m on python (and there are some taske won’t be good with it ) i’ll jump to Lisp later …
    thanks again

All Things Andy Gavin
Copyright © 2013 All Rights Reserved

Programmed by Andy Gavin