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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.

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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
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Jak & Daxter

UK Playstation Interview
PS2 Memory Lane
Jak & Daxter Q&A
Jak & Daxter Collection
Jak & Daxter Video Retrospective
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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
Bloodborne – Early Impressions
Bloodborne – Detailed Review
Witcher 3 – Detailed Review
Naughty Dog – A Pedigree Breed
The Last of Us
Naughty Dog – 25 Years
Games, Novels, and Story
Diablo 3 Beta Preview
Diablo 3 Barbarian
Barbarian in Inferno
Diablo 3 – From Good to Great
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
The Last of Us – My Review
Hearthstone Beta Review
The Legend of Zelda (NES) Review
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All Things Andy Gavin
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