Naughty Dog

In With EA

In 1989, JAM Software signed with Electronic Arts, their first big publisher. That same year, they officially changed their name to Naughty Dog. The newly named company began producing Keef the Thief for the Apple IIGS, Amiga, Atari ST, and PC.

Naughty Dog published Rings of Power in 1992, which was one of EA’s first of three Genesis projects. The two founders parted ways to pursue learning objectives (Gavin to MIT and Rubin to Newport Beach). Those parted ways lasted less than a year. Naughty Dog reformed in Boston and made Way of the Warrior for the 3DO This game was financed 100% by Naughty Dog.

The Birth of the Bandicoot

While searching for a publisher for Way of the Warrior, Naughty Dog was introduced to Universal Interactive Studios. UIS published Way of the Warrior and Naughty Dog signed a 3 project deal with UIS. They moved their headquarters to LA, recruited other employees (now dubbed The Pack), and started work on Crash Bandicoot.

The video game community first saw Crash Bandicoot at E3 in 1996. It was hailed as the most original game since Mario and even touted as the Mario-beater. Whatever the public saw in the little guy, motivated Naughty Dog to create two sequels and a Crash Kart racing game.

And the Rest…

In 2001, Naughty Dog became an exclusive subsidiary of Sony Computer Entertainment and began another successful franchise, Jax and Daxter. Don’t think these guys are rolling over for Sony. With over 22 million copies of the four crash games sold worldwide, Naughty Dog runs with their own Pack. Look for PS3 and PSP titles coming soon.

Gameology

3DO

• Way of the Warrior

AMIGA

• Dream Zone

GENESIS

• Rings of Power

PC

• Dream Zone
• Keef the Thief

PLAYSTATION

• Crash Bandicoot
• Crash 2: Cortex Strikes Back
• Crash Bandicoot: Warped
• Crash Team Racing

PLAYSTATION 2

• Jak and Daxter: the Precursor Legacy
• Jak II
• Jak X: Combat Racing

PSP

• Daxter