Naughty Dog and the art of telling great stories

Naughty dog It is one of the most prestigious studios in the world of video games today. He May 29 You can discover the progress of the company with his next great work, The Last of Us Part II. The sequel to the title starring Ellie and Joel It is set to be one of the biggest names in the current generation of consoles, so all eyes are on its launch. And this is not the result of chance or one day flower, but is a response to the great quality that the Californian study has demonstrated throughout its history.

During these thirty-six years, Naughty Dog has not stopped climbing steps for exceed your limits and make an important place for himself, not only in the PlayStation first party catalog, but throughout the industry, receiving enormous recognition for each of his work. That quality has led them to be responsible for renowned sagas like Crash Bandicoot, Jak & Daxter, Uncharted or own The Last of Us. A path to success perpetrated in a exceptional work.

Early beginnings with talent as a flag

Probably very few know the incredible beginnings that Naughty Dog had, whose original name was JAM Software. The company was founded in 1984 two boys as young as fourteen: Jason Rubin and Andy GavinAlthough his first steps started with only twelve. His earliness did not match his talent, since they had enormous experience in computing and programming languages, which led them to fully delve into the development of video games when the sector was still in its infancy. Gavin was an expert in programmaticwhile Rubin specialized in aspects graphics. Certainly a perfect tandem to get the most out of the hardware of the time.

Thanks to an exceptional documentary about the studio's 30th anniversary, both founders offered details of the most curious of their beginnings. Due to the lack of internet in the eighties, they had to acquire a lot of knowledge through books and autodidact, which led them to create simple games. Andy noted that his developments lacked the artistic side that Jason provided, while his work contained various errors at the functional level. So both of them they fed back, completing the task of the other and obtaining a much more complete and balanced product. Its first great developments came with the machine par excellence of those times: Apple II.

Their first great joint job was a copy of Punch Out! for computer, the well-known title of Nintendo that at that time was available on arcade machines. However, the title never came to light for the legal issues that you could take with the Japanese giant. However, it served as an enormous experience to study movements and learn new techniques. The project ended up being lost in the blue and subsequently overwritten, but it provided them with the necessary launch for his first original game that already made clear the qualities of the two creatives.

It was about Math jam, an educational proposal that wanted to bring mathematics closer to the youngest in a didactic and fun way. The project did not go very far, since the precariousness of its distribution was based on copying the data to floppy disks and with inadvisable conservation practices. In addition, they ran into the need for a group of psychologists and pedagogues, which led them to embark on a new proposal: Ski Crazed. It was his first release in 1986, although the result left a lot to be desired. The gameplay was quite slow and performed with rudimentary means, although with a lot of imagination. The work done gave them a total of 1500 copies sold and an experience they used in their next game, called Dream Zone. His first great success.

In 1987 two seventeen-year-old boys got the critical recognition before a title that exceeded the limits of Apple II and that proposed a very enjoyable experience. It was a video game in the purest style of graphic adventures, with conversations and interactive texts that invited to live the adventure within the dreams of a child. The proposal was very original, since it was developed in black and white in the real world and in color in the dream world. Managed to sell 100,000 copies

in its launch for Apple II and Commodore Amiga, being the first stone towards the tremendous success that awaited them.

The arrival of Electronic Arts and the birth of Naughty Dog

After the success of Dream Zone, Rubin and Gavin tried to broaden their sights towards a more ambitious project, so they contacted Electronic Arts with after projects already ready to try to sign an agreement. Although today it is one of the best known companies in the sector, the EA of the 80s was somewhat weaker in potential, but it was already making a name for itself. The work of the youth of JAM Software managed to satisfy the expectations of the distributor, so they signed an agreement. It was under this alliance that Naughty Dog name came up, because JAM Software has previously been registered. However, neither of them remembers how the new name was forged.

The first project of the renowned Naughty Dog was Keef The Thief, a proposal of role with aspects of comedy that managed to sell 50,000 copies and obtaining benefits before the $ 48,000 invested for its development. Although it was a game with a not inconsiderable difficulty, it managed to catch the public of the time, which led to the second development of the company under the signature of Electronic Arts: Rings of Power, released in 1991. It was the first Naughty Dog title on consoles, launching in the mythical Mega drive. It was one of the most complex developments for Andy Gavin and Jason Rubin at the time, who were really excited to be facing a new system like the SEGA console. His set-up was quite successful, exhausting the 100,000 units They were put up for sale, although Electronic Arts decided to focus on Madden, whose production was cheaper, so no more copies were replaced.

This type of movements didn't fit in with the philosophy of the two creatives, because they thought that Electronic Arts wanted to obtain profitability with simpler games ahead of the quality of other projects. The main drawback lay in the use of the cartridges and the cost of their production, so both companies found a meeting point with the following console in which they developed: 3DO, who used CD. This was a raft for the creativity of Naughty Dog, which began piecework under the new system. In 1994 he was born Way of the Warrior, under the influence of other great fighting titles of the time such as Street Fighter II. Although he did not develop the narrative as much as Rings of Power, he did have a colossal depth, having a different personality for each of the fighters and up to fifty of his own movements. The result was a big stick criticism of its development with a small team, which led Gavin and Rubin to rethink their working method.

It was then when they invested their savings in a letter that was ultimately a winner: get a spot on the Consumer Electronics Show, where his proposals caught the attention of several leading companies, among which were Crystal Dynamics and Universal. The vice president of the same era Mark Cerny, who you will surely know for being the main architect of PlayStation 5, and who was the one who took the cat to the water, because it offered them a very comfortable location in Los Angeles, in addition to giving them creative freedom and the ability to create and produce more games. At that moment, the quality leap that Rubin and Gavin expected to turn Naughty Dog into the giant that is today emerged.

The twist of his life with Crash Bandicoot, the marsupial that changed everything

Under the leadership of Mark Cerny, who has always known how to seize the moment and be a visionary regarding the changes in the sector, Naughty Dog began to apply for the creation of a platform title with an identifying mascot. At that time, the early years of the nineties, the rise of Sonic and Mario, Universal also wanted to have a charismatic character and to join this new trend. Cerny's figure was key for the escalation of Naughty Dog in the sector, as he did with Insomniac Games, a company that has always been twinned with the study of the footprint, and that, as a curiosity, joined the ranks of Universal on the same day.

Cerny's experience in producing the Sonic the Hedgehog 2 served as a guide for what would become the life-changing success of the two young creatives. The idea was to launch that platform title on an exclusive system and PlayStation began its journey in the industry, as shocking 3D demos that amazed Cerny, Rubin and Gavin. To undertake the project and knock on Sony's door, Naughty Dog met with several programmers and designers to expand the template, to form a team of eight people with 1.7 million budget. The agreement with PlayStation came to fruition and the team began what would be their life's work.

To undertake the importance of the project, Naughty Dog cast the rest: they created the engine Game Oriented Object LISP, dedicated to creating characters and improving gameplay. The project started with the curious name of Sonic’s Ass Game

, due to the inspiration in SEGA's mascot and because the character was almost always with his back turned. In the first designs several names were considered: Willy, Weez, Wuzzy or Wizzy, although it was finally presented as Willy the Wombat. During the demonstration that was presented to Sony, the team was delighted to welcome him as their mascot, although with a change that would mark the history of the character: his name. Character remembered a bandicoot more than a wombat and the movement and sound it made break boxes provided him with the name Crash. What is now a legend was born: Crash Bandicoot.

From then on, the project began to deepen, devising other characters such as the great villain of the saga: Neo Cortex, who was born in a company meal. Production started in 1994 and they were destined great creative resources for building characters and settings, until finally Sony could be taught the project a little more than a year later. During the production and promotion process of the title, the first friction between Naughty Dog and Universal, mainly in creative decisions, which led to the absence of the studio at E3 1995, where Crash Bandicoot was presented. What arrived in 1996 with its official launch on PlayStation is known to all: a tremendous success with more than 6.8 million copies that crossed all limits.

The arrival at Sony and the creative explosion with Jak and Daxter

Those frictions in the development of the first Crash Bandicoot were increasing with the fantastic success of the marsupial and the subsequent sequels that both companies carried out together. The Universal president was not at all happy with some of Gavin and Rubin's moves, considering that more importance was being given to the studio than to the publisher. Crash Bandicoot 2 and Crash Bandicoot 3 They arrived very quickly, following in the wake of the great success of the first installment, which brought a colossal source of income for Naughty Dog. His team grew to thirty workers, at which point they launched into the development of Crash Team Racing, the last one that he would elaborate on his favorite pet.

The development of Crash Bandicoot 3: Warped was quite committed, achieving end the patience of many members from the development team, something that exploded with that of Crash Team Racing. The tightness of the calendar led the company to work against the clock and even the limits established by a system that was already threatening to give its last blows were exceeded. Crash Team Racing went above and beyond what the PlayStation hardware allowed, demonstrating the tremendous potential creative that Naughty Dog had in his ranks. The break with Universal came after the development of the karting title and the departure of the company from the guru that led them to success: Mark Cerny launched into the creative process of games, creating the company Cerny Games. It was then that Sony considered the purchase of Naughty Dog, because from one day to the next he saw how his money invested in the image of Crash was lost with the rights of the character in years of Universal: they wanted have control over creations of the footprint study.

This idyll was the best possible news for both companies, as it allowed Naughty Dog to obtain a greater creative freedom to tell stories and Sony to have one of the most promising studios of the time among the ranks of their first parties. The Californian company was one of the first to be able to work with PlayStation 2 And, although they had to abandon their little pet, they soon took it upon themselves to create two other characters recognizable by fans of Sony systems: Jak and Daxter. This work allowed the team led by Gavin and Rubin to make a significant leap, although it followed the same dynamic as that offered by Crash. However, the graphics were remarkably improved, 3D was better worked on and an open semi-world was included that opened up the possibilities of what the studio could be capable of creating. Here, the team began to better organize its work, which is vital for the future. The launch of Jak and Daxter in 2001 was another tremendous success, but new times were coming.

And that was reflected in the development of Jak II. The demands of the public were beginning to change and Naughty Dog realized that they needed iprint a twist to your narratives, to make them much more interesting, despite continuing development in cartoon format. For this reason, Jak s topped being mute in the second installment and elaborated a much more interesting story

and attractive that it managed to capture the attention of the public that was beginning to become fond of other fashion titles at the time, as was the case with Grand Theft Auto III. This explains Jak and Daxter's gender leap in their next two installments, which gave the studio the creative freedom they longed for and the ambition to tell great stories.

Nathan Drake, Joel and Ellie as the showcase of depth to tell stories

The exhaustion of the company's work pace, which led them to launch eight games in nine years, led Jason Rubin and Andy Gavin to the decision of abandon naughty dog to seek new horizons. The departure of the two parents from the study was a hard blow for the team, but they left the company in good hands: Evan Wells and Christophe Balestra they took it upon themselves to take the helm towards the new adventure that was coming with Playstation 3. A more adult stage and more committed to the narrative began, which would take Naughty Dog to what it is today. Logically It was not an easy change, since the team had to face the change of direction, the loss of some employees and the jump to a much more demanding new generation. But again, they proved to know make the best of adversities.

Working in parallel on the home console and the PSP laptop, Naughty Dog produced the saga. Uncharted. It was where the figure of Amy Hennig, one of the main supporters of the saga starring Nathan drake, as a screenwriter and creative director. Also started to emerge Neil Druckmann at this time, being a person who was beginning to stand out in the company. The character soon stood out as one of the main images of the PlayStation brand, indicating the huge jump that Naughty Dog gave with its development. The project had a strong group dedicated to the narrative experience and began to work with the capture of movements. He film atmosphere It was beginning to break through and the adaptation of the studio to this new environment was key to what the Uncharted saga later meant.

The way of telling stories and their translation in the figure of Nathan Drake was the greatest success so far of Naughty Dog in relation to criticism, reaching the prestige of Game of the Year at the Video Game Awards gala (currently The Game Awards) in 2009 with Uncharted 2, following the trail of success marked by the first installment two years earlier. From this moment on, the company completely turned with the narrative experiences. There was still one more episode starring the bounty hunter before making the leap to one of his most transgressive and intimate titles and that would become the most awarded and successful in its entire history.

With Amy Hennig focused on finishing Uncharted 3 and the first sketches of what would later be Uncharted 4, whose process led to her leaving the studio, Neil Druckmann and Bruce Straleand they launched into the creation of a new project much darker and with a more revolutionary component: it was born at that time The Last of Us. Despite having a setting in which the world falls apart, Naughty Dog preferred to focus on the construction of the two main characters and the importance of their relationship. It is the cornerstone of the proposal and what has provided a huge turn to the way of creating footprint studio games. It is no longer worth entertaining in the gameplay, you have to capture the audience with a story that transcends beyond the screen. And that is precisely what The Last of Us achieved, awarded with dozens of awards and standing up to a giant like Grand Theft Auto V, the saga that made them change course by being inspired by their success with the Jak II twist.

The narrative as an art form in the hands of Naughty Dog

The work on The Last of Us has been very inspiring for the studio, something that was already reflected in the launch of Uncharted 4. Certain differences in development ended with Henning's departure from the project and were Druckmann and Straley who took it back to give it a new shape. The nuances of Joel and Ellie's adventure are reflected in the fourth installment starring Nathan Drake, beyond giving a darker tint to his journey in the search for Libertalia. Intimacy and depth of personality of the character and in their relationships intensified, although without losing the essence that had characterized the saga. The path that Naughty Dog was marking was looming through stories that could be considered as works of art in the script field.

Straley's departure left Druckmann alone for the development of The Last of Us Part II, which will arrive on May 29 and will mean the most ambitious bet in which the study has embarked in its thirty-six years of existence. The proposal will explore the darkest side of human nature, being a title that will be based on hatred and revenge. The first title already involved a Moral dilemma between good and evil, so it is more than likely that this line will continue to be present in the sequel. Ellie will acquire a huge role, being the main bulwark of the present of the company and of a future that passes by continuing to bet on narrative as the main element of his works. At least until the industry turns around again, something to which Naughty Dog has demonstrated its superb adaptability for more than three decades.