Mark Cerny's name may not have the cache of Shigeru Miyamoto or Will Wright, but to those in the industry, he's seen as one of the most influential designers of the last two decades. The Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences (AIAS) announced today that Mark Cerny will be the 13th inductee into the Academy's Hall of Fame, "which is bestowed upon individuals who've contributed a significant advancement within the industry while demonstrating proven success and leadership."
Cerny got started at the age of just 17 as a programmer for Atari in 1982. His first game was Marble Madness, which remains a popular title to this day thanks to its "Escher-esque graphics and physics-based gameplay." Cerny also worked for Sega in Tokyo, transitioning from arcade games to cartridge-based games, and he created Shooting Gallery for the Sega Master System. Cerny was so far ahead of his time that during the 1980s he even worked on a line of 3-D games using active shutter glasses, and an online games network. Upon returning to the U.S. for Sega, he then founded and managed the Sega Technical Institute and oversaw the development of Sonic the Hedgehog 2.
After Sega, he joined Universal Studios in 1994 to set up product development at their interactive group, as VP and later President. He managed the design and development of the Crash Bandicoot and Spyro the Dragon series for PlayStation. The former was so popular that it had practically become the PlayStation mascot. Cerny also helped to enhance the games' appeal for the Japanese market. In Japan, Crash Bandicoot actually became the most successful foreign developed, character-based video game of all time.
As time went on, Cerny founded Cerny Games in 1998 in order to do consulting work. He offered his services to Universal Studios for subsequent Spyro the Dragon and Crash Bandicoot titles, and later he worked with Insomniac and Naughty Dog on their debut titles for PlayStation 2 as engine programmer for Jak & Daxter: The Precursor Legacy and game designer for Ratchet & Clank. His contributions don't stop there. Cerny also helped with Resistance: Fall of Man, Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction, Resistance II, Uncharted: Drake's Fortune, God of War III, and numerous technology initiatives within Sony Computer Entertainment.
Cerny's unique production methodology called Method is particularly noteworthy. "Mark's thinking on how best to create games has been truly influential," commented former Ensemble Studios man Bruce Shelley, 2009 inductee into the AIAS Hall of Fame. "The Cerny Method, with its emphasis on creative freedom and risk taking, has informed the debate on the proper role of preproduction in video game development."
"Mark is one of the only individuals who have managed to stay on the cutting edge of game development from the heyday of arcade games all the way up to the current generation of gaming consoles," said Evan Wells, co-president, Naughty Dog. "Each step of the way he's redefined how the industry thinks about game design, technology, and production philosophies. The franchises he's helped launch are some of the most influential in the business."
Joseph Olin, president, AIAS, added: "Mark Cerny is the closest we have come to a modern-day Da Vinci. He is a diversely accomplished game designer, producer, programmer and technologist. Fluent in Japanese and one of the foremost Western experts on the Japanese game market, he's also one of the only top-level independents in a business dominated by institutions. His contributions to projects have been phenomenally successful, with sales of almost two billion dollars and over a dozen titles each exceeding two million units in sales."
The Hall of Fame Award will be presented by Brian Allgeier, Creative Director at Insomniac Games, at the 13th Annual Interactive Achievement Awards (Feb. 18), which of course is part of the upcoming D.I.C.E. Summit taking place at the Red Rock Resort in Las Vegas.
