Sammy Studios Announces Additions To U.S. Internal Development Teams
Paul O'Connor and Max Elliott join teams creating the company's first US-born franchises
Sammy Studios, a developer, publisher and global distributor of interactive entertainment content, today announced the addition of two key people to its internal development teams. Paul O'Connor joins the company as lead designer, coming from Electronic Arts Canada where he served as game designer on original EA properties and an upcoming title in the Need for Speed series. Max Elliott comes to Sammy Studios as lead programmer from Presto Studios, Inc., where as technical director he developed technologies for the company's PC and Xbox games, including MYST 3 Exile and the Xbox Live launch title Whacked!. Paul and Max will join internal teams that have been in place since spring 2002 to create Sammy Studios' first US-developed original franchises.
"The addition of Paul and Max, both of whom have established a reputation for innovating and setting standards in video game design and development, further indicates the caliber of developers we have gathered at Sammy Studios," said John Rowe, president of Sammy Studios. "We have a stellar team and we're on a quest; that of giving game players top-notch video games and creating blockbuster franchises."
Paul O'Connor brings more than 20 years of experience in video game design to his role as lead designer at Sammy Studios. Before EA, Paul worked at Oddworld Inhabitants, where as senior game designer he worked directly with founder Lorne Lanning to develop the company's trademark property, including designing major elements for the inaugural title Abe's Oddysee and the sequel Abe's Exodus. His additional design credits include Demolition Man and Sylvester & Tweety Cagey Capers for Sega Genesis and SNES while at Alexandria Inc., as well as two freelance titles, Dragon Wars from Interplay and Alternate Reality: The Dungeon from Datasoft. Paul made a memorable entry into game design at Flying Buffalo, Inc., where he created the classic pen-and-paper RPG Grimtooth's Tales, and later into video games at Smith Engineering when he served on the Atari 2600 peripheral "Androman" game design team helmed by legendary Atari founder Nolan Bushnell.
Max Elliott has spent 18 years creating high-end simulation graphics and developing 3D graphics standards now widely used in education, government and the video game industry. Before Presto Studios, Inc., Max served as director/lead programmer at Sibling Interactive, where he wrote all code and managed every major element of the private developer's first published title, a PC puzzle game called Milo. Prior to that, he worked as a consultant at VFX, where he helped create visual simulation technologies for coin-op arcade machines and other location-based hardware. Max's work in high-end graphics started at such companies as Digital Equipment Corporation and Template Graphics Software, Inc. (TGS), where he was instrumental in developing technology currently used in OpenGL, PEX, PHIGS and other CAD systems. He played a pivotal role in authoring the implementation of PHIGS, the predecessor to OpenGL and one of the most commonly used CAD training tools in the academic world.
"The addition of Paul and Max, both of whom have established a reputation for innovating and setting standards in video game design and development, further indicates the caliber of developers we have gathered at Sammy Studios," said John Rowe, president of Sammy Studios. "We have a stellar team and we're on a quest; that of giving game players top-notch video games and creating blockbuster franchises."
Paul O'Connor brings more than 20 years of experience in video game design to his role as lead designer at Sammy Studios. Before EA, Paul worked at Oddworld Inhabitants, where as senior game designer he worked directly with founder Lorne Lanning to develop the company's trademark property, including designing major elements for the inaugural title Abe's Oddysee and the sequel Abe's Exodus. His additional design credits include Demolition Man and Sylvester & Tweety Cagey Capers for Sega Genesis and SNES while at Alexandria Inc., as well as two freelance titles, Dragon Wars from Interplay and Alternate Reality: The Dungeon from Datasoft. Paul made a memorable entry into game design at Flying Buffalo, Inc., where he created the classic pen-and-paper RPG Grimtooth's Tales, and later into video games at Smith Engineering when he served on the Atari 2600 peripheral "Androman" game design team helmed by legendary Atari founder Nolan Bushnell.
Max Elliott has spent 18 years creating high-end simulation graphics and developing 3D graphics standards now widely used in education, government and the video game industry. Before Presto Studios, Inc., Max served as director/lead programmer at Sibling Interactive, where he wrote all code and managed every major element of the private developer's first published title, a PC puzzle game called Milo. Prior to that, he worked as a consultant at VFX, where he helped create visual simulation technologies for coin-op arcade machines and other location-based hardware. Max's work in high-end graphics started at such companies as Digital Equipment Corporation and Template Graphics Software, Inc. (TGS), where he was instrumental in developing technology currently used in OpenGL, PEX, PHIGS and other CAD systems. He played a pivotal role in authoring the implementation of PHIGS, the predecessor to OpenGL and one of the most commonly used CAD training tools in the academic world.