Andy Gavin facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Andy Gavin
Gavin in 2009
Born	Andrew Scott Gavin (1970-06-11) June 11, 1970 (age 55) Washington, D.C., U.S.
Education	Haverford College (BS) Massachusetts Institute of Technology (PhD)
Occupation	Entrepreneur game designer novelist programmer
Years active	1984–present
Employer	Naughty Dog (1984–2004)

Andrew Scott Gavin, born on June 11, 1970, is an American who creates video games, starts businesses, and writes books. He is best known for helping to start the video game company Naughty Dog in 1986. He founded it with his childhood friend, Jason Rubin. Naughty Dog created many popular games, including the Crash Bandicoot and Jak and Daxter series. Before Naughty Dog, Gavin worked with a computer language called LISP at a special lab at MIT.

Gavin's Early Learning

Andrew Gavin studied science at Haverford College. He earned a Bachelor of Science degree there. Later, he went to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) for his Ph.D. While at MIT, he worked on a project for the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. This project was about how the Mars Rover could "see" and understand its surroundings.

As a student, Gavin learned the LISP computer programming language. He also created his own programming languages. These special languages were later used to make the graphics, controls, sounds, and smart computer characters in Naughty Dog video games.

Creating Video Games

Gavin at The Naughty Dog Wrap Party in 2009

Andrew Gavin and Jason Rubin sold their first video game, Maths Jam, in 1985. In 1989, they sold another game called Keef the Thief to a big company, Electronic Arts.

In the early 1990s, they made a fighting game called Way of the Warrior. This game helped them get a deal with Universal Interactive Studios. This deal allowed them to create many games. From 1996 to 1999, they made the popular Crash Bandicoot games. After that, they created the Jak and Daxter series.

By the end of 2000, Gavin and Rubin sold Naughty Dog to Sony Computer Entertainment America (SCEA). They had released 14 games under Naughty Dog. These games sold over 35 million copies and made more than $1 billion.

While at Naughty Dog, Gavin developed two special versions of the LISP language. These were called Game Oriented Object Lisp (GOOL) and Game Oriented Assembly Lisp (GOAL). These languages helped them make games in new and clever ways.

New Ventures and Books

After leaving Naughty Dog in 2004, Gavin and Rubin started a new internet company called Flektor. This company was sold to Fox Interactive Media in 2007. Fox described Flektor as a website that helped users turn their photos and videos into cool slideshows and presentations. In 2007, Flektor even worked with MySpace and MTV. They helped provide instant feedback for a special event with Senator Barack Obama.

Gavin left Fox Interactive Media in 2008. In 2009, he and Rubin announced a new company called Monkey Gods. This company worked on a new version of the game Snood. They also made a word game called MonkWerks.

Andrew Gavin is also a writer. He released a fantasy novel called The Darkening Dream in December 2011. His second novel, Untimed, came out in December 2012. This book is about time travel.

Games Andrew Gavin Worked On

Books Written by Gavin

See also

In Spanish: Andy Gavin para niños