David Doak
Encyclopedia
David Doak is a Northern Irish video game designer. Originally from Belfast
, he later moved to England
, where he studied at Oxford University on biochemistry specialty and worked as a research scientist. Doak began his video game career working with Rare where he provided network support for Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong's Double Trouble!
and helped develop the critically acclaimed GoldenEye 007 and Perfect Dark
for the Nintendo 64
. In fact, his facial likeness and name were used for a scientist, Dr. Doak, in the former game. This character even plays a key role in the game's second mission.
Doak later left Rare with video game composer Graeme Norgate
to help start Free Radical Design
. From there he worked on the hugely successful video game series TimeSplitters
and two other video games called Haze
and Second Sight
.
Doak left Free Radical (which now is known as Crytek UK) in 2009 and set his own Nottingham
-based studio Zinkyzonk, which would develop games for Facebook
. The company evolved from his defunct studio Pumpkin Beach. Zinkyzonk released their first game, Gangsta Zombies, at 11 July 2010 in partnership with Jolt Online Gaming
.
Belfast
Belfast is the capital of and largest city in Northern Ireland. By population, it is the 14th biggest city in the United Kingdom and second biggest on the island of Ireland . It is the seat of the devolved government and legislative Northern Ireland Assembly...
, he later moved to England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
, where he studied at Oxford University on biochemistry specialty and worked as a research scientist. Doak began his video game career working with Rare where he provided network support for Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong's Double Trouble!
Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong's Double Trouble!
Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong's Double Trouble! is a platform game developed by Rare and published by Nintendo and was the third and final installment in the Donkey Kong Country trilogy until Nintendo announced Retro Studios would be developing the next installment, Donkey Kong Country Returns...
and helped develop the critically acclaimed GoldenEye 007 and Perfect Dark
Perfect Dark
Perfect Dark is a first-person shooter video game developed by Rare for the Nintendo 64 video game console. It is considered the spiritual successor to Rare's earlier first-person shooter GoldenEye 007, with which it shares many gameplay features...
for the Nintendo 64
Nintendo 64
The , often referred to as N64, was Nintendo′s third home video game console for the international market. Named for its 64-bit CPU, it was released in June 1996 in Japan, September 1996 in North America, March 1997 in Europe and Australia, September 1997 in France and December 1997 in Brazil...
. In fact, his facial likeness and name were used for a scientist, Dr. Doak, in the former game. This character even plays a key role in the game's second mission.
Doak later left Rare with video game composer Graeme Norgate
Graeme Norgate
Graeme Norgate is an English video game music composer, who has composed music for a variety of video games developed by Rare. His first project at Rare was writing the music for the Game Boy game, Donkey Kong Land. He also contributed to the soundtracks of Blast Corps and GoldenEye 007...
to help start Free Radical Design
Free Radical Design
Crytek UK, formerly known as Free Radical Design, is a video game developer based in Nottingham, United Kingdom, probably best known for Second Sight and the TimeSplitters series. After going into financial administration, it was announced on February 4 2009 that the studio had been acquired by...
. From there he worked on the hugely successful video game series TimeSplitters
TimeSplitters (series)
TimeSplitters is a series of first-person shooter video games created by Free Radical Design. The games are often compared to Rare's shooters GoldenEye 007 and Perfect Dark since Free Radical Design was founded by a group of ex-Rare employees who developed these games...
and two other video games called Haze
Haze (video game)
Haze is a first-person shooter video game, developed by Free Radical Design and published by Ubisoft for the PlayStation 3. It was released worldwide in May 2008. A demo for Haze was released on the PlayStation Network on May 6, 2008...
and Second Sight
Second Sight (video game)
Second Sight is an action-adventure video game developed by Free Radical Design and published by Codemasters for Nintendo GameCube, Xbox, PlayStation 2, and Microsoft Windows. It was released on September 21, 2004...
.
Doak left Free Radical (which now is known as Crytek UK) in 2009 and set his own Nottingham
Nottingham
Nottingham is a city and unitary authority in the East Midlands of England. It is located in the ceremonial county of Nottinghamshire and represents one of eight members of the English Core Cities Group...
-based studio Zinkyzonk, which would develop games for Facebook
Facebook
Facebook is a social networking service and website launched in February 2004, operated and privately owned by Facebook, Inc. , Facebook has more than 800 million active users. Users must register before using the site, after which they may create a personal profile, add other users as...
. The company evolved from his defunct studio Pumpkin Beach. Zinkyzonk released their first game, Gangsta Zombies, at 11 July 2010 in partnership with Jolt Online Gaming
Jolt Online Gaming
Jolt Online Gaming is an online gaming company hosted in the UK. Its main site provides news, reviews, and interviews concerning upcoming games on consoles and computers, while its gaming network Jolt Online Gaming Network hosts and publishes free-to-play browser based games...
.