Nick Bruty
Encyclopedia
Nicholas Anthony Bruty or Nick Bruty (born in 1969 in Longfield
, Kent
) is a British
video game designer
and entrepreneur
.
He was raised and educated in Livingston, Scotland
. He made his first step into video games when he was 15, working for company SoftStone with his friend David Quinn. Bruty had done some projects for SoftStone when it went bust in 1984. In 1987 Bruty joined Probe Software, where he met another notable VG figure David Perry. Together they formed a team, with Bruty as artist and Perry as programmer, making arcade classics such as Trantor: The Last Stormtrooper
, Savage
, Overlord and Dan Dare 3
.
In 1992 Perry and Bruty went to American division of Virgin Games where they worked on RoboCop versus The Terminator
, Alien³, Aladdin and The Jungle Book
. In 1993 David Perry formed Shiny Entertainment
in California
and Bruty and some members of Virgin Games followed in after finishing The Jungle Book. While in Shiny, Bruty led the art direction on cult platformers Earthworm Jim
and its sequel
, and in Special Edition of first game the level "Big Bruty" was named after him. The finest hour of Bruty in Shiny came with 1997 hit shooter MDK
. He made the idea of game itself, designed the idea of sniper aiming, the characters and designed its humorous style.
After MDK Bruty left Shiny and formed video game company Planet Moon Studios
with another ex-Shiny employees Tim Williams and Scott Guest. The company since made notable Giants: Citizen Kabuto
, Armed and Dangerous
(influenced by MDK) and Infected
. In 2011 Planet Moon closed and the company's staff was acquired by online games developer Bigpoint Games
.
In March 2011 Bruty and ex-Planet Moon Studios lead programmer Richard Sun formed new game company Rogue Rocket Games.
He lives in San Francisco, California
, where Rogue Rocket Games HQ is placed. His wife is Allyn Bruty, who works for Backbone Entertainment
.
Longfield
Longfield is a village in the Dartford borough of Kent. It is located four miles south east of Dartford and near Gravesend. It contains several shops, a pub, and a 14th century church...
, Kent
Kent
Kent is a county in southeast England, and is one of the home counties. It borders East Sussex, Surrey and Greater London and has a defined boundary with Essex in the middle of the Thames Estuary. The ceremonial county boundaries of Kent include the shire county of Kent and the unitary borough of...
) is a British
British people
The British are citizens of the United Kingdom, of the Isle of Man, any of the Channel Islands, or of any of the British overseas territories, and their descendants...
video game designer
Designer
A designer is a person who designs. More formally, a designer is an agent that "specifies the structural properties of a design object". In practice, anyone who creates tangible or intangible objects, such as consumer products, processes, laws, games and graphics, is referred to as a...
and entrepreneur
Entrepreneur
An entrepreneur is an owner or manager of a business enterprise who makes money through risk and initiative.The term was originally a loanword from French and was first defined by the Irish-French economist Richard Cantillon. Entrepreneur in English is a term applied to a person who is willing to...
.
He was raised and educated in Livingston, Scotland
Livingston, Scotland
Livingston is a town in West Lothian, Scotland. It is the fourth post-WWII new town to be built in Scotland, designated in 1962. It is about 15 miles west of Edinburgh and 30 miles east of Glasgow, and is bordered by the towns of Broxburn to the northeast and Bathgate to the northwest.Livingston...
. He made his first step into video games when he was 15, working for company SoftStone with his friend David Quinn. Bruty had done some projects for SoftStone when it went bust in 1984. In 1987 Bruty joined Probe Software, where he met another notable VG figure David Perry. Together they formed a team, with Bruty as artist and Perry as programmer, making arcade classics such as Trantor: The Last Stormtrooper
Trantor: The Last Stormtrooper
Trantor: The Last Stormtrooper is a video game for the ZX Spectrum, Commodore 64, MSX, Amstrad CPC and Atari ST released by Go! in 1987. It was produced by Probe Software . It was released in Spain by Erbe Software...
, Savage
Savage (video game)
Savage is an action video game developed by Probe Software and published by Firebird Software in 1988 for ZX Spectrum, Commodore 64, Amstrad CPC, Atari ST and DOS. In 1989 Firebird published a version for the Amiga.-Gameplay:...
, Overlord and Dan Dare 3
Dan Dare: Pilot of the Future
Dan Dare: Pilot of the Future is a 1986 computer game by Virgin Interactive for the ZX Spectrum, Amstrad CPC and Commodore 64 home computer systems. It is based on the classic British comic strip Dan Dare...
.
In 1992 Perry and Bruty went to American division of Virgin Games where they worked on RoboCop versus The Terminator
Robocop versus The Terminator
RoboCop Versus The Terminator is a video game released for a number of platforms and is based on the RoboCop and Terminator franchises....
, Alien³, Aladdin and The Jungle Book
The Jungle Book (video game)
Walt Disney's The Jungle Book is a series of video games based on the 1967 Disney animated film The Jungle Book, primarily released in 1994. It was first released by Virgin Interactive in 1993 for the Sega Master System...
. In 1993 David Perry formed Shiny Entertainment
Shiny Entertainment
Shiny Entertainment was an American video game developer based in Laguna Beach, Southern California, and the creator of several popular titles such as Earthworm Jim, MDK, Sacrifice and The Matrix: Path of Neo. Shiny was founded by David Perry in October 1993...
in California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
and Bruty and some members of Virgin Games followed in after finishing The Jungle Book. While in Shiny, Bruty led the art direction on cult platformers Earthworm Jim
Earthworm Jim
Earthworm Jim is a run and gun platform video game starring an earthworm named Jim in a robotic suit who battles evil. Created by Doug TenNapel and designed by David Perry, the game was developed by Shiny Entertainment and Playmates Interactive Entertainment, released by Sega for the Mega...
and its sequel
Earthworm Jim 2
Earthworm Jim 2 is a platform video game originally developed by Shiny Entertainment and released in 1995 in Europe, and 1996 in the US, it is a sequel to the 1994 original Earthworm Jim. Again, the game was created by Doug TenNapel with design from David Perry and music from Tommy Tallarico...
, and in Special Edition of first game the level "Big Bruty" was named after him. The finest hour of Bruty in Shiny came with 1997 hit shooter MDK
MDK (video game)
MDK is a third-person shooter game developed by Shiny Entertainment and released in 1997 by Playmates Interactive Entertainment in North America and Interplay Entertainment in Europe for the PC, Macintosh, and subsequently PlayStation. It was one of the first PC games to require a Pentium or...
. He made the idea of game itself, designed the idea of sniper aiming, the characters and designed its humorous style.
After MDK Bruty left Shiny and formed video game company Planet Moon Studios
Planet Moon Studios
Planet Moon Studios is a game development studio based in San Francisco, California founded by ex-Shiny Entertainment developers Nick Bruty and Bob Stevenson in 1997...
with another ex-Shiny employees Tim Williams and Scott Guest. The company since made notable Giants: Citizen Kabuto
Giants: Citizen Kabuto
Giants: Citizen Kabuto is a third-person shooter video game with real-time strategy elements. It was the first project for Planet Moon Studios, which comprised former Shiny Entertainment employees who had worked on the game MDK...
, Armed and Dangerous
Armed and Dangerous (video game)
Armed and Dangerous, often shortened to AnD, is a video game created by Planet Moon Studios and released by LucasArts. It is a third-person Action/Adventure Comedy shooter which parodies both other games and several other media such as The Lord of the Rings, Star Wars and Monty Python and the Holy...
(influenced by MDK) and Infected
Infected (video game)
Infected is a third person shooter for the PlayStation Portable, developed by Planet Moon Studios.-Plot:Infected puts players in the role of a police officer in New York City, 3 weeks before Christmas while the entire city is rapidly being infected with a virus that turns people into ravaging,...
. In 2011 Planet Moon closed and the company's staff was acquired by online games developer Bigpoint Games
Bigpoint Games
Bigpoint GmbH is a German video game developer that has specializes in browser-based games. Bigpoint runs a gaming portal website with a number of browser-based massively multiplayer online role playing games it has produced and has over 200 million registered users...
.
In March 2011 Bruty and ex-Planet Moon Studios lead programmer Richard Sun formed new game company Rogue Rocket Games.
He lives in San Francisco, California
San Francisco, California
San Francisco , officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the financial, cultural, and transportation center of the San Francisco Bay Area, a region of 7.15 million people which includes San Jose and Oakland...
, where Rogue Rocket Games HQ is placed. His wife is Allyn Bruty, who works for Backbone Entertainment
Backbone Entertainment
Backbone Entertainment is an independent video game development company located in Emeryville, California.Backbone Entertainment is the result of a 2003 merger between Digital Eclipse Software and ImaginEngine...
.