Andy Tudor | Official Site
  • Games
  • Music
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Kevin Rose from Digg!
Cliff Bleszinski
Olivier Munn
Levar Burton
Elisha Cuthbert
Ricky Gervais
Vaughn Gitten Jr
Dennis Haysbert
Andreas Katsulas
Greg Grunberg
Myleene Klass
Jim Norton
Reiko Aylesworth
Sarah Clarke
Brandon Block
The cast of 24
Hideo Kojima
Piers Morgan & David Ginola
Andre Lotterer
Dane Bowers
Dan TDM
Travis Pastrana
Julia Hardy
Charlie Sloth
Nicolas Hamilton, Vaughn Gittin Jr, and Ben Collins
Spencer FC

"HOW DID YOU GET INTO THE GAMES INDUSTRY?"

When I was a kid my dad was a teacher in Electrical & Electronic Technology so he used to bring home a wide variety of computers and consoles starting with the classic Pong and ZX81, and progressing through the ZX Spectrum (best game: Fantasy Island Dizzy), Amiga 500 (best game: Alien Breed?), and a 386 PC (Monkey Island for the win!).

It was on the Amiga that I found an outlet to express a talent for art in digital form with Deluxe Paint. I started creating animations and images of all my favorite NES/Megadrive/Amiga characters like Sonic, Zool, and anything by Team 17 (those guys rocked every genre no?!)

With such a healthy start and appetite for games (especially since I am an only child) I then got pretty much every console/computer thereafter (SNES, N64, Gameboy, Sega GameGear) and knew I wanted to do ‘something in games with art’ when I grew up. Every choice I made academically was towards that goal therefore - I took Graphic Design for GCSE and Fine Art for A Level.
It was around this time though that amazing films like Jurassic Park and Toy Story were on release though and I got distracted from games toward film and applying to the National Center for Computer Animation at Bournemouth University for a course in Computer Animation & Visualization (one of the best courses in the UK at the time and the only one in Europe officially recognized by George Lucas). There, I learnt a mix of programming languages (Pascal, C++, Python etc..), advanced mathematics, art history, animation techniques, film history, and software (Maya) eventually ending up with a BA(Hons) 1st degree.

Towards the end of the course, amazing games like Metal Gear Solid and Final Fantasy VIII had been released and luckily drawn me back to my first love of games and upon graduation I was headhunted by Sony’s Cambridge studio and joined as a Junior Artist on the strength of my University portfolio and experience with Maya.

Nowadays, there are a ton of degrees available, and specialist courses in either specific software packages or areas of game development. Outlets like the iTunes App Store or Xbox Live Indie games section offer many different ways into the games industry now so there’s never been a healthier time or more opportunities to make your work public.
Picture

"WHERE DO YOU GET YOUR JEANS FROM?"

Picture
LOL, so I guess I’ve become synonymous with my love for fancy pants right?

Well if you want your strides to be totally on fleek then you should check out the following brands. Most are only available in the States (there’s a great place on Melrose in LA if you’re ever there) but you should be able to find many online nowadays...
Bar: Magic Of Denim
Elvis Jesus
True Religion
Ed Hardy
Okishana Somali

Christian Audigier

"WHY AND HOW DID YOU MOVE FROM ART TO DESIGN?"

As a Lead Artist, you are responsible for all art content that goes into a game. This can be anything from the clothes on a character to a tree in an environment, or the logo on the box art.

On one particular title I was tasked with the design of the user interface having had a graphic design and product branding experience previously.

During this task I was working closely with the Lead Designer at the time asking him the requirements of the interface, what buttons were needed, how big menus should be, and also one continual question - “why”?

“Why” was that button needed? Wouldn’t a better player experience be to do *this* instead? “Why” is this feature even needed if it’s going to be buried this deep down in the interface? “Why” is it going to fun clicking that and what’s the emotion I’m going to feel from doing it?

In the end, I was ultimately asking “Are the game design and the interface to it actually fun?”. And that was the turning point where I realized I wanted to do more than just make games look pretty, but to make them enjoyable to play.

User Interface (or UX for ‘User Experience’ as it’s termed more nowadays) was the discipline via which I transitioned from Art to Design therefore, but I’ve known others that have transitioned via Animation or Cinematics (ie.. into Narrative Design) so there are definitely options if you’re considering the same switch.
Picture

"WHAT'S YOUR FAVOURITE GAME?"

Picture
Picture
This is an impossible one to answer since both your tastes and technology change so drastically over time; what was once The Best Fucking Thing In The World' is now unbearably hideous by today’s standards.

So should your ‘favorite game’ be one that transcends the barrier of technology or graphics therefore? One that can be enjoyed no matter what age you are?

Well if I were to apply those rules I’d have to say things the one game that I can still quite happily play to this day is “Bubble Bobble” by Taito. I remember waiting in line at the arcades for this more than any other (including NARC, Chase HQ, StreetFighter, and Time Crisis) and I purchase each iteration that comes out still to this day. But my 'favorite game’? Hmm... probably not. It’s a fantastic blast but compared to Final Fantasy or Command & Conquer? Unfair to judge to be honest.

If I were to pick a series it would be “Resident Evil”; I’ve played every version of it with the highlights being the original, the sequel (only one of a few games I’ve played twice through), and the more recent "Village"

If it were the game that’s had the most profound affect on me it would be “Final Fantasy VIII” (and yes I know everyone prefers VII). I found every last secret in that game, it’s still the only game that’s made me cry, the characters were memorable, and the soundtrack was epic; I’ll never forget it.

The following Top Tens therefore relate to a specific ‘era’ of my gaming life. The criteria I used was simple - which games did I look forward to purchasing most, which do I still own to this day, and which did I have in the system for the longest time? I haven’t numbered them as, again, that was too hard ;-)
​Here's my Greatest Of All Time list...
  1. Final Fantasy VIII
  2. Bubble Bobble
  3. Street Fighter Alpha 3
  4. Shenmue
  5. Advance Wars
  6. Counter-Strike
  7. Arena of Valor
  8. Metal Gear Solid 2
  9. Soul Calibur
  10. TBD
​Please direct any flaming to me Twitter ;-)
ZX SPECTRUM/C64
Fantasy Island Dizzy
Last Ninja 2
Batman: The Movie
Skool Daze
Green Beret
Salamander
Continental Circus
Rainbow Islands
Robocop
Super Hang-On
ARCADE
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
Chase HQ
Bubble Bobble
Police 9/11
NARC
StreetFighter Alpha 3
Salamander
Operation Wolf
Ghosts & Goblins
1942
AMIGA
Flashback
Monkey Island 2: LeChuck’s Revenge
Supercars II
Sensible World Of Soccer
Turrican 2
Chaos Engine
Project X
Lotus Turbo Challenge 2
Superfrog
Pinball Dreams & Fantasies
SNES/MEGADRIVE
Super Mario World
Desert Strike
StreetFighter II: Turbo
NBA Jam Tournament Edition
Mortal Kombat II
Super Bomberman 2
Turtles In Time
Road Rash
Lost Vikings
Strider
N64/DREAMCAST/PSONE
Goldeneye
Shenmue/Shenmue 2
D2
Project Justice: Rival Schools 2
Marvel vs Capcom 2
Phantasy Star Online
Gran Turismo
Final Fantasy VIII
Resident Evil 2
Time Crisis 2
GAMEBOY/DS/3DS/GAMEGEAR/PSP/PS VITA
Super Mario Land
Shinobi 2: The Silent Fury
Sonic the Hedgehog 2
Wonderboy in Wonderland
Mickey’s Castle of Illusion
God Of War: Chains Of Olympus
Advance Wars: Days Of Ruin
Super StreetFighter IV 3D 
Harvest Moon: Friends of Mineral Town
Mario Kart: Super Circuit
PC
SWAT 4
Command & Conquer 3: Tiberium Wars
Dune 2000
Counter-Strike
Half-Life
The Sims
X-Wing vs TIE Fighter
Star Trek Online
Grim Fandango
Diablo III
GAMECUBE/XBOX/PS3
​
Steel Battalion

Resident Evil 4
PN03
The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker
Capcom vs SNK 2 EO
Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty
God Of War
Grand Theft Auto III
Project Zero II: Director’s Cut
Super Smash Bros Melee
WII/XBOX 360/PS3
​
Soul Calibur IV

Bioshock
Resident Evil 5
Ace Combat 5
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare3
Mass Effect trilogy
Shadow Complex
Gears of War trilogy
Red Dead Redemption
Splinter Cell Conviction
WII U/XBOX ONE/PS4
Coming soon!
  • Games
  • Music