Jon Hare

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Jon "Jops" Hare (born 20 January 1966 in Ilford, Essex, UK) is a British computer game designer, game artist and musician. He is one of the two founder members and directors, with Chris Yates, of Sensible Software, one of the most successful European games development companies of the late '80s and '90s.

Hare was co-designer and artist of all of Sensible's hits prior to 1992 including Parallax, Wizball, Microprose Soccer, SEUCK and Wizkid. He was also the lead designer and creative director of Mega Lo Mania, the Sensible Soccer series and the Cannon Fodder series, some of the most popular software franchises of the mid 1990s.

Hare is also known for writing the music for a number of Sensible Software's games, including Cannon Fodder, Sensible Soccer, Sensible Golf and the never released Sex 'n' Drugs 'n' Rock 'n' Roll, which featured over 30 tracks written and arranged by Hare and his frequent musical collaborator, Richard Joseph.

Since the sale of Sensible Software to Codemasters in 1999, Hare has worked on a number of games in the capacity of a consultant designer on a number of titles including Prince Naseem Boxing, Frontline Command, Mike Tyson Heavyweight Boxing, Real World Golf, Sensible Soccer 2006 and, as co-owner of development company Tower Studios, a number of mobile games titles including Cannon Fodder, Sensible Soccer, and International Rugby 7s.

Hare has been a voting member of BAFTA across all media since 2004.

As of June 2006, Jon contributes a weekly politics feature to UK video game radio show One Life Left.

Jon then became a director of development at Nikitova Games, a games developer with offices in Chicago, Los Angeles and London; and development studios in Kiev, Ukraine. They worked on several projects for Nintendo DS and Wii.

In July 2009, Hare joined Jagex (makers of browser-based MMORPG RuneScape and casual gaming website FunOrb) as their Head of Publishing^[1].

Jon is a member of the C64 rock band SID80s, with whom he has performed at various retro gaming concerts.

[edit] External links

This article includes a list of references, related reading or external links, but its sources remain unclear because it lacks inline citations. Please improve this article by introducing more precise citations where appropriate. (February 2008)

• Hare's profile on MobyGames
• Desert Island Discs style interview with Hare at GameShadow.com
• Interview with Jon Hare
• Radio interview
• Video of renowned C64-music retro band PRESS PLAY ON TAPE and Jon Hare, playing the theme from Cannon Fodder on various game controllers
• TV Interview with Jon Hare on Channel m's Re:Loaded

[edit] References

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