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Amy Hennig

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Amy Hennig
Born1964 or 1965 (age 59–60)
OccupationVideo game writer and director
LanguageEnglish
NationalityAmerican
Alma materUniversity of California, Berkeley
Notable worksLegacy of Kain series; Uncharted series
Notable awardsWriters Guild of America Video Game Writing Award nomination

Amy Hennig (born 1964/65)[1] is a video game director and script writer currently employed by video game company Naughty Dog. She began her work in the industry on the Super Nintendo Entertainment System, making her design debut with Michael Jordan: Chaos in the Windy City. She soon went to work for Crystal Dynamics, working primarily on the Legacy of Kain series. With Naughty Dog, her work has been on two primary series: the Jak and Daxter series and the Uncharted series.

With her writing style, Hennig believes that the creative direction of a script holds more importance than the graphics of the game. She has been called one of the most influential women in the video game industry by Edge magazine, and has been cited as an example of how more women are becoming involved in a previously male dominated field.

Life

Three events in Hennig's life greatly influenced her later work; all happened in 1977. The release of the Atari 2600, Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope, and Dungeons & Dragons changed how games and entertainment in general would be developed.[1]

Hennig graduated from University of California, Berkeley with a bachelor's degree in English literature.[1] She went on to the film school at San Francisco State University, when she was hired as an artist for an Atari game called ElectroCop.[1] Her work on the game made her realize that the video game industry interested her more than the film industry; she dropped out of film school soon after.[1] Hennig claims that her literature degree and film studies have helped her work: "Everything I learned as an undergraduate with English literature and in film school about editing and shots and the language of film has come into play, but in a way I couldn't possibly have planned."[1]

Career

Hennig has worked in the video game industry for more than 17 years.[2] Most of her early jobs involved games on the Nintendo Entertainment System, where she was primarily employed as an artist and animator.[3] Her first job was as a freelance artist for ElectroCop, an unreleased Atari 7800 game, based on the Atari Lynx launch title.[1] Afterwards she had joined Electronic Arts as an animator and artist, doing work on an unreleased title, Bard's Tale 4, and Desert Strike. She later moved to designing and directing video games.[4]

Two years after being hired at Electronic Arts, Hennig worked as an artist on Michael Jordan: Chaos in the Windy City.[2] However, when the lead designer quit, Hennig landed the job.[1] In the late 1990s, she moved to Crystal Dynamics,[5] where she assisted Silicon Knights in the development of Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain. Later, she acted as the director, producer, and writer for Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver.[6][7] She also directed and wrote Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver 2 and Legacy of Kain: Defiance.[8]

Hennig currently acts as the creative director for Naughty Dog.[5] With Naughty Dog, she worked on the Jak and Daxter series. Her most recent work had her as the game director for Uncharted: Drake's Fortune,[9] and head writer and creative director for the Uncharted series. With Uncharted 2: Among Thieves, Hennig led the 150 person team who created the game, as well as acting as writer.[1]

Writing style

Hennig believes the term platformer is outdated and misused with many modern games, preferring a different term like "traversal" for some.[10] She also feels that focusing too much on graphics can inhibit a game, saying that once game writers focus on creative expression, video games will greatly improve.[11]

She often uses supporting characters to highlight personality aspects of other characters through interactions within the script. For example, Chloe Frazer acts as a foil for Nathan Drake, highlighting the darker aspects of his personality and past.[12] With her work in the Uncharted series, Hennig described the writing and plot as on the "bleeding edge" of the genre of cinematic video games.[5] She has won a Writers Guild of America Video Game Writing Award in addition to several other awards for her work on Uncharted 2: Among Thieves.[13][14]

Influence

Hennig has been cited as an example of a successful woman in a historically male dominated industry, and of how women are taking more important roles within it.[15] Hennig herself claims that she has not encountered sexism in the industry, but that differing perspective from men in the industry has helped on some occasions.[1] The UK video magazine Edge named her one of the 100 most influential women in the game industry.[3]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Fritz, Ben (7 February 2010). "How I Made It: Amy Hennig". Los Angeles Times. Tribune Company. Retrieved 26 February 2010.
  2. ^ a b Gifford, Kevin (26 August 2006). "Game Mag Weaseling': Mag Roundup 8/26/06". GameSetWatch. Think Services. Retrieved 1 February 2010.
  3. ^ a b Staff (11 September 2006). "Game Industry's 100 Most Influential Women". Edge. Future plc. Retrieved 1 February 2010.
  4. ^ Meagan Marie. "Storytellers Of The Decade: Amy Hennig Interview". GameInformer.
  5. ^ a b c "Uncharted Territory: The Evan Wells and Amy Hennig 'Uncharted 2' Interview". G4. G4 Media. 6 February 2009. Retrieved 1 February 2010.
  6. ^ "Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver Tech Info". GameSpot. CBS Interactive. 2010. Retrieved 1 February 2010.
  7. ^ "Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver". Allgame. All Media Guide. 2009. Retrieved 1 February 2010.
  8. ^ Pfister, Andrew (13 October 2009). "Launch Primer -- Uncharted 2: Among Thieves". G4 (TV channel). G4 Media. Retrieved 1 February 2010.
  9. ^ Hopper, Stephen (2007). "Fortune Telling: Naughty Dog's Amy Hennig discusses Uncharted: Drake's Fortune". GameZone. GameZone Online. Retrieved 1 February 2010. {{cite web}}: horizontal tab character in |publisher= at position 15 (help)
  10. ^ John, Tracey (19 November 2007). "Naughty Dog: We Need A New Word For "Platformer"". MTV Multiplayer Blog. MTV. Retrieved 1 February 2010.
  11. ^ Ashley, Robert (18 June 2007). "The Future of Games". 1UP.com. UGO Networks. Retrieved 1 February 2010.
  12. ^ Purchese, Robert (16 October 2009). "Uncharted 2: Among Thieves". Eurogamer. Eurogamer Network. Retrieved 1 February 2010.
  13. ^ Wawro, Alex (14 January 2010). "5 games nominated for a Writers Guild Outstanding Achievement Award". GamePro. IDG. Retrieved 1 February 2010.
  14. ^ Alexander, Leigh (23 February 2010). "Uncharted 2, Hennig Take WGA Award". Gamasutra. Think Services. Retrieved 26 February 2010.
  15. ^ Staff (18 June 2008). "The Growing Role of Women in Gaming". Edge. Future plc. Retrieved 4 February 2010.

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