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Chris Sutherland (programmer)

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Chris Sutherland
Born (1956-02-01) February 1, 1956 (age 68)
England
Occupation(s)Programmer, voice actor
Years active1989–present
Employer(s)Rare, Playtonic Games
Known forBanjo Kazooie, Killer Instinct

Chris Sutherland (born February 1, 1956)[1] is an English video game programmer and voice actor. He is best known for programming several titles while at Rare, including Battletoads Arcade, Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest, and Banjo Kazooie, before co-founding Playtonic Games with several other Rare employees. During this time, he also voiced several characters for the company, including Banjo and Kazooie, Diddy Kong and the announcer of the Killer Instinct series.[2][3]

Biography

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In 1989, Sutherland joined the British video game company Rare as a programmer for The Amazing Spider-Man (1990) on Game Boy.[4][5] Later, he became the lead programmer for Donkey Kong Country (1994), and was responsible for implementing the game's pre-rendered graphics, a process he described as challenging due to the need to reduce the characters' frames of animation.[6] He continued to act as lead programmer for its sequel, Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest (1995), and Banjo-Kazooie (1998) and Banjo-Tooie (2000).[7] During this time, Sutherland provided voice acting for characters in several Rare games, including as Diddy Kong in Diddy Kong Racing (1997) and Donkey Kong 64 (1999), as well as the Banjo-Kazooie series' eponymous characters in all of their appearances.[8] Additionally, he has appeared as the announcer for all three games in the Killer Instinct series.[2]

In 2014, Sutherland left Rare and became one of the founding members of Playtonic Games, alongside other Rare employees including Steve Hurst, Steve Mayles, Gavin Price, Jens Restemeier, and Mark Stevenson.[5][9]

Credits

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Year Title Role
1990 The Amazing Spider-Man Programmer
1991 Sneaky Snakes
1994 Battletoads Programmer, voice actor (Announcer, Rash, Zitz, Pimple)
Donkey Kong Country Lead programmer, voice actor (GBA version only) (Diddy Kong, King K. Rool, Kritter, Krusha, Gnawty)
Killer Instinct Voice actor (Announcer)
1995 Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest Lead programmer, voice actor (GBA version only) (Diddy Kong, King K. Rool)
1996 Killer Instinct 2 Voice actor (Announcer)
Killer Instinct Gold
1997 Diddy Kong Racing Voice actor (Diddy Kong, Banjo, Krunch, Taj the Genie)
1998 Banjo-Kazooie Lead programmer, voice actor (Banjo and Kazooie)
1999 Donkey Kong 64 Lead programmer, voice actor (Diddy Kong, Lanky Kong, Chunky Kong, King K. Rool, Krusha), music vocals ("DK Rap")
2000 Perfect Dark Voice actor (Daniel Carrington, Trent Easton, DataDyne Guards)
Banjo-Tooie Lead programmer, voice actor (Banjo and Kazooie)
2002 Star Fox Adventures Voice actor (SnowHorn Tribe)
2005 Grabbed by the Ghoulies Programmer, voice actor (Banjo Head, Kazooie Head, Vampire Chicken)
Kameo: Elements of Power Voice actor (Old Ma'wood)
2006 Viva Pinata Producer, voice actor (Jardiniero)
2008 Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts Voice actor (Banjo and Kazooie)
2010 Kinect Sports Producer
2011 Kinect Sports: Season Two Project manager
2013 Killer Instinct Voice actor (Announcer "Chris")
2014 Kinect Sports Rivals Project manager
2017 Yooka-Laylee Director, programmer, voice actor (Yooka and Laylee), music vocals ("Yooka-Laylee Rap")
2018 Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Voice actor (Banjo and Kazooie)
2019 Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair Director, programmer, voice actor (Yooka and Laylee)
2020 Mighty Fight Federation Voice actor (Yooka and Laylee)
2021 Terrain of Magical Expertise Voice actor (Spirit Gate)

References

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  1. ^ @vas_90s (January 7, 2021). "Today's Voice Artist Spotlight: Chris Sutherland" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  2. ^ a b Sarkar, Samit (2013-08-23). "Killer Instinct to offer classic announcer, costumes and music". Polygon. Retrieved 2024-06-17.
  3. ^ Stuart, Keith (2015-03-13). "Rare talent: inside the studio building Banjo-Kazooie's spiritual successor". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2024-06-17.
  4. ^ Stone, Tom (2016-11-11). "Ex-Rare legend Chris Sutherland gives us the lowdown on Banjo-Kazooie and Yooka-Laylee". Games Radar. Retrieved 2024-06-17.
  5. ^ a b McFerran, Damien (2022-11-08). "Sacred Spaces: Rare's Manor Farm HQ - Nintendo's '90s Hit Factory". Time Extension. Retrieved 2024-06-17.
  6. ^ DF Retro: Donkey Kong Country + Killer Instinct - A 16-Bit CG Revolution! (YouTube). Digital Foundry. 16 December 2017. Archived from the original on 11 December 2021.
  7. ^ "Chris Sutherland on MobyGames". MobyGames. Retrieved 16 June 2024.
  8. ^ Ogden, Gavin (2008-05-14). "Banjo-Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts - interview". Games Radar. Retrieved 2024-06-17.
  9. ^ Handrahan, Matthew (2015-02-11). "Rare veterans form Playtonic Games". Games Industry. Retrieved 2024-06-17.
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