Ed Boon
Ed Boon | |
|---|---|
 Ed Boon (right) at E3 2013 | |
| Born | Edward J. Boon February 22, 1964 |
| Occupation(s) | Game programmer, director and producer |
Edward John "Ed" Boon (born February 22, 1964) is an American video game programmer and director who had been employed for over 15 years at Midway Games and since 2011 works for Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment in its subsidiary company NetherRealm Studios. Boon is best known for the widely popular Mortal Kombat series, which he created with John Tobias.
Life and career
Boon was born and raised in Chicago, Illinois, and graduated high school at Loyola Academy in Wilmette. He earned a Bachelor of Science degree in mathematics and computer science from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.[1]
After graduation he was employed by Williams Entertainment in their pinball department, working on approximately 20 pinball games over the next two years.[2]
He is the co-creator of the Mortal Kombat fighting game series, along with John Tobias,[3] and served as the series' lead programmer, with Tobias the lead designer, until their partnership dissolved with Tobias' departure from Midway in 2000. Boon named series characters Sonya Blade and Tanya after his sisters Sonya and Tania, while another character, Noob Saibot, was named after Boon and Tobias' reversed surnames.
Boon was ranked #100 in IGN's 2009 list of "Top 100 Game Creators" for his involvement in the Mortal Kombat series.[4] He continues to be directly involved with the MK franchise and its multimedia side projects, and has also provided voice acting and motion capture work for the games, most notably providing the voice for the "Get Over Here!" catchphrase uttered by Scorpion in every installment of the series up until Mortal Kombat X, as well as both feature films. The 2008 edition of Guinness World Records Gamer's Edition consequently awarded him a world record for the "longest-serving video game voice actor."
Works
Video games
- High Impact Football (1990)
- Super High Impact (1991)
- Total Carnage (1992) as the voice of General Akhboob
- Mortal Kombat (1992) - designer, programmer
- Mortal Kombat II (1993) - designer, programmer
- Mortal Kombat 3 (1995) - designer, programmer
- Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 (1995) - executive producer, designer, programmer
- Mortal Kombat Trilogy (1996)
- Mortal Kombat Mythologies: Sub-Zero (1997)
- Mortal Kombat 4 (1997)
- Mortal Kombat Gold (1999) - project lead
- The Grid (2000)
- Mortal Kombat: Deadly Alliance (2002) - team lead, game design, programming
- Mortal Kombat: Deception (2004) - project lead, game design, programming
- Mortal Kombat: Shaolin Monks (2005) - executive producer
- Mortal Kombat: Armageddon (2006) - creative director
- Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe (2008)
- Mortal Kombat (2011) - team leader, creative director
- Mortal Kombat Arcade Kollection (2011)
- Batman: Arkham City Lockdown (2011) - creative director
- Injustice: Gods Among Us (2013) - team leader, creative director, "Get over here!" Scorpion voice
- Injustice: Gods Among Us Ultimate Edition (2013) - team leader, creative director, "Get over here!" Scorpion voice
- Batman: Arkham Origins (2013)
- Mortal Kombat X (2015) - director
- Mortal Kombat XL (2016) - Producer/Director
- Injustice 2 (2017) - Director
Pinball
- F-14 Tomcat (1987) - effects
- Space Station: Pinball Rendezvous (1987) - software and effects
- Banzai Run (1988) - effects
- Taxi (1988) - software and effects
- Black Knight 2000 (1989) - software and effects
- FunHouse (1990) - voice of Rudy
Film
- Mortal Kombat (1995) - voice of Scorpion
- Mortal Kombat Annihilation (1997) - voice of Scorpion
- Mortal Kombat: Legacy (2011) - cameo appearance in first-season episode "Johnny Cage"
References
- ^ "Universities of Missouri, Illinois hailed as tech's powerful colleges". St. Louis Business Journal. 2010-05-03. Retrieved 2010-06-03.
- ^ "Mortal's Master: Programmer Ed Boon". GamePro (86). IDG: 38–40. November 1995.
- ^ "E3 2010: Mortal Kombat Returns! See the New Trailer!". DreadCentral.
- ^ IGN Games (2009-02-23). "Top 100 Game Creators". IGN. Retrieved 2010-06-03.
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