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Jon Hare | |
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Born | |
Nationality | British |
Occupation(s) | Video game designer, video game artist, musician |
Known for | Founder of Sensible Software |
Jon "Jops" Hare (born 20 January 1966, Ilford, Essex, England) is an English computer game designer, video game artist, musician and one of many founder members of the early UK games industry as co-founder and director, along with Chris Yates, of Sensible Software, one of the most successful European games development companies of the late 1980s and 1990s.
In 2006 the Sensible Software game Sensible World of Soccer, for which Hare was Creative Director and Lead Designer, [1] was entered into a Games Canon of the 10 most important video games of all time by Stanford University, [2] it was the only game developed in Europe to make the list which also included Spacewar!, Star Raiders, Zork, Tetris, SimCity, Super Mario Bros. 3, Civilization, Doom, and the Warcraft series.
Hare has the unique distinction of a #1 football game in each of 4 consecutive decades MicroProse Soccer 1988, Sensible World of Soccer 1994, Sensible Soccer (mobile) 2004 and Sociable Soccer 2019, developed by Tower Studios for whom he has been co-founder and CEO since 2004.
Visiting Professor of Games for Anglia Ruskin University, Cambridge since 2017, Hare has also been a voting member of BAFTA since 2004 for whom he frequently chairs Games Awards Juries.
Following a year of working as a consultant games artist on various ZX81, ZX Spectrum and Commodore 64 games in 1985, Hare became co-founder of Sensible Software with school friend Chris Yates in 1986 working as co-designer and lead artist of all of Sensible's 8-bit era games including Parallax , Wizball , Microprose Soccer and SEUCK .
As Sensible Software moved into the 16-bit era in the 1990s Hare took a more active role in overseeing the business activities of the company while continuing his role as the lead designer, creative director, and predominant lead artist and musical composer of games such as Wizkid and the Sensible Soccer series, the Cannon Fodder series and Mega Lo Mania , some of the most popular software franchises of the mid-1990s. Hare and Yates sold Sensible Software to Codemasters in May 1999.
Since the sale of Sensible Software to Codemasters in 1999, Hare has worked in the capacity of a consultant designer on many games including numerous strategy, action and sports games including Real World Golf and Sensible Soccer 2006 . Hare is also one of the founders and owner of games company Tower Studios, founded in 2004 with two former Bitmap Brothers it has developed a number of successful titles including mobile phone versions of Cannon Fodder and Sensible Soccer .
Hare has been a voting member of BAFTA across all media since 2004 and works periodically for BAFTA as both a juror and a mentor.
In 2006, Hare contributed a weekly politics feature to UK video game radio show One Life Left.
Hare then became a director of development at Nikitova Games, a games developer with offices in Chicago, Los Angeles and London; and development studios in Kyiv, Ukraine. They worked on several projects for Nintendo DS and Wii, such as Showtime Championship Boxing and the as-yet-unreleased CCTV. [3]
In July 2009, Hare joined Jagex (makers of browser-based MMORPG RuneScape and casual gaming website FunOrb) as their Head of Publishing. [4]
In January 2010, Hare announced the launch of a new independent online games publisher, Me-Stars, [5] a games network for browser and iPhone platforms. All Me-Stars games were to feature in game Me-Stars to pick up, win and redeem and interactive high scores and friends lists that appear inside each game during gameplay, depicted by the animated photo-realistic heads found in Me-Motes Messenger (released January 2010). [6] However the Me-Stars games network was never launched and instead became a relaunch of Tower Studios as a publisher on many mobile and online downloadable platforms of classic licensed games from the 80s – 90s as well as new designs from Jon and other game developers. Tower's most successful title as a publisher to date has been 'Speedball 2 Evolution' a remake of The Bitmap Brothers classic game which topped the iPad and Mac charts across Europe in 2011 and was followed up with 'Speedball 2 HD' in 2013 on PC. In 2014 Hare also announced the imminent release of 'Word Explorer' his first original game in 20 years, developed in collaboration with award-winning Polish development team Vivid Games and published through a number of different publishing partners including Mastertronic and Big Fish.
Hare enjoyed a 6-year tenure as visiting lecturer at University of Westminster, London for "Professional Practice in Games Development" from 2011 to 2016 as well as numerous national and international lectures on games design, business and his career at universities across Europe as far apart as Cambridge, Istanbul, Copenhagen and Stockholm. Following this grounding in higher education in 2014 he launched, in collaboration with Professor Carsten Maple, a network of UK Games Industry Courses and Games companies known as B.U.G.S. 'Business and University Games Syndicate'. The launch event of BUGS at BAFTA featured numerous talks from games industry bodies and endorsements of BUGS from Ian Livingstone and Ed Vaizey MP, the then government minister for culture. BUGS function being to vet and host links to the completed and published games of students from all BUGS universities (approximately 30% of all UK games students) and to make these games accessible to all games industry companies signed to BUGS (approximately 35% of all UK games companies by employee numbers) to help the companies to identify the top games students in the UK and to give the students industry oriented objectives during their studies. Since 2017 Hare has been Visiting Professor of Games for Anglia Ruskin University in Cambridge
In 2013, Sensible Software 1986–1999 a biographical book about Sensible Software featuring extensive interviews with Hare, and numerous other Sensible members and game industry personalities, plus over 100 pages of artwork reproductions of much of Hare's earlier work as a game artist, was launched by independent book publisher ROM. Written by games journalist Gary Penn it was the first and, to date, only book about the computer games industry to feature in the BAFTA library and archive in London.
In 2016, via exhibitions in the London Science Museum, Gamescom and numerous other European games events, Jon Hare demonstrated the continuing development of a new football game Sociable Soccer, developed in partnership with Finnish development team Combo Breaker on numerous PC, console, mobile and VR platforms, despite a cancelled Kickstarter for the game in the previous year. [7] Following a brief debut in 2017 on Steam Early Access, Sociable Soccer went on to become one of the early titles on the Apple Arcade service in 2019, with annual updates for the same platform following, with the launch of Sociable Soccer 25 for PC and consoles announced for November 2024. [8]
Hare has also been a prolific songwriter since 1982 and has featured in a number of bands over the years as a singer and guitarist, including Essex outfits Hamsterfish, Dark Globe and Touchstone, all of which also featured Chris Yates on lead guitar. Dark Globe was particularly important in the formation of the creative relationship between Hare and Yates prior to the formation of Sensible Software and rehearsed in the house of Richard Ashrowan one of Hare's closest friends since childhood. From 1990 onwards, Hare was also a frequent musical collaborator with Richard Joseph, another close friend with whom he co-wrote and arranged all of Sensible Software's best known musical tracks including the soundtrack for Cannon Fodder the GBA version of which was also nominated for a BAFTA in 2000, and is still the only small-format soundtrack to be recognized by BAFTA to this day. In 1995 Hare and Joseph embarked upon an epic 32 track soundtrack for the multimedia product Sex 'n' Drugs 'n' Rock 'n' Roll, signed to Warner Interactive, however in 1998 Warner bowed out of the games market and their Magnum Opus was only ever released as a limited edition audio CD. Since 2000 Hare has also written for and performed with a number of outfits including the Little Big Band featuring Jack Monck and Sid 80s featuring Ben Daglish.
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.
Year | Title | Platform(s) |
---|---|---|
1985 | Twister, Mother of Charlotte | ZX Spectrum |
1986 | Parallax | C64 |
Galaxibirds | ||
1987 | Wizball | C64; ZX Spectrum |
S.E.U.C.K. | C64; Amiga | |
1988 | Oh No | C64 |
Microprose Soccer | C64; ZX Spectrum | |
1990 | International 3D Tennis | C64; ZX Spectrum; Amiga; ST |
1991 | Insects in Space | C64 |
Mega Lo Mania | Amiga; ST; Mega Drive; SNES; MS-DOS | |
1992 | Wizkid | Amiga; ST |
Sensible Soccer | Amiga; ST; Mega Drive; SNES | |
Sensible Soccer International Edition | Amiga; ST; Jaguar | |
Sim Brick | Amiga | |
1993 | Sensible Soccer 92/93 | Amiga; ST |
Cannon Fodder | Amiga; ST; MS-DOS; Archimedes; Mega Drive; Jaguar; 3DO | |
1994 | Cannon Fodder 2 | Amiga; MS-DOS |
Sensible Golf | ||
Sensible World of Soccer | ||
1995 | Sensible World of Soccer 95/96 | |
Sensible Train Spotting | Amiga | |
1996 | Sensible World of Soccer European Championship Edition | Amiga; MS-DOS |
Sensible World of Soccer 96/97 | ||
1998 | Sensible Soccer '98 | MS-DOS; Windows |
1998 | Sensible Soccer European Club Edition | MS-DOS; Windows; PlayStation |
2000 | Cannon Fodder | Game Boy Color |
2001 | Prince Naseem Boxing | PlayStation; Game Boy Color |
2002 | Mike Tyson Heavyweight Boxing | PlayStation 2; Xbox |
2003 | World War II: Frontline Command | Windows |
2004 | Sensible Soccer | Mobile Phones |
2005 | Cannon Fodder | Mobile Phones |
International Rugby Sevens | ||
2006 | Real World Golf | Xbox; PlayStation 2; PC |
Sensible Soccer 2006 | ||
2007 | Showtime Boxing | Wii; Nintendo DS |
2008 | Casper's Scare School (video game) | Nintendo DS |
M&Ms Adventure | Wii; Nintendo DS | |
2009 | Football Superstars | |
I Can Football | ||
Real Madrid: The Game | Wii; Nintendo DSi; PSP; Windows | |
2010 | Me-Motes Messenger | iPhone; Windows |
Shoot to Kill | iOS; Windows | |
2011 | Alien Puzzle Adventure | Nintendo DSiWare |
Speedball 2 Evolution | iOS; Mac; Nokia smartphones; Sony Minis | |
2013 | Speedball 2 HD | Windows |
2014 | Word Explorer | iOS; Windows; Mac |
2017 | Sociable Soccer (Early Access) | Steam (service) |
2019 | Sociable Soccer | iOS |
2020 | Sociable Soccer 2020 | iOS |
2021 | Sociable Soccer '21 | iOS |
2024 | Sociable Soccer '25 | PS4, PS5, Nintendo Switch, Windows, Xbox One, PC |
Richard Joseph was an English computer game composer, musician and sound specialist. He had a career spanning 20 years starting in the early days of gaming on the C64 and the Amiga and onto succeeding formats.
Jagex Limited is a British video game developer and publisher based at the Cambridge Science Park in Cambridge, England. It is best known for RuneScape and Old School RuneScape, both free-to-play massively multiplayer online role-playing games. The company's name is derived from the company's original slogan, "Java Gaming Experts".
James Hannigan is a BAFTA Award winning composer and producer. His credits include entries in the Harry Potter, Command & Conquer, Dead Space, RuneScape, Evil Genius,EA Sports and Theme Park video game series, among numerous others. He has also scored full-cast adaptations of Neil Gaiman's The Sandman, the Audie Award winning Alien dramas (2016–2019), BBC Radio 4's adaptations of Neil Gaiman’s Good Omens and Neverwhere.
Sensible Soccer, often called Sensi, is an association football video game series which was popular in the early 1990s and which still retains a following. It was developed by Sensible Software and first released for Amiga and Atari ST computers in 1992 as well as for the IBM PC compatibles. The series was created by Jon Hare and Chris Yates, as a successor to their previous football game MicroProse Soccer (1988), which in turn was inspired by the arcade video game Tehkan World Cup (1985).
Sensible Software was a British software company founded by Jon Hare and Chris Yates that was active from March 1986 to June 1999. It released seven number-one hit games and won numerous industry awards.
Cannon Fodder is a series of war themed action games developed by Sensible Software, initially released as Cannon Fodder for the Commodore Amiga. Only two games in the series were created by Sensible, but were converted to most active systems at the time of release. A sequel, Cannon Fodder 2, was released in 1994 for Amiga and DOS. A third game, Cannon Fodder 3, was made by a Russian developer and released in English in 2012.
Wizball is a horizontally scrolling shooter written by Jon Hare and Chris Yates and released in 1987 for the Commodore 64 and later in the year for the ZX Spectrum and Amstrad CPC. Versions for the Amiga and Atari ST were released in the following year. Wizball was also ported to IBM PC compatibles and the Thomson MO5.
Cannon Fodder 2: Once More unto the Breach, or simply Cannon Fodder 2, is an action-strategy shoot 'em up game developed by Sensible Software and published by Virgin Interactive for the Amiga and DOS in November 1994. The game is the sequel to Cannon Fodder, a successful game released for multiple formats in 1993. The game is a combination of action and strategy involving a small number of soldiers battling through a time-travel scenario. The protagonists are heavily outnumbered and easily killed. The player must rely on strategy and heavy secondary weapons to overcome enemies, their vehicles and installations.
Sensible Golf is a 2D golf game released by Sensible Software in 1995 for the Amiga. It uses the same pin-like characters as Sensible Soccer and Cannon Fodder. The theme tune was written by the lead game designer, Jon Hare, and a promotional video was directed by Carl Smyth from the group Madness and filmed in Regent's Park, London. The game received lackluster reviews and sold poorly.
Football Glory is a 1994 football video game developed by Croteam and published by Black Legend. One or two players compete in football matches viewed from a top-down perspective and modelled after one of six leagues and cups. The players can perform various moves, including tackles and bicycle kicks, and view instant replays of highlights. The pitch is occasionally invaded by dogs, streakers, hooligans, and police.
Sensible World of Soccer is a 1994 football video game designed and developed by Sensible Software as the sequel to their 1992 game Sensible Soccer. It combines a 2D football game with a comprehensive manager mode. The game includes contemporary season data of professional football from around the world, with a total number of 1,500 teams and 27,000 players.
MicroProse Soccer is an association football video game published by MicroProse in 1988. The original Commodore 64 version was developed by Sensible Software and ported to other systems. In the United States, the game was released as Keith Van Eron's Pro Soccer, named after Keith Van Eron.
Julian "Jools" Jameson is the CEO of Greenhill EnviroTechnologies Inc., based in Nova Scotia, Canada, having previously worked in England as a computer game developer, designer and producer. He was born in Sunderland, England.
The United Kingdom has the largest video game sector in Europe. By revenue, the UK had the second-largest video game market in Europe in 2022 after Germany, and the sixth-largest globally. By sales, it is Europe's largest market, having overtaken Germany in 2022. The UK video game market was worth £7.16 billion in 2021, a 2% increase over the previous year.
Tehkan World Cup, originally released as World Cup in Japan, is an association football video game released to arcades in 1985 by Tehkan, the former name of Tecmo. It features multiplayer gameplay and trackball controllers. It was released in both upright and table arcade cabinets, but was most commonly released in a cocktail cabinet form factor. Its arrival coincided with the buildup to the 1986 FIFA World Cup. It featured the then colors of several of the world's top teams such as West Germany, Argentina and Brazil, although it did not mention any team by name.
Cannon Fodder 3 is an action-strategy PC game developed and published – originally in Russia – by Game Factory Interactive (GFI), along with developer Burut CT. The game is the second sequel to Cannon Fodder, a commercially and critically successful game released for multiple formats in 1993. Jon Hare and his company Sensible Software, the developers of Cannon Fodder and its prior sequel, were uninvolved with Cannon Fodder 3. GFI instead licensed the intellectual property from now-owner Codemasters.
Cannon Fodder is a shoot 'em up developed by Sensible Software and published by Virgin Interactive Entertainment for the Amiga in 1993. Virgin ported the game to MS-DOS, the Atari ST and the Acorn Archimedes, as well as the Atari Jaguar, Mega Drive, SNES and 3DO. The game is military-themed and based on shooting action with squad-based tactics. The player directs troops through numerous missions, battling enemy infantry, vehicles and installations.
Stuart Campbell is a Scottish blogger, video game designer and former video game journalist. Born in Stirling, he moved to Bath in 1991 to work for computer magazine Amiga Power as a staff writer, where he gained attention for his video game reviews. He has lived in Somerset ever since, and made further contributions to a number of publications both within the video game industry and in the popular media.
Read-Only Memory is a British publisher of art books on topics of video game history and culture. Following a resurgence of interest in 1980s and '90s British video game development, the company crowdfunded and produced four art books: an oral history of that Britsoft era, two books on British developers Sensible Software and The Bitmap Brothers, and a definitive volume on the Sega Mega Drive/Genesis, for which the publisher became best known. Read-Only Memory's books are archival anthologies, including original design documents juxtaposed with developer interviews and high-quality prints of in-game graphics. Reviewers were particularly impressed with each book's breadth of unreleased concepts.
Parallax is a shoot 'em up video game developed by British company Sensible Software for the Commodore 64. It was released in 1986 by Ocean Software in Europe and Mindscape in North America. The game was named after its primary graphical feature, parallax scrolling, which gives the illusion of depth to side-scrolling video games. On release, reviews praised the game's mix of traditional side-scrolling action and adventure game-inspired puzzles.
We're delighted to welcome Sensible Software legend Jon Hare to #Jagex as our new Head of Publishing
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