"We had no money, no experience with consoles... but we created Crash from a garage."
When we started the Crash Bandicoot project, we were literally working in a small apartment, without air conditioning and with more heat than budget. We were two crazy people with a dream: to make a 3D game for Sony's new console, the PlayStation. What nobody knew was that we had no idea how to program for that console. It was all trial and error. We slept little, ate poorly, and spent whole days in front of the monitor, struggling with the code.
The big companies shut their doors on us. We weren't Nintendo, we weren't Sega. We were just Naughty Dog, a studio that nobody knew. But in the midst of that anonymity, a character was born with attitude, charisma... and some denim shorts: Crash. It wasn't easy. We had to invent a new way of doing 3D cameras. Every advance was a battle. And yet, we kept going. Because we knew we had something big in our hands. G
There was a moment when the console overheated so much that it shut down with all the progress of the day. We lost almost a week of work. I remember one of the team members cried in front of the monitor. I was close too. But we started again. Not because it was easy, but because that crazy fox represented just that: resilience. When Crash Bandicoot came out, the stores filled up, people went crazy... and the rest is history. Η
Sometimes I see how people remember the game fondly, and I realize that all that sweat, tiredness, and frustration... was worth it. Because it wasn't just about a character. It was about proving that those who nobody expects... can also shake the industry. And Crash, like us, did not let himself be crushed.
"If everything seems to be against you, then you are on the right track. The impossible just needs someone to dare to try it."
Andy Gavin, co-creator of Crash Bandicoot