10 Mind-Blowing Facts You Didn't Know About Naughty Dog

Take a minute, have a think and name your favourite game developer.

Chances are it's either the titanic Rockstar with all their open-world gaming glory, or Naughty Dog; one of the most consistently brilliant studios with more talent in their respective little fingers than thousands of us combined. Multiple generations of gamers have grown up alongside them, championing everything from their early RPG days through the mascot-fronting likes of Crash Bandicoot and Jak & Daxter - and now the truly mature works The Last of Us and upcoming Uncharted 4.

Some of your earliest gaming memories will most likely involve more than one of their respective characters, and guys like Crash or Nathan Drake have become bonafide industry icons for gaming; loveable heroes of the medium we'll spend days-worth of time with, simply because their games are put together with such an abundance of love, mechanical execution and above-all, charm.

Speaking of which, there's a truly understated quality to Naughty Dog's animation that really needs to be celebrated and shouted about, too. It's part and parcel of why we love them so much; their early platformers having a truly Pixar-like quality in their cutscenes that perfectly translated effortlessly into meticulous gameplay.

Naughty Dog celebrated three decades making video games back in 2014, and it's been one hell of a ride getting there. Here's just a handful of some of their finest tales to tell so far.

Forever the friendly devs up for embracing their contemporary competition, Naughty Dog and Insomniac 'teamed up', for want of a better phrase, across the late 90s. Thus, if you tap in Up, Up, Down, Down, Left, Right, Left, Right, Square on Crash 3: Warped's main menu, you'll get booted into a demo for Spyro 2: Ripto's Rage.

Likewise, inside Spyro 2, simply hold L1 and R2 then press Square and you'll get fired into Crash Team Racing. How awesome is that? If only more developers shared this ethos today.