HumaNature Studios (American Studio)

Greg Johnson (born 1960) is an American video game designer who has worked for Binary Systems and Electronic Arts, was co-founder with Mark Voorsanger of ToeJam & Earl Productions Inc., and in 2006 founded his own company, HumaNature Studios. He is known for the iconic ''ToeJam & Earl'' series (1991–present), and his design credits additionally include ''Starflight'' (1986), Game of the Year '' Starflight 2: Trade Routes of the Cloud Nebula'' (1989), the multi-award-winning '' Orly's Draw-A-Story'' (1997), ''Kung Fu Panda World'' (2010), and '' Doki-Doki Universe'' (2013), '' Back in the Groove'' (2015), ''

Early life

Johnson was born in Passaic, New Jersey to an African-American father and a Jewish mother whose family had escaped Russia during World War II. He is one of five children, three of whom are step-siblings. His mother was an administrator for a special education school, and his father was a professor of philosophy and musicology. When Johnson was three, his parents separated and his mother moved the family to Los Angeles, where, when Johnson was 12, his mother married a child psychologist who became Johnson's stepfather. Johnson attended Alexander Hamilton High School, and then Colorado College, where he learned his first programming language, Fortran. There, he designed a simple sword fight simulator (which he later called "boring as hell"). After Colorado College, he went on to the University of California, San Diego, studying biolinguistics. It was while at university that he first played the influential dungeon crawler video game '' Rogue'', which influenced many of his later works.

Electronic Arts

Johnson made ends meet by providing graphics for software such as Deluxe Paint, and was also hired by Binary Systems, though with minimal pay. He was living off money loaned to him by a friend, to whom he promised a cut of royalties from his first game. The game's development was never assured and it was almost cancelled several times, but eventually, with the help of Electronic Arts producer Joe Ybarra, the game ''Starflight'' was released in 1986 to positive reviews, and sales which continued to climb for the next year (and Johnson's friend got quadruple his money back). Johnson then continued to work for Electronic Arts, at the time a small company with about 30 employees, contributing graphics to titles such as '' Adventure Construction Set'' and ''F/A 18 Interceptor''. In 1988, following a suggestion by EA's Bing Gordon, Johnson designed the quirky four-player game '' Caveman Ughlympics''.

In 1989, Johnson was introduced to programmer Mark Voorsanger, and they began working on two games, '' Starflight 2'', and an even quirkier title than ''Caveman'', ''ToeJam & Earl''. ''Starflight 2'' was published by Electronic Arts, and won the "Game of the Year" award from ''Computer Gaming World'' magazine.

ToeJam & Earl Productions

Following the success of the ''Starflight'' games, Johnson and Voorsanger formed a new company, Johnson Voorsanger Productions (JVP), to focus on ''ToeJam & Earl'', which they pitched as a 2-player game to Sega of America. ''ToeJam'' borrowed the randomization ideas of ''Rogue'' and followed the adventures of two aliens who crashlanded on a zany planet, where they were chased by quirky adversaries such as a "nerd herd" and "killer ice cream truck". The game was published in 1991 to positive reviews, but sales were sluggish and the game was branded a flop. It turned into a sleeper hit though, sales continued to climb, and it developed a cult following. It eventually became known as one of the classics of the Sega line, and as of 2015, was routinely voted as the Sega title that fans would most like to see return.

JVP's next game was a sequel to ToeJam, also published through Sega. The first design was scrapped by Sega because of concerns on how to market the game, so ''ToeJam & Earl in Panic on Funkotron'' was eventually released in 1993, as a 2D side-scroller. It received positive reviews, but there was a backlash from fans who did not like the new side-scrolling format.

Johnson & Voorsanger then renamed their company as "ToeJam & Earl Productions", and worked on other projects, such as an educational game for Broderbund Software. In 1998, Johnson became Creative Director for the software company ePlanet, Inc., and also for Ububu, a San Francisco-based startup. None of their products were ever released, though some got fairly far along in the design process, such as ePlanet's ''Freeblenux'', a game where a virtual alien character could interact with the player through a camera on top of the monitor.

In 2002, Johnson & Voorsanger again worked with Sega to release a third version of the ToeJam series, '' ToeJam & Earl III: Mission to Earth''. It went back to the original perspective format, added a third character Latisha, and was published as a 3D game on Xbox, receiving generally favorable reviews, though sales did not meet expectations, and Voorsanger and Johnson then parted ways. Voorsanger went back to Electronic Arts as a producer for a period of time, leaving for Leapfrog

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