Jez San
| Jez San | |
|---|---|
| Born | 29 March 1966 |
| Occupation | Game programmer, entrepreneur |
Jeremy "Jez" San OBE (born 29 March 1966) is an English game programmer and entrepreneur who founded Argonaut Software as a teenager in the 1980s. He is best known for the 1986 Atari ST game Starglider and helping to design the Super FX chip used in Star Fox for the Super NES.
San bought his first computer, a TRS-80, at age twelve. Within a year he taught himself assembly language for several microprocessors.
San founded Argonaut Software in 1982 as a way to get software consulting jobs with large companies. He worked on security systems with British Telecom and Acorn. In 1984, he started developing his first game, Skyline Attack for the Commodore 64, and also co-wrote a book, Quantum Theory, about the Sinclair QL. He became a wizard (admin) at Essex MUD, the world's first multiplayer online role-playing game.
San's late-1986 game Starglider for the Atari ST and the Commodore Amiga sold hundreds of thousands of copies (earning him £2 per copy in royalties). The money helped launch Argonaut as a larger company that started hiring other people in 1986.
In the late 1980s, Argonaut signed a deal with Nintendo. San attracted Nintendo's attention because Argonaut was the first developer to successfully design 3D modelling on the NES and the Game Boy. X was published by Nintendo as the first 3D Game Boy game. San helped develop the first 3D graphics accelerator known as the Super FX chip that made Star Fox (released as Starwing in Europe) possible on the Super NES.
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