X-Ray Kid Studios
Encyclopedia
X-Ray Kid Studios is a privately held entertainment company
specializing in Video Game Development
, Comic Book
s, Television Production
and Film
based in Newport Beach, California
and Seattle, Washington
, U.S.A.. The company is best known for its work producing animation and art for Google's Lively
project.
In June 2008, Google
released Google Lively
, with art, animation and characters designed and created by X-Ray Kid Studios under contract to Google, as Google's first entertainment / games project.
Under direction by X-Ray Kid staff, Mindwalk Studios in Beijing built many of the 3D avatars and animations for Lively.
Citing economic factors and a focus on core projects, Google eventually shut down Lively in 2008.
Entertainment
Entertainment consists of any activity which provides a diversion or permits people to amuse themselves in their leisure time. Entertainment is generally passive, such as watching opera or a movie. Active forms of amusement, such as sports, are more often considered to be recreation...
specializing in Video Game Development
Video game developer
A video game developer is a software developer that creates video games. A developer may specialize in a certain video game console, such as Nintendo's Wii, Microsoft's Xbox 360, Sony's PlayStation 3, or may develop for a variety of systems, including personal computers.Most developers also...
, Comic Book
Comic book
A comic book or comicbook is a magazine made up of comics, narrative artwork in the form of separate panels that represent individual scenes, often accompanied by dialog as well as including...
s, Television Production
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
and Film
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
based in Newport Beach, California
Newport Beach, California
Newport Beach, incorporated in 1906, is a city in Orange County, California, south of downtown Santa Ana. The population was 85,186 at the 2010 census.The city's median family income and property values consistently place high in national rankings...
and Seattle, Washington
Seattle, Washington
Seattle is the county seat of King County, Washington. With 608,660 residents as of the 2010 Census, Seattle is the largest city in the Northwestern United States. The Seattle metropolitan area of about 3.4 million inhabitants is the 15th largest metropolitan area in the country...
, U.S.A.. The company is best known for its work producing animation and art for Google's Lively
Google Lively
Google Lively was a web-based virtual environment produced by Google Inc.. It was discontinued on December 31, 2008.Lively was only supported on Internet Explorer or Mozilla Firefox, using Windows XP or Windows Vista. It required a special download as well as Flash. The program was designed to be...
project.
History
X-Ray Kid Studios was founded in 2006 by Jeff Matsuda, Mike Christian and Brian Wyser.In June 2008, Google
Google
Google Inc. is an American multinational public corporation invested in Internet search, cloud computing, and advertising technologies. Google hosts and develops a number of Internet-based services and products, and generates profit primarily from advertising through its AdWords program...
released Google Lively
Google Lively
Google Lively was a web-based virtual environment produced by Google Inc.. It was discontinued on December 31, 2008.Lively was only supported on Internet Explorer or Mozilla Firefox, using Windows XP or Windows Vista. It required a special download as well as Flash. The program was designed to be...
, with art, animation and characters designed and created by X-Ray Kid Studios under contract to Google, as Google's first entertainment / games project.
Under direction by X-Ray Kid staff, Mindwalk Studios in Beijing built many of the 3D avatars and animations for Lively.
Citing economic factors and a focus on core projects, Google eventually shut down Lively in 2008.
Principals
- Jeff Matsuda - President and Creative Director
- Jeff MatsudaJeff MatsudaJeff Matsuda is a Japanese-American concept artist, comics artist, and animator. He served as the chief character designer for both Jackie Chan Adventures and The Batman, and is the president and creative director of X-Ray Kid Studios. Matsuda was discovered by Rob Liefeld after submitting some...
is an Emmy winning Producer, Art Director, Lead Character Artist and Comic Artist, and has worked for Warner Brothers, Marvel EntertainmentMarvel EntertainmentMarvel Entertainment, LLC , formerly Marvel Enterprises and Toy Biz, Inc., is an American entertainment company formed from the merger of Marvel Entertainment Group, Inc. and Toy Biz, Inc....
, and Sony Pictures AnimationSony Pictures AnimationSony Pictures Animation is an American computer-animated film production company owned by Sony Pictures Entertainment, founded in May 2002. It is working closely with Sony Pictures Imageworks, which takes care of the digital production...
on properties which include The Batman (TV series), TMNT (film), and Jackie Chan AdventuresJackie Chan AdventuresJackie Chan Adventures is an animated television series chronicling the adventures of a fictionalized version of action film star Jackie Chan. Many of the episodes contain references to Chan's actual works. This series ran on Kids' WB! from September 9, 2000 to July 7, 2005 for a total of 95...
.
- Jeff Matsuda
- Mike Christian - Director of 3D and Chief Financial Officer
- Mike ChristianMike ChristianMike Christian, known as Nollsy or MC, is an Australian radio announcer. He started his career in his hometown of Gilgandra in a small community station, before completing the full time Australian Film Television and Radio School radio course...
has an extensive track record in comic books as an inker, story boarding, character modelling and art direction, and has worked with Marvel EntertainmentMarvel EntertainmentMarvel Entertainment, LLC , formerly Marvel Enterprises and Toy Biz, Inc., is an American entertainment company formed from the merger of Marvel Entertainment Group, Inc. and Toy Biz, Inc....
, Electronic ArtsElectronic ArtsElectronic Arts, Inc. is a major American developer, marketer, publisher and distributor of video games. Founded and incorporated on May 28, 1982 by Trip Hawkins, the company was a pioneer of the early home computer games industry and was notable for promoting the designers and programmers...
, MicrosoftMicrosoftMicrosoft Corporation is an American public multinational corporation headquartered in Redmond, Washington, USA that develops, manufactures, licenses, and supports a wide range of products and services predominantly related to computing through its various product divisions...
, Image ComicsImage ComicsImage Comics is a United States comic book publisher. It was founded in 1992 by high-profile illustrators as a venue where creators could publish their material without giving up the copyrights to the characters they created, as creator-owned properties. It was immediately successful, and remains...
, Warner Brothers, Disney, THQTHQTHQ Inc. is an American developer and publisher of video games. Founded in 1989 in the United States, the company develops products for video game consoles, handheld game systems, as well as for personal computers and wireless devices...
and ActivisionActivisionActivision is an American publisher, majority owned by French conglomerate Vivendi SA. Its current CEO is Robert Kotick. It was founded on October 1, 1979 and was the world's first independent developer and distributor of video games for gaming consoles...
.
- Mike Christian
- Brian Wyser - Animation Director
- Brian Wyser has worked for Cryptic StudiosCryptic StudiosCryptic Studios, a wholly owned Perfect World subsidiary, is a small American massively multiplayer online role-playing game developer headquartered in Los Gatos, California.-History:...
, Interplay EntertainmentInterplay EntertainmentInterplay Entertainment Corporation is an American video game developer and publisher, founded in 1983 as Interplay Productions by Brian Fargo. The company had been a quality developer until they started publishing their own games in 1988, like Neuromancer and Battle Chess. The company was renamed...
, There, MTVMTVMTV, formerly an initialism of Music Television, is an American network based in New York City that launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs....
and others.
- Brian Wyser has worked for Cryptic Studios