Corey Dangel has been an Art Director for 15 years. He spent the last four years establishing the visual direction for The Agency, a critically anticipated title for PC and PS3. Prior to SOE, Corey spent nearly a dozen years living the life of an elite art director in the games division of Microsoft. Focused principally on online games, Corey spent his first tour of duty working on several groundbreaking titles including the Internet Gaming Zone, Fighter Ace, and Asherons Call. A two-year hiatus sent Corey to Cavedog/Humongous Entertainment where he helped bring the Total Annihilation franchise to the online world. A return to Microsoft had him working on a variety of PC and Xbox games, most notably Dungeon Siege, Psychonauts, and Mythica. Corey attended Western Washington University, where he graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Visual Communication. Outside of work, Corey pretends to be a rock star in his circularly referential band, AgentC. He makes a fine martini, too.
For more info: LinkedIn Profile
MGS – Raven
a Before and After story…
One of the first projects I received upon my return to Microsoft was working with an external team to develop a game and build IP around what was originally an Xbox tech demo called “Two to Tango”. It featured a very butch girl named Raven and her pet robot, Rex.
Pipeworks, the developer, did a fine job of translating Rex into real-time friendly polygons but Raven still needed a make-over. The plan at the time was to make Raven a spokesmodel for Xbox so the tomboy-girl-next-door with a machine pistol wasn’t going to cut it.
We contracted Blur Studios to re-envision Raven into a cute but capable action heroine. We worked with four different concept artists on a variety of stylistic approaches and after several revisions ended up with a nice result. We maintained several of the original identifying marks but updated her look to play better for our intended audience. Unfortunately, the game never really got off the ground and the project got mothballed. So it goes.
Project Date: early 2001
E3 2007 interview with Corey Dangel. 9 minutes.
