Jay Laird
Lead Game Designer
Jay Laird has been creating games since before computers had monitors. No, really! He created his first simple game on a teletype computer when he was barely tall enough to reach the keyboard. It had something to do with peanut butter.
In 2004, Jay founded Metaversal Studios to combine his love of technology, games, and comics with his passion for education. He heads up the writing and game design teams, and also contributes his composition skills to Metaversal's music library.
Jay's undergraduate degree in Cinema and Photography (with minors in Scriptwriting, Advertising, and Electronic Music) led him to found an early multimedia company, Active Window Productions, which went on to become one of the earliest Internet development companies still in operation today. Jay has pursued further education in illustration and writing, and he studies music and foreign languages on the side. He doesn't sleep much.
Jay has also been teaching at Northeastern University since 1999, where he helped to develop the graduate and undergraduate game design programs while pursuing his own graduate degree. When he's not writing for Metaversal, Jay specializes in comics, screenplays, and story treatments. He also writes academic articles, chapters for technology books, and the occasional scathing film review.
James Mullen
Technical Director
A graduate of Northeastern University with a dual degree in Computer Science and Multimedia Studies, Jimmy Mullen has been a Metaversal programmer since July, 2006, becoming Vice-President and Lead Programmer in July, 2007. Jimmy's coding skills include ActionScript 2.0 and 3.0, PHP, SQL, JavaScript, Java, C++, and XHTML and CSS.
Before working at Metaversal, Jimmy was a technical support agent at Teletype GPS and a PHP/MySQL web developer at Harvard University ITIS. Since joining Metaversal, he has been lead programmer on projects for MIT, Fidelity, Boston College, Northeastern University, and Berklee College of Music. As part of his degree work, Jimmy participated in several long-term group software engineering projects, including a Flash-based single player educational puzzle game, a C# and ASP.NET based website, and a year-long rich media database project based on discovering local college music.
In addition to contributing to many of Metaversal's game designs, Jimmy is also a talented musician and an excellent editor who lends his sound design and writing skills to a variety of Metaversal projects, including Stonewall Brawl and Jerk of Art.
Dave Landry
Art and Communications Director
Dave has been working with us since January 2009. He has a background in Graphic Design, and just recently expanded into Interactive Media and Web Design. He brings with him a vast knowledge of gaming, interface aesthetic, and project management. He also adds to the ever-growing number of musicians who work at Metaversal, while playing guitar in a local post-rock band.
Before his life at Metaversal, Dave worked full-time for Northeastern's Creative Services department producing print media for the various departments on campus. He also spent two years as the art director for Tastemakers, the student-run music magazine of Northeastern University.
Paul Langworthy
Game Programmer
Paul Langworthy has been programming games for over ten years and has developed for a number of platforms including DirectX, Gameboy Advance, Nintendo DS, and Flash. A University of Massachusetts graduate, Paul studied Philosophy and Computer Science as an undergraduate and is currently a Master's candidate in Northeastern University's Digital Media program. He is currently the lead programmer on the web version of Geckoman and on two of Metaversal's upcoming casual games. He has also contributed a great deal of code to Berklee Pulse, teaching himself a great deal about music in the process. Outside of gaming and game development, his interests include skiing, hiking, and traveling with his lovely fiancée Joanna.
Chris Cerrato
Interface & Sound Design
A graduate of Northeastern University's Art+Design program with a concentration in Graphic Design, Chris Cerrato has brought his ability to creatively present and organize information to Metaversal's projects since January, 2005. His keen eye for detail in web, print, and motion graphics projects yields elegant designs for Metaversal's educational work (including Berklee's Pulse Music Method and the three projects that became Boston College's Memeo) as well as dead-on style parodies for Metaversal's entertainment products (including Rock the Quote and various Burning Village features).
Chris is also an accomplished classical pianist who has played keyboards for several bands. He often contributes his musical talents to Metaversal projects such as Stonewall Brawl and Geckoman.
Robby Geis
Artist & Animator
Robby is Metaversal’s intern, who joined in January 2009 in order to expand Metaversals 3d game branch. He is pursuing a bachelor's degree in Animation. He is an avid video game player and has been a beta tester for various game companies.
In previous work, he has colored comics, as well as done graphic design work for various companies.
Amy Schaffer
Programming Intern
Amy has been working at Metaversal as an intern since January 2010. She is currently studying computer science and multimedia at Northeastern University. Her focus in the digital art world began with 2D and 3D animation, but soon expanded as she became fascinated with game design and programming, video, music and sound design, and interactive experience.
Her interests include adding to her ever increasing iTunes library, expanding her television knowledge (multiple shows at a time), and collecting card decks and Monopoly boards.
Brian Oley
Programming Intern
Brian began as an intern with Metaversal Studios in January of 2010. At Northeastern University he is currently pursuing a Bachelors in Computer Science with a dual major in Multimedia Studies. He is particularly interested in the area of social gaming and discovering innovative ways to use new and existing hardware with regards to controlling games.
Aside from his interest in computers, his passion is photography, which spans many photographic styles. He can often be found unicycling the mountains of New Hampshire and the streets of Boston.