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Steve Jobs, founder of Apple, passed away today, according to a statement from the company. He was 56. More »
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Jerry Lawson, the engineer that lead the Fairchild Channel F development team, has died, reports Vintage Computing and Gaming. The Fairchild Channel F became the first cartridge-based video game console when it was released in 1976 and Lawson was instrumental in its design. More »
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Painter Frank Frazetta, best known for his striking fantasy work with characters like Conan the Barbarian, Vampirella and the original Death Dealer, died today at the age of 82. More »
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Musician and occasional video game contributor Michael Jackson has died at the age of 50. The "King of Pop" was taken to Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center this afternoon by Los Angeles Fire Department paramedics after suffering a cardiac arrest. More »
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Erick S. Dyke, co-founder and president of the Orlando, Florida-based developer n-Space passed away earlier this week, succumbing to cancer. Dyke founded the company with partner Dan O’Leary, serving as president for 14 years. Developer n-Space was responsible for titles like the upcoming Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2: Fusion, Geist for the GameCube, and Tiger Shark for the PC, as well as Call of Duty and Star Wars titles for the Nintendo DS. More »
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Jeff Freeman, whose work includes stints at Spacetime Studios and Sony Online Entertainment on Star Wars Galaxies as lead gameplay designer, has died at the age of 39, an apparent suicide, reports The Escapist. Freeman was the target of the Star Wars Galaxies community's ire following the launch of the "new game experience" that took players by surprise with its timing and sweeping changes. The Escapist detailed the targeting of the game designer by SWG devotees in this 2007 write up. Freeman left SOE in 2006 to join Spacetime. More »
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The gaming industry lost another long-time contributor yesterday, IGN reports, as Retro Studios senior software engineer Mark Haigh-Hutchinson succumbed to pancreatic cancer. Haigh-Hutchinson's 23-year career spanned stints at both LucasArts and Retro, where he specialized in camera systems and controls. He helped to create beloved games such as Star Wars: Rogue Squadron, Sam 'n' Max Hit the Road, Zombies Ate My Neighbors and the Metroid Prime series. He was also the author of the book Real-Time Cameras, published in 2008. More »
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Over the holidays, the gaming community lost one an influential member in Martin Sikes, one of the founding members of Black Box Games. Black Box was probably best known for creating titles like NHL 2K and Sega Soccer Slam before being acquired by Electronic Arts in 2002 and helming the Need For Speed franchise. Sikes and other former Black Box staffers later went on to co-found United Front Games, a start-up studio that formed in the summer of 2007. Sikes, who died suddenly on Christmas Eve, is survived by his daughter, parents Rita and John, and sister Belinda. More »
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