Mark Haigh-Hutchinson Tribute

Retro Studios programmer Mark Haigh-Hutchinson died yesterday afternoon after a battle with pancreatic cancer. He was 43-years-old.

Haigh-Hutchinson's illustrious career spans decades. He worked on such classics as Paperboy before joining LucasArts in the late '80s, where he went on to co-develop titles like Star Wars: Dark Forces and Rebel Assault. Nintendo fans will better remember him as the project leader and contributing programmer on such N64 games as Star Wars: Shadow of the Empire and Star Wars: Rogue Squadron.

The established programmer joined Retro Studios shortly after its inception and was eventually moved to the original Metroid Prime team, where he served as senior engineer and was integral in the development of the franchise's camera systems. Haigh-Hutchinson retained this position for all three critically acclaimed Prime endeavors.

Haigh-Hutchinson leaves behind a wife and two daughters and his absence from the industry will be felt by those making games and those playing them alike.