Mark Haigh-Hutchinson (20 August 1964 – 15 January 2008) was an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

video game developer. He is most notable for working on ''

Zombies Ate My Neighbors ''Zombies Ate My Neighbors'' is a run and gun video game developed by LucasArts and published by Konami for the Super NES and Sega Mega Drive/Genesis consoles in 1993. One or two players take control of protagonists, Zeke and Julie, in order t ...

'', mid to late 1990s '' Star Wars'' titles, and the ''

Metroid Prime ''Metroid Prime'' is an Action-adventure game, action-adventure video game developed by Retro Studios and published by Nintendo for the GameCube. ''Metroid Prime'' is the fifth main installment in the ''Metroid'' franchise and the first game in ...

'' games.

Biography

Haigh-Hutchinson started his career at Artic Software, but moved to

Vortex Software Vortex Software was a video game developer founded by Costa Panayi and Paul Canter in the early 1980s to sell the game ''Cosmos'' which Panayi had developed for the Sinclair ZX81. They converted the game to the ZX Spectrum, but due to the low sal ...

in 1984. In 1986, he left Vortex for

Elite Systems Elite Systems is a British video game developer and publisher established in 1984 as Richard Wilcox Software. It is known for producing home computer conversions of popular arcade games. Elite also published compilations of games on the Hit-Pak ...

, where he ported ''

Paperboy A paperboy is someoneoften an older child or adolescentwho distributes printed newspapers to homes or offices on a regular route, usually by bicycle or automobile. In Western nations during the heyday of print newspapers during the early 20th ce ...

'' to the

Amstrad CPC The Amstrad CPC (short for ''Colour Personal Computer'') is a series of 8-bit home computers produced by Amstrad between 1984 and 1990. It was designed to compete in the mid-1980s home computer market dominated by the Commodore 64 and the Si ...

. He then later worked at

Tiertex Tiertex Design Studios Limited was a British software development company and former video game developer based in Macclesfield, England; it was founded in 1986, focusing on porting games to home computers and handheld platforms. As a video game ...

. In 1989, he was hired by

LucasArts Lucasfilm Games (known as LucasArts between 1990 and 2021) is an American video game licensor that is part of Lucasfilm. It was founded in May 1982 by George Lucas as a video game development group alongside his film company; as part of a large ...

, where he worked until 1999, mostly on ''Star Wars'' video games. Since 2000, he worked at

Retro Studios Retro Studios, Inc. is an American video game developer and subsidiary of Nintendo based in Austin, Texas. The studio is best known for its work on the ''Metroid Prime'' and ''Donkey Kong Country'' series, and has contributed to several othe ...

, where he developed the

camera system In 3D video games, a virtual camera system aims at controlling a camera or a set of cameras to display a view of a 3D virtual world. Camera systems are used in video games where their purpose is to show the action at the best possible angle; m ...

for the ''

'' series. On 15 January 2008 Haigh-Hutchinson

died Death is the irreversible cessation of all biological functions that sustain an organism. For organisms with a brain, death can also be defined as the irreversible cessation of functioning of the whole brain, including brainstem, and brain ...

Austin, Texas Austin is the capital city of the U.S. state of Texas, as well as the seat and largest city of Travis County, with portions extending into Hays and Williamson counties. Incorporated on December 27, 1839, it is the 11th-most-populous city ...

after battling pancreatic cancer, at the age of 43. He is survived by his wife, son, and daughter.

Works

Video games

*'' Android One: The Reactor Run'' (1984) *''

Highway Encounter ''Highway Encounter'' is a video game published for the ZX Spectrum, Amstrad CPC, MSX, Commodore 64, Sharp MZ, and Tatung Einstein by Vortex Software in 1985. It was written by Costa Panayi who also coded '' Android'', '' Android Two'', '' TLL' ...

'' (1985) *''

Alien Highway ''Alien Highway: Encounter 2'' is an Isometric projection, isometric action game released by Vortex Software, Vortex in 1986 for the ZX Spectrum and Amstrad CPC. It was programmed by Mark Haigh-Hutchinson and is the sequel to ''Highway Encounter ...

'' (1986) *''

Revolution In political science, a revolution (Latin: ''revolutio'', "a turn around") is a fundamental and relatively sudden change in political power and political organization which occurs when the population revolts against the government, typically due ...

'' (1986) *''

'' (1987) -

port *'' Overlander'' (1988) *''

Thunder Blade is a third-person combat flight simulator video game released by Sega for arcades in 1987. Players control a helicopter to destroy enemy vehicles. The game was released as a standard stand-up arcade cabinet with force feedback, as the joysti ...

'' (1988) *'' Human Killing Machine'' (1988) (a semi-official sequel to

Street Fighter , commonly abbreviated as ''SF'' or スト (''Suto''), is a Japanese media franchise centered on a series of fighting video and arcade games developed and published by Capcom. The first game in the series was released in 1987, followed by six ...

) *'' Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade: The Action Game'' (1989) *'' World Cup Italia '90'' (1990) *'' Magic Boy'' (1993) *''

David Robinson's Supreme Court ''David Robinson Supreme Court'' (known in Japan as ) is a basketball video game released by Sega exclusively for the Sega Genesis in 1991. The game was endorsed by NBA player David Robinson but does not feature an NBA license and instead feature ...

'' (1993) *'' Star Wars: Rebel Assault'' (1993) *'' Sam & Max Hit the Road'' (1993) *''

'' (1993) *''

Big Sky Trooper ''Big Sky Trooper'' is a sci-fi action game, produced by JVC Musical Industries and LucasArts for the Super NES in October 1995. The game runs on the ZAMN engine. Gameplay At the start of the game, the player chooses an avatar, male or female. ...

'' (1995) *'' Star Wars: Dark Forces'' (1995) *''

Shadows of the Empire ''Star Wars: Shadows of the Empire'' is a 1996 multimedia project created by Lucasfilm. The idea was to create a story set between the films ''The Empire Strikes Back'' and ''Return of the Jedi'', and to explore all commercial possibilities of ...

'' (1996) *'' Star Wars: Rogue Squadron 3D'' (1998) *'' Star Wars: Episode I Racer'' (1999) *''

'' (2002) *'' Metroid Prime 2: Echoes'' (2004) *'' Metroid Prime 3: Corruption'' (2007)

Books

*''Real-Time Cameras'' (2008), Morgan Kaufmann,

Sources

Obituary
at

IGN ''IGN'' (formerly ''Imagine Games Network'') is an American video game and entertainment media website operated by IGN Entertainment Inc., a subsidiary of Ziff Davis, Inc. The company's headquarters is located in San Francisco's SoMa distri ...

Interview
at TACGR, 1995
Mark Haigh-Hutchinson
at MobyGames * 1964 births 2008 deaths English video game designers Deaths from pancreatic cancer Deaths from cancer in Texas {{videogame-bio-stub