Tomoharu Saito Passes Away at Age 38

[fitbabits]

Nothing else to say.

Source: insert credit. (http://www.insertcredit.com/archives/001214.html)

Game character designer Tomoharu Saito, known for his work in games such as Cave's Ketsui, Segagaga for DC, and the Culdcept series, passed away on july 29, due to a malignant tumor which metastasized in the lungs, even after the amputation of his leg. According to the thoughtful obituary on his site, upon removal of his leg, he simply said 'legs aren't necessary in the illustration industry.' During his cancer treatment, things seemed to be going well, and he was heard to say "I want to work." Unfortunately, it didn't work out that way, but he was able to complete work for two upcoming games, and indeed working on games was his true passion. Culdcept Saga and Sorcerian Online will be the last games to feature his work. He was 38 years old.
My thoughts and consolences to his family and friends.

[mkelehan]

Anyone who's played Culdcept knows that it was really the product of a lot more heart than raw marketability. He'll be missed.

[Atepsflame]

Never played any of his work, but 38 is too early for anyone to go. R.I.P

[Cool AN]

Very tragic.

[Savok]

Jesus christ, no one should have to go through that.

[Sazime]

Nope, no one. I believe it was not too long ago that the Zip founder died from lung cancer at the same age.

[ÜberJumper]

My condolences to his family :-(

1 in 3 will get cancer in their lifetime, hopefully they'll find more cures soon.

(I've had my share. (http://uberjumper.hwcommunity.com/cancer.shtml))

[gzsfrk]

Prayers and God's comfort to those who survive him--the loss of a loved one, particularly so young, is an awful, awful thing to go through.

At least he died knowing that he had made a career out of contributing to the happiness and enjoyment of others. I like the quote from President Reagan that said:

"Some people spend an entire lifetime wondering if they made a difference. The Marines don't have that problem."

Perhaps a paraphrased version for Saito-san would be:

"Some people spend an entire lifetime wondering if they've ever made someone happy. Game designers don't have that problem."

(Well, with the exception of whichever designers were behind "Tomb Raider: Angel of Darkness"; they need to keep trying in order to earn their everlasting peace.)

[Lekon]

Damn... this guy was so talented too, I loved culdcept. And didn't even know he was working on something Soceran related.

My hopes to his family.

[Ajguy]

I never got to play Culdcept and am looking forward to the 360 version. From what everyone says of the game, it should stand as a fine legacy. My sympathies to his friends and family.

[Rook34]

Never played Culdcept, what's it about?
Wasn't Segagaga the one where you play as the head of Sega and make business decisions? I so wanted to play that. Too bad the results of your efforts weren't uploaded to Sega so they could have stayed in the hardware biz and not practically run their company into the ground. Glad they're doing better now though. But anyway, wasn't that the game? Did they translate it for the US, I never saw it.

38 is too young, a real shame. Hell, that's only 5 more years for me, I can't imagine anything like that not being a tragedy for anyone. My condolences to his family.