Namco designer Hiroshi “Mr. Dotman” Ono passed away October 16

Namco’s iconic designer Hiroshi Ono passed away on October 16 at the age of 64 after succumbing to an unknown illness.

Ono’s official information account on Twitter announced the artist’s passing yesterday. As of now, there is no official word on Ono’s cause of death. However, a report by Automaton suggests he suffered from, “suspected autoimmune hepatitis.” Ono’s close friends and family are planning a private memorial. They will not be accepting flowers or other gifts.

Better known as Mr. Dotman, Ono worked for Namco from 1979 to 2013. Throughout his tenure, Ono contributed artwork for many major Namco games. One of his most recognizable achievements was designing the cabinet and marquees for Pac-Man.

In addition, many champion Ono for his groundbreaking pixel art. He designed the sprites for a number of classic games, such as Dig Dug, Xevious and Mappy. However, Galaga was the game that really set Ono’s pixel art career in motion.

In a 2011 interview, Galaga creator Shigeru Yokoyama credits Ono with the final design of the enemy sprites. Yokoyama adds that while he created the initial concept art, Ono was responsible for truly bringing the sprites to life in the game.

They were actually drawn by Hiroshi Ono, a designer who, from Galaga onwards, became famous for drawing these kind of sprites. He became known as “Mr. Dotman”, an authority on pixel design, but these characters were the first he made.

Shigeru Yokoyama

The Legacy of Hiroshi Ono

Following his work on Galaga, Ono continued to create innovative pixel art throughout the golden age of Namco arcade games. Until recently, much of his work was unfortunately uncredited. Nonetheless, Ono’s graphic design and pixel art helped shape the aesthetic of not only Namco, but arcade games in general.

Although Ono’s loss is heavy and felt throughout the entire gaming community, his legacy lives on. Ono and his work inspired generations of art designers for video games. Streets of Rage composer Yuzo Koshiro recently took to Twitter to pay his respects to Ono.

In addition, a documentary on Ono and the legacy he left with his pixel art will remain in production. Prior to Ono’s passing, Shu Yamamoto started a crowdfunding effort on Motion Gallery to commission the effort. The campaign doubled its original goal, and the creators plan to create a film to honor Ono’s life and legacy.

Via Twitter