News
M2 Video Game Programmer Akira Saitō Passes Away
posted on by Crystalyn Hodgkins
Naoki Horii, president of video game development company M2 Co., Ltd., announced on Saturday that M2's main programmer mokimoki Saitō (real name Akira Saitō) passed away at his home on the afternoon of February 16. He was 43.
Saitō had been battling cancer since the beginning of 2015.
Saitō's work at M2 involved working with audio tools and sound drivers. M2 is known for its emulation work porting classic games, and most recently, Saitō worked on the "Sega 3D Classics" line that ported various Sega Games to the Nintendo 3DS.
The list of games that Saitō worked on includes:
- Digicommunication for GBA
- Digicommunication 2 for GBA
- Sega Ages 2500 series for PS2
- Konami Classics Series: Arcade Hits for Nintendo DS
- Namco Museum DS
- Fossil Fighters series for Nintendo DS
- Salamander Portable for PSP
- TwinBee Portable for PSP
- Virtual Console Mega Drive for Wii
- Virtual Console Sega Master System for Wii
- Virtual Console Arcade for Wii
- 2 early titles in the Virtual Console MSX series for Wii
- Gradius ReBirth for Wii
- Contra ReBirth for Wii
- Sega Ages Online for PS3 and Xbox 360
- Steins;Gate: Henikūkan no Octet for PC
- The King of Fighters Portable '94-'98: Chapter of Orochi for PSP
- NeoGeo Station for PS3 and PSP
- CAPCOM Arcade Cabinet for PS3 and Xbox 360
- Virtual Console Game Gear for 3DS
- Sega 3D Classics project series for 3DS
- Sega 3D Classics Archive 1-2 for 3DS
- Arcade games playable inside the Yakuza 0 PS4/PS3 game
- Yakuza 0 free app for PS Vita
Sega posted an interview with Horii in May 2015 regarding the Sega 3D Classics line. In the interview, Horii stated, "There's this gentleman who's really been a main player behind the scenes for the 3D Remaster Project. His name is Saito-san, a programmer who we've spoken about in the interviews before. Had he not been around, this project may have never existed."
The Sega 3D Classics Collection for the Nintendo 3DS will ship in North America on April 26.
Image via M2 Co., Ltd.
[Via Hachima Kikō, NeoGAF]
