Famed musician Ryuichi Sakamoto passed away on 28 March, at the age of 71. Best-known for his work as both a solo artist and a member of Yellow Magic Orchestra, Sakamoto was also a prolific soundtrack composer, earning an Oscar, a Grammy, a BAFTA and more. Sakamoto created the jingle that plays during the Dreamcast’s boot sequence, and scored a number of videogames beginning with the PC Engine CD game Tengai Makyou: Ziria in 1989. Other works include Seven Samurai 20XX, Dawn Of Mana and LOL: Lack Of Love, for which he was also the scenario writer.
On 31 March, Michael Berlyn passed away at the age of 73. The industry veteran began his career in videogames in 1981 as a writer on the Apple II game Oo-Topos, and soon found his way to Infocom. From there, he cofounded Brainwave Creations with his wife Muffy, before moving on to roles at Electronic Arts and subsequently Accolade, where he created Bubsy The Bobcat. He left to create Eidetic, Inc which is now Sony’s Bend Studio, but left the company during the development of Syphon Filter. He later returned to the industry to create casual games on mobile and PC.