Game/AI

When I think of Mark, I will always think of him as a man who gave of himself.

Mark gave us his time, his unstoppable energy, and his boundless enthusiasm. He gave to us from his endless knowledge and his rich imagination -- sometimes more than we could handle, always more than we deserved. He gave to us his deep and genuine warmth, which came from a heart even bigger than his extraordinary intellect. Mark gave us three games that will always be remembered, one book that will change our industry, and countless memories of a great friend. He gave us more than we could ever hope to repay.

Mark never acted out of ambition or self-interest. He gave of himself, and he gave because he had a vision for Retro and for the industry. He gave because of that vision, out of a genuine desire to help move all of us forward to that better place.

Today we honor a Father, a husband and our friend, Mark Haigh-Hutchinson.

I’ve been thinking a lot about what to say today and I’ve been struggling because I feel we all know Mark so well. What could I say today that you didn’t already know about Mark?

I thought I’d start by reading some sentiment from people that didn’t know Mark. These are a few random words from the masses of e-mail I received and internet postings on various websites that have honored Mark over the last week.

• Your spirit will live on forever through your games.

• My prayers to his family and thanks for his part in such a wonderful games.

• If his family is reading any of these comments I'd like them to know that his games where very moving and resonant, and left you with a real sense of wonder and adventure most other games don't match. His time spent on gaming was much appreciated.

• Mark, thank you so much for so many happy memories. May god watch over your family. The world will miss your amazing talent.

• THANK YOU! for all the sleepless nights working to make millions like me love gaming.

• My condolences to all his family and closest friends. Thank you for bringing me and my family some of the greatest joys we've experienced in our lives. Every time I play Prime I will remember you.

And lastly;

• Dude, your games rocked.

In speaking with Melanie last week, I told her that I wished she and the girls could experience the overwhelming emotion and response I received from all of his friends and coworkers in the industry. I received many, many, calls and correspondence from all over the world, from people that had worked with Mark over the years.

I’d like to share a few notes with you. There are a number of these so please bear with me:

As some may know, our friends from Japan had a nickname for Mark. They call him Kyo-Ju or “The Professor.” Partly because, when you were in a meeting with Mark and he had a point to make, regardless of how long he took to make that point, you were there for the duration and you “would” listen whether you wanted to or not. They referred to this sometimes lengthy tutoring as being “H-Hed.”

From the standpoint of a colleague Mark was the standard of which the bar was set. He set a standard of professionalism, work ethic and what a mentor should be.

A mentor of mine used to reference what he’d call “The Lonely Walk.” The lonely walk was the feeling anyone had being the first one into the office in the morning and the last one out at night. He used to say, “Any good leader knows the lonely walk.”

I have to say that I rarely got to experience this feeling at Retro because typically, I’d pull into the office in the morning, there would be Mark’s car, sometimes still there from the day before. And when I’d pull out late at night, I’d often pass a little silver Audi TT with the license plate reading R-e-t-t-r-o.

From the standpoint of my friend;

Mark was a very open person. As most of us know, Mark spoke what was on his mind and he did so freely, tactfully and with the accent that always made you feel you had no choice but to listen. When we went for lunch, I never had to ask where because we all know that it was curry or it was nothing, and it was never as good as what he could get back home. He was a true gamer if there ever where one. And, most of all, he was a good friend that always offered sound advice.

I’ll finish by thanking Mark, our Professor, personally for a few final lessons.

Thank you for making me appreciate not this and not that, but everything much, much more.

Thank you for making me a better Father.