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Namco's Original Xevious/Galaga/Dig Dug Pixel-Art Designer Hiroshi Ono Passes Away
posted on by Alex Mateo
The official Twitter account of the original pixel-art designer of Namco's XEVIOUS, Galaga, and Dig Dug games Hiroshi Ono, also known as "Mr. Dotman" and the "God of Pixel Art," announced on Monday that Ono passed away on October 16 due to illness. He was 64.
Although the illness was not specified, he had been hospitalized for autoimmune hepatitis as of October 6. The funeral service is for close relatives only.
Ono was born on June 24, 1957. After graduating from Nippon Designer Gakuin, he joined Namco in 1979 as a graphic designer. He worked on sprites and logo designs for numerous Namco titles, including XEVIOUS, Galaga, Dig Dug, Mappy, Super Pac-Man, and Rally-X. He continued working at the company when it merged with Bandai in 2006. He left Bandai Namco in 2013 to work as a freelancer. Ono also ran pixel art workshops. He launched the "Mr. Dotman" brand in 2016.
An ongoing crowdfunding project for a documentary about Ono's life had been successfully funded. The project's staff announced that it will report to supporters the status of certain pledge tiers that cannot be closed due to contracts with Ono.
Sources: Hiroshi Ono's Twitter account, Famitsu.com via Hachima Kikо̄
