Sad news: Kenji Eno, creator of “D” passes away at 42

I'm a young artist from Pittsburgh, PA who is a tremendous fan of all things horror. It's VERY difficult to actually scare me, so when something accomplishes it, I love it forever. Resident Evil has always been my favorite, ever since I was a little kid, but I'm perfectly happy to spend time with Silent Hill, Fatal Frame and many other games.

For anyone who listens to the Whispers in the Dark podcast I’m on, you probably know that the incredibly weird and line-crossing 3DO game D holds a special place in my heart for horror. It saddened me to sign online today and discover that the game’s head developer Kenji Eno passed away this morning at the far-too-young age of 42.

D, it’s sequels Enemy Zero and D2, as well as his sound-only game Real Sound where huge leaps in horror game design, emphasizing sound over visuals in order to instill fear- as well as some truly twisted plots that would give even the most messed up things in Silent Hill a run for their money. While they might not be the easiest to play (Enemy Zero‘s invisible enemies are a real pain in the ass- although it’s worth noting that this idea would later be copied for the “invisible enemy” mode of Resident Evil REmake), they are some of the most unique games out there.

Eno died of heart failure yesterday, due to high blood pressure. As of yet, there aren’t any other details known. I urge our readers to take the time to hunt out copies of his games, just to try them out at the very least, and honor this man’s passing. I’m truly sorry he didn’t get to do more, but what he did do will be fondly remembered, at least by this writer.

[Source]

  • http://twitter.com/OVERLORD_RAHL Ross Ingram

    He died on my Birthday ;_; I watched the HappyVideoGameNerds reviews of all the D games. They looked really interesting. I think D was the only one to get a European release. HVGN explained how SONY screwed up Ds release by only making a very limited number of copies and how it’s sequels became SEGA exclusives.

    • http://twitter.com/OVERLORD_RAHL Ross Ingram

      Day before my Bday. 20th Feb according to his wiki.

      • http://www.facebook.com/diegoliberal Diego Siqueira

        Im sorry it was on your birthday… but we cant control that.

        I feel sad this happened, i always loved the D series, never finished any but i still own my Saturn versions and play when i wanna get nostalgic, rest in peace Kenji Eno ;-;

  • Thomas

    Okay its really sad when someone has to die this young……. Its just so NOT fair…….

  • killer89

    “Eno died of heart failure yesterday, due to high blood pressure.”

    Its not that surprising, that someone working on the game industry has a high blood pressure most of the time, and eventually dies because of it.
    Im not working on there (yet) but i do know, that people constantly stress in there. (constant stress = death)

  • http://www.facebook.com/people/Wojciech-Olczyk/1463241380 Wojciech Olczyk

    Goddamit…. ;(

  • ariessiren

    He was very unique to me. I thought D2 was a really great game. Incredible atmosphere and sound. Hope he is in a better place.