“This is my last day going to work. I took a selfie with the empty office. I guess I won’t be coming in here anymore. As you’d expect, I’ll miss it,” Kotaku’s translation of his commemorative Facebook post reads.Imamura worked on character designs across the F-Zero and Star Fox series, creating iconic Nintendo characters like Captain Falcon and Fox McCloud among many more. More recently, he directed two Steel Diver games, and was a supervisor on the last two Smash Bros. releases.
He was also the art director of The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask, responsible for the design of the eponymous mask and the game’s name, as well as the character Tingle. It’s worth remembering that, according to Zelda series producer Eiji Aonuma, Imamura came up with the word ‘Majora’ by combining his own name with ‘Jumanji’.
In other Nintendo news, recent reports from industry analysts suggest that a Nintendo Switch Pro could be on the way. A hacker has also created an exercise bike game using Nintendo Labo, Ring Fit Adventure and Mario Kart 8 Deluxe.
Jordan Oloman is a freelance writer for IGN. Follow him on Twitter.
