We at Giant Bomb have made no secret of our deep, some might say unreasonable, obsession with FMV games from the '90s. So it's with a heavy heart that we report that Kenneth Melville, co-founder of Night Trap and Ground Zero: Texas developer Digital Pictures, reportedly passed away on February 1st at the age of 65.
The news was first acknowledged by Cinemaware, who had signed Melville to contribute story content for a Kickstarter-funded remake of Wings.
"It is with great sadness that we announce to the Cinemaware community and gaming press the passing away of Ken Melville," the company wrote on its official Facebook page. "Ken was one of the most creative (and funny) guys we have ever collaborated with, and he was giving us great input during the Wings RE development process. Ken was one of the writers and composer of the original as well as the writer on It Came from the Desert. We will miss him and honor his memory during the development of Wing RE. He truly was one of gaming's heroes."
Though he'd worked in the industry for years prior, Melville's most notable works came after he co-founded Digital Pictures in 1991 with Tom Zito. The company specialized in full-motion video games, including the many entries in the Make My Video series, as well as Night Trap, the slasher flick-inspired horror game that notoriously found itself in the mix with Mortal Kombat and Lethal Enforcers as part of the US Congress' hearings on offensive video game material. Melville served as a writer and designer on several Digital Pictures titles, including Sewer Shark and Corpse Killer.
Our condolences go out to Melville's family and friends.