Former Rare artist Brett Jones, who worked on the classic N64 games GoldenEye 007 and Perfect Dark, has died.
Jones' work on the classic first-person shooter was wide-ranging and included concept art and character creation, model rigging, animation, and texturing. He would go on to do much of the same work on Perfect Dark, including work on the protagonist herself and leading efforts on the game's memorable motion-captured animation.
As noted by VGC, designer David Doak shared a screenshot of the game on Twitter along with the sad news, calling Jones an "absolute legend":
GoldenEye expert and champion @Graslu00 also shared a tribute on Twitter, recalling when he met Jones in 2022. Doak added to this with a message emphasising Jones' significant influence on both those BAFTA-winning Rareware projects:
In the years since leaving Rare, Jones's resume includes a host of impressive VFX work across projects including Dr. Who, Fast & Furious 6, and Guardians of the Galaxy.
"My job is cool!" he wrote on his website. "I get to work with crazily talented people and add my own drop of talent into the mix. Whether I’m rigging robots, painting scales on dinosaurs or sculpting a character in Zbrush there really is no better way to spend a day."
A Just Giving campaign to help fund an exhibition of Jones' work, which was started before his passing, is currently running. The gallery is planned to be open for two weeks from 4th November in Hinkley, Leicestershire, UK.
Our thoughts are with Jones' friends and family at this difficult time. From all of us here at Nintendo Life who have spent so many happy hours enjoying his work - thank you, Brett.
