Amidst a ton of controversy over the validity behind the announcement, news trickled through the web today that the author of a 2D remake of The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time died in a car accident. Dampe was barely 16 and was re-creating the entire game in RPGMaker staying faithful to the original.

News like this would normally be very somber, but many people who were (are) close to Dampe say it's a hoax cooked up by the author himself. Re-creating the entire OoT game is a massive undertaking, and Dampe slowly realized he couldn't accomplish the task. So, rather than owning up to it, he decided to fake his own death. No news reports or papers in his home country have even mentioned the young boy's passing, and the official 2D OoT website and forums have been shut down apparently at the request of his family.

I have to admit, it does sound a bit fishy. If Dampe has truly passed away, my condolences to his family and friends. But if this was done just to kill the project, it's an extremely immature thing to do.