News of Robin Williams' passing came as a shock to everyone. People took to social media to offer their condolences to the actor's family and voice out their own pain, and Apple, in its own effort to remember the man, put up a "Remembering Robin Williams" page on its site.
It was a simple black-and-white portrait but it drove the point home. Apple wrote that it was deeply saddened by the passing of Robin Williams, noting how the actor inspired people through his passion and generosity and the gift of laughter. The company ended the message by saying the actor will be greatly missed. As part of Apple's memorial, a number of Williams' works were also made available through the iTunes Store.
Reactions about the actor's passing range but collectively reflect regret and sorrow at the loss of a life that offered so much to other people. But while most of the world had Williams' filmography as a connection to him, one group, the gamers, remembered him differently: as one of them.
With a daughter named after a video game character, it doesn't take much to put together that Williams was a fan. But while it wasn't exactly him who named his daughter Zelda (his son Zachary came up with the idea), he was still very much into video games. According to a Reddit AMA (Ask Me Anything) he did back in 2013, he has also played Portal, Call of Duty, Battlestations Pacific and World of Warcraft. He said he didn't always play online "because getting my ass kicked by an 11-year-old is very humbling" but still gamers from around the world secretly hoped to play against him someday.
While it's impossible for gamers to ever have Williams by their side in a campaign now, it might just be possible for the actor to appear in the game, if a petition to have him included as a World of Warcraft NPC (non-player character) will be successful. The idea started in a forum Monday night and just hours later a Change.org petition has been made to turn it into reality. By Tuesday morning, nearly 9,000 signatures have been collected by the petition.
Nintendo also tapped Williams and his daughter to appear in an ad for Ocarina of Time 3D in 2011. After he passed, Zelda Williams took to Twitter and Instagram to pay tribute to her father. "I love you. I miss you. I'll try to keep looking up," she said after quoting Antoine de Saint-Exupéry.
