Toronto-born Actor Corey Haim Found Dead at 38

By Alice Stancu

I picked up a local newspaper yesterday and was shocked to see that my first video game crush, Toronto actor Corey Haim, had died at the age of 38.

The article discussed his life and long-term drug problem, and somewhat distastefully claimed that he'd been a “lost boy” his entire life after starring in The Lost Boys. There were mentions of his recent reality show, The Two Coreys. But the article never mentioned what endeared him to me as an 8-year-old gamer – his appearance in the classic cinematic mystery, Double Switch.

Double Switch was my favourite game for ages; it was challenging, lots of fun, Egyptian-themed, and the production values were top-notch by interactive cinema standards. Corey played the central character, Eddie – a techno-savvy, stripey-hatted, slightly insane nerd – basically, my dream guy. The game featured a full singing and dancing cast of mobsters, hot college girls, rock & roll stars, secret society assassins, and the lead singer of Blondie dressed up as Cleopatra. If it wasn't so hard to find a copy of it nowadays, I'd recommend it to everyone who played Heavy Rain and thought it was pretty neat.

I'd long hoped that Corey Haim would return to the gaming scene once interactive cinema experienced a revival. Of course, technology has now reached the point where real actors are no longer necessary; the idea of making a video game with live-action footage seems terribly passé. But I'll never forget Corey Haim and how great he was in this iconic game.