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"I've worked on some sh*tty-assed games," said game music composer Tommy Tallarico.

Tallarico attended game festival MAGFest this past weekend, hosting both a panel on game music composition as well as a more personal one, which focused on his background and beginnings in the games industry. In this panel, he detailed some of his favorite projects from his successful career, but made it a point to mention his least favorite.

"When I started, game audio was the last thing people thought of," said Tallarico, speaking on the low quality of early game soundtracks.

He feels that the worst game he's worked on was called Color-A-Dinosaur, for the Nintendo Entertainment System.

"This is exactly what happened: the vice-president of the company came to the office, and I had never worked on the NES."

"He walked into my office and said 'okay, look, we've got this game called Color-A- Dinosaur, and it's this dinosaur coloring game. We're submitting it tomorrow, and FedEx leaves at 4 o'clock tomorrow, and we don't have any sound in it. See what you can do.'" 

Tallarico continued, "I've never worked on the platform before."

"How do I make sounds for it?" he asked.

"The VP says 'I don't know, there's this sound driver thing. See if you can figure it out.'"

"I literally stayed up all night; I wrote these two songs and a bunch of shitty sound effects."

Tallarico admits, "It was my worst work ever." 


Continue: More Tommy Tallarico stories





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33 comments | showing # 1 to 33
AgentMOO's Avatar - Comment posted on 01/05/2009 13:44
AgentMOO
I bet you Wardrox would buy this game at a high price. Although he might mark it down for lack of "U" in "color".
smurfee mcgee's Avatar - Comment posted on 01/05/2009 13:50
smurfee mcgee
I played the demo for Spore on DS, and it looks pretty much like this.
mistic's Avatar - Comment posted on 01/05/2009 13:56
mistic
I was always wondering why the music for that game was so shitty :-)



( i kid, i kid )
s0lesurviv0r's Avatar - Comment posted on 01/05/2009 13:59
s0lesurviv0r
I want my goddamn 3:57 minutes back, Dale! I'm glad the worst thing I played on the nes was Bible Adventures and not this paperweight.
Tommy Tallarico's Avatar - Comment posted on 01/05/2009 14:01
Tommy Tallarico
Holy Crap! Someone made a video of this game and put it on YouTube! EPIC!!

:)


Link saved! Now I have proof about how crappy it was. Sweet. hehehehehee

It was great seeing ya and catching up at MAGFest Dale!



Tommy
Roel's Avatar - Comment posted on 01/05/2009 14:25
Roel
Color-A-Dinosaur? That's not even a game! What victim of an escaped brain designs this stuff?

...it might as well have been a recent Nintendo title.
Nick Chester's Avatar - Comment posted on 01/05/2009 14:25
Nick Chester
That looks like the greatest game ever. I smell a WiiWare update.
jp007's Avatar - Comment posted on 01/05/2009 14:26
jp007
Oh how, I long for the days of yore, back when the Nintendo Seal of Quality actually meant something.

Wait a sec...
Necros's Avatar - Comment posted on 01/05/2009 14:27
Necros
Dead god...the things people got away with back then.
gamadaya's Avatar - Comment posted on 01/05/2009 14:29
gamadaya
That tune wasn't so bad. Man, I hope they make a sequel though. I can't wait for Color 2 Dinosaurs, or Color a Dinosaur in a Hat. And if they come out with Color an Archosaur, I'm going to bust a nut.
Brad Rice's Avatar - Comment posted on 01/05/2009 14:30
Brad Rice
Why do I feel like Jim would play this on the weekends even now?
Dukeman330's Avatar - Comment posted on 01/05/2009 14:33
Dukeman330
Actually, the music in that game is pretty awesome!
wittynickname's Avatar - Comment posted on 01/05/2009 14:35
wittynickname
Why do I feel that Tommy Tallarico googles his own name several times per day, looking for comment/messageboards he can drop his face into?
glandseck's Avatar - Comment posted on 01/05/2009 14:47
glandseck
@wittynickname,
agreed. He has always struck me as sort of an attention whore.
NSNick's Avatar - Comment posted on 01/05/2009 14:52
NSNick
Color A Dinosaur 2: The Color of Blood
AgentMOO's Avatar - Comment posted on 01/05/2009 15:03
AgentMOO
@wittynickname and glandseck

So what have you two contributed to the games industry?
Generic Dude's Avatar - Comment posted on 01/05/2009 15:27
Generic Dude
While I very much appreciate his contributions to the industry (Pocket-rocket stage from EWJ!) I still cannot see his face without getting angry. His game reviews on Judgement Day were absolutely awful. He'd routinely rate down games based on genre alone. "This game is turn-based. Haven't we seen enough of turn-based games? I give it a .2 out of 10" Great musician, terrible person.
NukaCola's Avatar - Comment posted on 01/05/2009 15:30
NukaCola
I met Tommy Tallarico after the Video Games Live! show in Newark, NJ. I had him sign my Earthworm Jim 2 SNES cart and then told him how his Color-a-Dinosaur soundtrack really touched my heart. He got a kick out of that.
Saint Demon's Avatar - Comment posted on 01/05/2009 15:52
Saint Demon
I think Tommy's music works for the game. Actually, the only interesting parts of that game were with Tommy's music. Now here is what I thought watching the game: If the dinosaurs looked like that I can see why they went extinct. Looks like the perfect game for the regular ectasy inducer. Maybe some techno music would go great with the changing backgrounds. This game makes me want to burn down a warehouse...oh waite some Korean kid already did that.
nintendoll's Avatar - Comment posted on 01/05/2009 16:22
nintendoll
...I think I liked this game as a kid.

Or maybe I'm thinking of a game that was similar but on PC.

Kids will play almost anything.
Emrah's Avatar - Comment posted on 01/05/2009 16:47
Emrah
The music is neat, if you ask me!
Holyetheline's Avatar - Comment posted on 01/05/2009 16:59
Holyetheline
Yeah the music is solid enough. It's the game that sucks.
John Johnson's Avatar - Comment posted on 01/05/2009 17:21
John Johnson
I wonder how much he got paid for his night of work.
TheCleaningGuy's Avatar - Comment posted on 01/05/2009 18:21
TheCleaningGuy
Hey Mr. Tallarico! Get working on MDK3 please!
Tommy Tallarico's Avatar - Comment posted on 01/05/2009 21:36
Tommy Tallarico
@wittynickname and glandseck: So because I work in the industry I'm not allowed to be a part of the gaming community or read gaming websites?

If I don't talk to people I'm a stuck up egotiscal jerk. If I comment to people I'm a stuck up egotiscal jerk.

Gotcha. Thanks. Just wanted to clarify.

Here are my thoughts... people who make comments about people they don't know... are stuck up egotiscal jerks.

Internets FTW!

:)

Tommy
Hamza CTZ Aziz's Avatar - Comment posted on 01/05/2009 23:28
Hamza CTZ Aziz
Hahahahaha, Tommy wins.
Samit Sarkar's Avatar - Comment posted on 01/05/2009 23:31
Samit Sarkar
Well said, Tommy.
Nick Chester's Avatar - Comment posted on 01/05/2009 23:40
Nick Chester
My wife and I had a chance to speak with Tommy years ago, well before I was associated in any way with the games industry (besides playing 'em). We were surprised by how friendly and approachable he was; no ego or any of that stuff. He's right, it's easy to talk about someone when you don't know them, but you should really cut him some slack. Plus, him working on this dino coloring game alone and surviving to tell the tale should give him plenty of cred.
BoBoTheChimp757's Avatar - Comment posted on 01/06/2009 07:25
BoBoTheChimp757
They need to put this on XBL!
welkstar's Avatar - Comment posted on 01/06/2009 09:55
welkstar
Wow, the development cycle sure was different in that time. I wonder if it is not too different from today's shovelware?
wittynickname's Avatar - Comment posted on 01/07/2009 12:20
wittynickname
My comment has been bastardized well beyond the point therein, which has nothing at all with the industry or whether you or I or anyone else works in it.

I simply find it telling of a person's character that they (appear to) search their own name just in case there's something new to pop in and comment on. The point remains, regardless whether I'm discussing a composer or a meter maid.

As for egotism or other such negative qualities, references to each were offered by comments outside my own. Take from that what you will.
Aktrez's Avatar - Comment posted on 01/07/2009 12:46
Aktrez
@wittynickname Just for your own peace of mind, Tommy didn't google/search his name. I have been a long time lurker of Dtoid and when I saw the post by Dale, I sent him the link.

Also, I might throw out there that - if you were in the position of a public figure in any industry - you too, may like to know when people are writing about you.
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