Tommy Tallarico Interview

Did you ever imagine ten years ago that you would be where you are today?

You know it's funny, as a kid I always dreamed of doing something cool and special when I grew up. I just never thought it would be this damn cool!! I get up everyday, play video games and write music or create sounds for them. When I'm not doing that I'm creating a TV show about them! I consider myself a very fortunate individual.

I'm having immense loads of fun right now! There's tons of hard work and lots of traveling around, but I love doing it and have been for over 10 years now. When it stops being fun is when I'll stop doing it. I just don't see that happening any time soon.

I will hopefully be involved with the industry for the rest of my life. I basically get paid to do what I love. It's one of the best feelings in the world.

Well, usually Victor Lucas (creator, executive producer & on-camera talent) and myself come up with a bunch of ideas, stories and games we want to be on the show. From there we get in touch with the people creating them and tell them we want to visit. Another way we get ideas is from our website (www.elecplay.com). Lots of people write in and ask us about certain games they want to see. We get a lot of good ideas from the fans. Anyway, once we get to our destination it's anyone's guess what's going to happen next!! We usually try to put ourselves in the situation that the game is based around when we do the interview. I mean lets face it, it would get boring really quick if we interviewed everyone in front of a computer monitor every time. So we try to use as many stunts, action-adventure, comedy and special effects as we can to enhance our interviews. We do serious stuff also when the content is appropriate. We use no scripts and don't really plan too much at all, which I feel is a very important element to the show. It keeps everything very real and natural. I've seen a few other attempts at video game television which are sad as hell because everything is scripted and it seems the people on camera don't know much about games at all. Everyone at the Electric Playground is a video game freak!! From the special effects graphic guys to the editors and cutters. Everyone loves what they're doing and it shows in their work. We've built a pretty amazing team up there in Vancouver.

Wet

Every single time!!! No seriously, some people are just naturally good and feel comfortable being interviewed on camera. Others absolutely hate it and sometimes even refuse to be on film. We interview someone for about 20 to 30 minutes which then gets cut down to the 3 best minutes which you see on the show, so there is always editing going on. The cool thing however is that we also do an extended cut which we put up on our website!! So if there was an interview let's say with Shigeru Miyamoto (creator of Mario), it may have aired 3 minutes on TV. but 15 minutes on our website. That being said, the editing team always has to cut out half of what I say due to foul language or some kind of R-rated behavior. Trust me when I say some of the funniest stuff hits the cutting room floor! For our Christmas party this year the guys put together a bloopers and out-takes type reel just based on last season. It was 20 minutes long and people were peeing their pants all over the place. I'm gonna get a copy of that sucker and hopefully put it up on my website!!

The interviews not so much, but filming some of the stunts and reviews OH YEAH!!! One time we were shooting the reviews on the beach by the rocks in Orange County, California (near my house). Everything was going fine until a killer wave came out of nowhere and completely took out a $50,000 camera!! I think I was the only one laughing at the time! Let's see, getting chased by deadly grizzly bears was pretty fun also. I wanted to try to get as close as possible so it looked good. Another thing that happens is that we're always being kicked out of places we're not supposed to be! We've done so much dangerous stuff that it would be impossible to name them all. I think I'm going to start an online diary soon which will document all the trouble we get into!

I play roughly 200 games a year. I would have to say that 10% are really good, 30% really suck, 50% are average to good and the other 10% really really really suck and should have never come out!!

Wow, what a great question!! I definitely love both, but if I could have only one it would have to be console. I love the ease of setup. It seems that a lot of games that I like to play always come out better on the consoles.

Definitely not. As a matter of fact if you look at the numbers the video game market is growing every year. The projections for the next couple of years are even more intense! The reality is that video gaming is now becoming more mainstream. The better the graphics get the more people want to play! For example my dad want's to play driving games because they look so real now. He didn't care before when it looked like a video game. He's always telling me… "put on that Madden Football game, it's cool to watch". He just likes watching me play! The thing that video game developers and publishers MUST keep in mind is that because gaming is becoming more mainstream they have to keep everything simple!! It's the biggest mistake people make when creating a game! Yes it's o.k. to have some games be hardcore but the simpler the concept and controls the better for the masses! Look at some of the biggest selling games over the years! Tetris! Myst! Who Wants To Be A Millionaire! The numbers don't lie! To be mainstream you need to have simple controls and relatively simple gameplay.

I would have to say that the hardest part is trying to make everyone happy! There are so many people on these teams now it's starting to get ridiculous. And mostly every one of them is a music critic! It's funny, you can pretty much look at a piece of art in a game and tell whether or not it sucks. You can move a character on screen and tell if it feels good or not. But put a tune in a game!?!? Everyone has different music tastes! It's hard to find two people who agree on every single piece of music! Take country music for example. Some people love it, other's can't stand it. I try telling people not to choose what kind of music they like for the game, but what type of music fits and enhances the game the best.

Honestly, there are three important elements for me to accepting a project.

Budget, quality and the people making it. Usually if they don't have the budget the quality isn't there either. I'm not going to work hard and pour my soul into a project for a year and a half if I don't feel the project has any potential at all. A lot of times early on you take chances and sometimes you hit, sometimes you miss. Take Tony Hawk Skateboarding for example. Who knew?? I liked working with the Neversoft guys and I had never done a skateboarding game before. No one knew it was going to become as big as it was. Not even all of us who were working on it at the time! We knew it was a good game, but we had no idea! Finally, the team you work with is also very important. My favorite and best projects have always been the ones where it was a team effort and we all got along really well. It's always great working with friends and people you get along with.

say no for sure. We should have a bigger percentage of the budget (to do things like live orchestras, TALENTED voice acting, intelligent script writing, etc.), but instead a lot of times it's looked at as post-production similar to the film industry. But for video games it's just not the case, the composer and sound designer need to be there from day one figuring out technically how everything is going to be incorporated into each phase or level of the game. It has gotten progressively better over the last 5 years because of all of us audio guys complaining so much. Every year you see more and more live musicians and talented voice acting. Hopefully we will reach a point where almost every game is like that as opposed to about 10 or 15 percent of the stuff out there. That being said, if you look at the film industry, film composers are underrated compared to movie stars and directors also.

What I do is play the game with no sound until stuff starts coming to me in my head. Then I run like hell up three flights of stairs to my studio and start figuring it out on my synthesizer. You can always tell when I'm composing cause all you hear all day long is me running up and down the stairs about a million times! It's a great way to keep fit! I don't know how to read and write music, I just play by ear (although playing by ear has it's set backs… my ear gets really bloody after banging it on the piano all day long… o.k. that was a lame joke… sorry!)

I think talent and determination are the two biggest assets you could have. With enough determination you achieve/find/create luck. I would say to anyone who is serious about it to just "Go out and do it!!" Put together your best written favorite couple of songs on CD and go to the E3 convention in Los Angeles and/or the Game Developers Conference in San Jose. Pass out CD's, make friends, learn and network with people. You could also check out www.gamasutra.com to find out lots of interesting facts and interviews with industry professionals (they even have job postings!).

Over the last few years I've been saying "WOW!!" Usually followed by a "Damn, I wanted to do that!" A lot of times the game has to be the right kind of game in order for it to have great music. So sometimes the music or project finds you. I remember the first time I played Parappa the Rapper where they used multiple streams going on at the same time to get the instruments to fall out or layer depending on how well you were doing. I had just finished working on Treasures of the Deep and we were kinda doing the same thing but not to the same extent. I was actually really blown away that it worked as well as it did in Parappa! Until you actually do something like that you're never entirely sure how it's going to come off within the game. Some of the Final Fantasy cinematic movies just blow me away also. They're always using some kick-ass live orchestra and choir stuff. I wish I could do more of that. Last year I was fortunate enough to be able to use a 50 piece orchestra and 30 person choir for the Evil Dead game. It was so much fun! We used the Hungarian National Symphony Orchestra in Budapest, Hungary. A lot of times I'm very impressed with other games because of the amount of dialogue or sound design that I know goes into some of these projects. I respect the guys who do it because it's very long and tedious work. Sometimes over 10,000 lines or 3,000 sound effects. It's starting to get crazy!

There are two big steps I think you'll see happening over the next year or two.

First there will be the use of digital discrete multichannel sound (such as Dolby or DTS 5.1) being completely interactive within the gaming experience. Even though there are games that have 3D audio they are not completely digitally discrete or interactive. The simplest way to explain it would be to say in the 40's & 50's we had mono (single channel). In the 60's we got stereo (2 channels, left and right). Today's DVD consoles and players are able to accomplish digital 5.1 (6 separate channels of audio - 5 regular speakers and one sub-woofer… that's the .1). This makes the listening experience a lot clearer. There are so many nuances of sound that get lost when things start to get layered and mixed into a 2 channel source. Imagine if the programmer could control (in real-time) a discrete 6 channel sound effect that moved from 5 or 6 speakers positioned around you 360 degrees. It's on it's way!

The second evolutionary step you'll see over the next couple of years will be the wider use of seamless streaming of interactive music/sound design. With machines like the X-Box and PlayStation 2 the musician will be able to have many different streams of audio going at the same time. But depending on which tracks are muted or unmuted will determine the listening experience. Quickly being able to change music vibes on the fly will also be helpful for someone trying to create the best possible audio environment.

I see a time maybe 10 or even 20 years into the future where you walk into a room and are completely put into a live fully functioning pseudo-real 3-D world. Kinda like the Matrix. How freaking cool will that be!!!

Nintendo will always focus on the younger gaming audience. It's part of their rich tradition and history. Let's just say with a company like Nintendo… Old habits are hard to break. I think it's going to be very hard for Nintendo to compete with Sony and Microsoft for the over 18 crowd. But that's o.k. Gaming is becoming more accepted by all age groups. I think Nintendo will still focus on the younger gaming audience. But us older guys and gals will still buy it because of games like Wave Race. Let me just publicly state that I wish Nintendo would have used full length DVD's instead of the little mini-disc thingies. Publishers and developers are already running out of space on certain DVD titles. If you were to ask me for a prediction of how the game industry is going to look in 3 years I would say this: Sony will still be #1 with the X-Box not too far behind. I put Nintendo in third place right now.

I get probably between 25-50 e-mails a week from people who see me on the TV show. Another 10-20 a week from people who like my music. There are a lot of people out there who write me to find out how they can do music in the game industry. I try to help out as many people as I can, but it gets to be hard sometimes because of the volume of e-mails. I've been working on my website for over a year now. The hope is to be able to have a section where I can answer a lot of people's questions about breaking into the industry. It's taking me a long time to launch the new site because I want it done right. Not enough hours in the day!

Ocean Spray Cran-Grape for sure.

I would rate my favorite games as the games I've played the most in my life. That being said I would probably have to put GoldenEye at the top of my list. Followed closely by Tekken 2, Madden Football '93 and Intellivision Baseball & Utopia.

Damn, another great question!!! I would have to say that the heads of third party development for the console manufacturers (Sony, Nintendo, Microsoft) are pretty damn influencing! They really decide which games get made and which don't. They control the quality that we all see on the shelves each month. I've seen publishers and developers make or lose millions and millions of dollars based around decisions made that were out of their control. Ever notice there was never a Deer Hunter-type game made for the PlayStation? I know of at least 4 or 5 that were complete and ready to go. Millions were spent but none ever made it to market. It wasn't because the Publishers didn't want to put them out. It was because the powers that be at Sony didn't want that kind of game on their system. On the flip side you could have a game like a Crash Bandicoot that gets so much exposure and the right distribution that it becomes a cultural icon. Would it have been as popular a game if Universal distributed it?? They didn't seem to think so (and they were probably right!). MGM made the same decision when they decided to let EA distribute Tomorrow Never Dies. I was in a similar situation when I was working on Disney's Aladdin for the Genesis. We were at Virgin making the game but Sega ultimately distributed the product. It just made more marketing and distribution sense.

Bill Gates is a great business man and a true visionary. He cares about the product that his company puts out because he is so focused on being the best. Once you have that going for you the money, success and power come after. More people should follow his lead. Maybe there wouldn't be as many crappy games out there if they did!

I think most females like to be challenged more mentally and a lot of games out there just don't do that. What's funny is that when you look at some of the greatest selling games ever, they were games that females liked just as much as the men. They were games that stimulated the mind more than the fingers on the controller. For example: Tetris, Myst, You Don't Know Jack and Who Wants To Be A Millionaire. Even the Barbie games on PC get huge numbers! It's definitely a part of the industry that is lacking totally right now. Everyone is into making the next racing or fighting or first-person shooter game. Publishers and developers should be hiring female designers to make games more acceptable for the masses. I'm not saying stop making racing, fighting and first-person shooters. I'm just saying if a company is looking to make the next super mega-hit I think they need to look towards the female population also.

I think anyone should be able to make whatever they want! I think people should be able to make porno games on the PS2 & Xbox if they want to. The biggest problem is making sure only the right kind of people have access to purchase them. I think the ESRB does a good job of rating games for us. But children should have to show an ID when they purchase games that have a more mature rating. PERIOD!!! Kids can't buy alcohol, cigarettes or porno!! Why should they be able to buy a game that wasn't intended for them! I hate the people out there (Lieberman… you know who you are) who try to wipe out the creation of mature or violent games. This is crap!! Don't dictate to me what I can and can't buy just because YOU think it's harmful. I think we would all agree that carding young children is the way to go. It's up to the retail outlets to make sure that's done. Not the publishers or the developers!! Violence is part of human nature! There were no Color Gameboys around when Caine killed Able. As far as I know Hitler wasn't a big Earthworm Jim fan. So don't blame the video game industry for people killing other people. Let's also look at different cultures today. Japan is considered to be one of the most docile cultures on the planet. Yet they play most of the video games. Likewise, look at the numbers of games sold in the Middle East. Not too many yet there is death, sorrow and wars going on constantly!

I would say they absolutely can coexist. But as I stated above, it's the responsibility of the retail outlets to make sure something is being done to insure the right people are buying the right games. Not the makers or publishers of the games.

I don't think they blew it. But I do think they kept the door open enough for Microsoft to sneak in and steal a lot of their business away. My theory is that Sony didn't release a gazillion PS2's last Christmas because they wanted to get one more solid Christmas out of the original PlayStation. I mean let's face it, if everyone was able to get a PS2 who the heck would want to buy a PlayStation One game?? Here's the thing. Sony is a mega-huge company, which has been mass manufacturing hardware for many, many years. From VCR's and video cameras to Walkmans and television sets. You mean to tell me that they came up short in manufacturing when they knew about the release of the PS2 in North America years ago?!?! It just doesn't make sense! I could see maybe if they released in Japan and the U.S. at the same time, but they didn't!! I think a lot of the hardcore gamers out there have done their homework and realize that the X-Box is a superior hardware machine. But we all know that when it comes right down to it it's all about the games!! And to be honest I've seen a shift lately in the development community. Sony doesn't seem to be giving as much technical support and software tools for the new platform as people have grown to expect. Microsoft on the other hand is bending over backwards in order to make the developers and publishers happy. Because of this you'll be seeing some talent shifting their visions over to the X-Box. Case in point, Oddworld Inhabitants (Munch's Oddysee). Last year at E3 there were two games everyone was talking about for PS2: Metal Gear 2 and Munch's Oddysee. Well a few months ago they lost one of them. Sony needs to keep in mind who and what got them to the top. It was us game developers and the video game consumers. Right now neither of those groups are very happy! I hope someone at Sony reads this! Because I do like Sony.

Because I do a lot of traveling I find it fun and really make it a part of my personal life. Lately I've been trying to keep my weekends as free as possible. I'm always on the go and I'm not the type of person who finds great solace in relaxation. Fun to me is doing something fun! I love baseball, comic books, magic, fast cars and girls! But my favorite two things are music and video games. So you can see that I don't really ever consider myself having a professional life. It's all fun for me!

That's the first time anyone has asked me that! Am I'm glad you did so I can clarify. Vic always makes fun of me on the show during our reviews because I seem to give first person shooters low scores. But that's not the case at all. As I mentioned earlier one of my favorite games of all-time is GoldenEye. My favorite two games from last year were Deus Ex and No One Lives Forever. So to be honest, I love first-person shooter games. Although I wouldn't even consider any of those games I just mentioned to even be first-person shooters. I consider them first-person adventure games. I love games where you have to figure out different things, interact with people, maybe sneak around, maybe shoot some folks! In a lot of the more popular first-person shooters all you do is run and shoot, run and shoot, run and shoot, run and shoot. Here's a brown room, shoot everything… Here's a gray room, shoot everything… Here's another shade of brown, SHOOT IT!! To me this gets boring after 10 minutes. But everyone is different. I can understand why people in a multiplayer situation would find this entertaining. I also understand and respect that millions of people disagree with me and that's fine. When I give a review for a game it comes straight from me. I don't review games based on what I think others will like. And I think that keeps what we do honest and entertaining at the same time.

Geez, with questions like this I think I want you working on the Electric Playground! Another good one! I would have to say that a lot of people consider video games as toys or something they play with whereas films are seen as strictly entertainment. Do you care who invented the Rubik's cube or Monopoly? Not really! As long as it's fun to play you could give a rat's ass who made it! The other issue is that everyone in the world loves movies. You've never heard anyone ever say "I hate watching movies they suck!" Everyone (even your Grandma) has a favorite movie. But Grandma probably isn't banging out long hours on Metal Gear Solid (wouldn't that be cool though!!) There is only a certain percentage of the world that plays and enjoys video games. I think as games start becoming more mainstream and more of a form of entertainment you will start to see a shift. People are going to start to care who designed a certain game (Miyamoto is a perfect example). Eventually we'll get a nationally broadcast awards show and people will start to recognize and appreciate the people more. This is one of the main reasons Vic & I want to make the Electric Playground as good as possible. We feel that there all lots of people out there who want to know how their favorite game was made and who made it. It's just going to take some time for all of us who grew up on video games to start getting old and having children and grandchildren. Only then will games be universally accepted by everyone because it will eventually evolve into our culture.

How much of Unreal 2 have you seen and what are your initial impressions?  And how goes the audio?

We've only gotten video tapes of Unreal 2 so we haven't really played it at all.  But from the tapes we've seen it looks really fast and beautiful to watch.  The guys over at Legend Entertainment are really taking their time to make a kick-ass game.  We've done about 200 sounds so far.  There are lots of cool new interesting weapons. 

Canadian Trivia Question: What province actively seeks to separate from Canada? (Bonus points if you can name the leader of the separatist party that recently stepped down.)

That would be Quebec!!!!!! And although my mother is Canadian, I was born and raised in the U.S. so I wouldn't get the bonus one correct. Although I could cheat and call up my mom or just look it up on the inter… Um, er… hey, wait a sec… hold on…

THE CORRECT ANSWER IS…

LUCIEN BOUCHARD

No honest I knew that right off the top of my head!

Again we'd like to thank Tommy for taking the time to do this interview and be sure to visit his site at www.tallarico.com and you can find The Electric Playground at www.elecplay.com.