Tommy Tallarico 2+ hour interview with WiiNintendo

[Leontendo]

Originally Posted by WiiNintendo

In this 2+ hour interview Tommy reveals all. We talk about New ventures with Disney and PBS, old school gaming, his relationship with Miyamoto, guitars, music, his involvement in creating Guitar Hero: Aerosmith, everything you could want to know about the future of Video Games Live, gaming preferences, Michael Jackson’s involvement on Sonic 3, console wars, his voice acting, and TONS more!

Stream or download from http://www.wiinintendo.net/2009/10/2...mmy-tallarico/.

[Myrph]

That was a pretty awesome podcast! Loooooooong, but a really great listen!!

Thanks for the post!!

[Terraguy]

2+ hours?!

[Myrph]

Originally Posted by Terraguy

2+ hours?!

Yeah, as I said its looooooong! I think total running time is about 2 hrs 20 minutes ish, but less than 5% is worthless fill, the rest is genuine awesome chat with Tommy! If you can find a slot in which you could listen to it, do it, cos its actually a really good interview!!

Especially with all the spoilers he drops for future happenings! xD

[manelis]

I'm now listening to it and I'm liking.

just one thing if Tallarico reads this, the Dave Mathews band has a lot of success here in Portugal :P

[Songbird]

Gaaahhh! I wanna listen so badly, but it will drive up my usage! -don't ask.

Has the interview been typed in an article some where so I can read it? -I highly doubt it.

[Myrph]

Unfortunately not... And I'm not sure I'd want to transcript a 2 hour interview!

[Terraguy]

If I ever get around to listening to it, I'll try to jot down the highlights of it.

Note the "try" and "ever get around...to it."

[Myrph]

I could probably do the majority of it from memory...

-Sonic should not be in 3D
-CBS TV special
-Michael Jackson may have had something to do with Sonic 3
-GH:Aerosmith wouldn't have happened if it weren't for TT
-Tommy's mom is more impressed by his Guiness World Records than anything else about the concert
-KH is one of the most popular segments, partly because non-gamers relate to the Disney clips video
-SSBB, Earthworm Jim segments in the works (possibly others too, but my memory is pants)

Uhh, yeah, thats about all the really memorable stuff, I think... Anyone else who listened to it, feel free to add stuff to the list! I've probably missed bits.

[Terraguy]

Alright. I listened to the whole thing (2 hours and 7 minutes), and basically took a couple of notes. (I don't get any appreciation from this, do I? )

In any case, there's a lot about not only VGL, but also Tommy as a person and a gamer. For those who want VGL-related news, I'll bold it. Also, italics are some of my own comments about the statement. Enjoy!

-Tommy talks about being able to design weapon sounds where the game designers then design the weapon around the design (Miyamoto working with TT)
-New games that take old-school 2D games are redoes it in 3D is destroying the franchise (TT doesn't like the console wars either)
-Tommy believes that VGL's success is founded on not only the orchestra, but also with the lasers, action, excitement; essentially, VGL is now mainstream, appeals to the common people
-"Video games is the 21st centruy equivalent of radio"
-Lots of video games with TT as audio engineer has a lot of his own voices in it
-Discussion how VGM is pervasive across the world
-Comparison of movie music vs VGM and how VGM is much more popular now than movie music (gives OCRemix as an example of how VGM is so popular there are remixes)
-Square Enix has given permission for their music and logos to be played in VGL, but no video; Tommy disagrees but respects it (and therefore gets around it with the cosplay video)
-TT does a lot of things to target more mainstream audiences (AKA families), such as the Disney montage
-TT enjoys the collaboration with other composers (Good for you Tommy! )
-Talks about Jack Wall's great help in VGL
-TT thinks that selecting music for each concert as a "nightmare" in a good way because there are so many possibilities
-Mario, Zelda, Final Fantasy, Halo, Warcraft are most popular segments (approximately in order)
-Warcraft not very popular in Japan, but Warcraft, Starcraft, and Diablo hugely popular in China
-New segments this year: Silent Hill, Megaman, Shadow of the Colossus, Chrono Cross/Trigger, Assassin's Creed 2
-Taking January and February off to develop new material: Super Smash Bros. (2 minute intro from Uematsu, asks for more suggestions for another 2 or so portions of the SSB segment), Earthworm Jim (TT says he doesn't want to seem like he's pushing his own stuff), Street Fighter 2, Pokemon, more Final Fantasy (VI, VIII, X (What, no IX?!)), more Mario/Zelda (more OoT, whole segment devoted to OoT if possible; want some Mario 3, Super Mario World)
-More special effects, 2 went to 3 screens now, new tech (HD cameras), more orchestra performance videos on side screen with new camera(!!!!!!!)
-Note about the VGL forums, asks for suggestions for music (Any shout out? )
-Really makes a point about emailing local symphony and asking for VGL back will do wonders
-Tommy is bored during classical symphonies
-National TV special (with CD/DVD to follow) in 2010; everything else cannot be said; gives hint about the channel being prestigious, does a lot of special concerts; not NBC
-Big announcement about Sydney, Australia and location (will not say, but you can guess, "biggest venue in the world")
-TT lets it "slip" that it's PBS (the channel) [don't take my word for it; I think that's what he said]
-Volume 1: Sonic couldn't get on because the rights took too long to pass
-Volume 2 (2010): Sonic definitely on, Mario, Zelda, Final Fantasy trying [TT didn't confirm the latter three, but it's very likely]
-TT likes the power of having a TV special and the success of the first album (can use it to convince game companies to give them rights)
-Rumor Time!
>Michael Jackson did contribute to/influence one or two tracks for Sonic 3
>GH: Aerosmith - TT: "100% me" ... "with original idea from Joe Perry"
>Spiderman Guitar: came from the 80s (1986 specifically), custom Gibson Les Paul, 1 of 75, called the "Webslinger 1", TT got it on Ebay; TT says it looks great and has great sound but it's heavy and not that comfortable to play
-TT says that when he was on G4TV, he had to be more of a critic because his cohost was really nice (and TT wanted to balance the show)
-TT has a Guinness for working on the most video games (272 at time of award), longest running television show, and putting on the most video game concerts in a single year (43 at time of award)
-As Myrph said, Tommy's mother is more impressed with the Guinness World Record than the concert
-Tommy believes the most underrated game is Beyond Good and Evil; other ones are SotC and Ico
-Question from the chatroom: "What do you think of Earthbound?"
>Tommy has never played the game, but likes the music
-TT doesn't like turn-based RPGs, but likes open-world ones (such as Fable 2)
-Basically, TT must almost always play the game before he incorporates the music into VGL
-TT favorite video games ever: #1 Super Mario World, #2 Goldeneye 64
-TT favorite video games for the Wii: Tommy likes the idea behind the Wii, but he doesn't like many of the games on the Wii, and he finds himself struggling with the controller/interface; looking forward to the new Mario Bros. game, references controls on Metroid Prime being awesome; TT does not really like the Wii platform
-Tommy talks about the consoles and how each have their own benefits (and he referenes the PC too, for all the PC lovers out there)
-Tommy wants REALISTIC GRAPHICS [caps inserted for emphasis]
-Someone asks TT what he has worked/is working on (in games): Sonic and the Black Knight, Slip's Twisted World (both for the Wii), and new Earthworm Jim games (remakes)
-Also Tommy is working on a top-level project for Disney (nothing to do with VG)
-Tommy wants Pacman and Katamari, and Still Alive from Portal, in VGL
-Tommy is proud of having worked on these soundtracks: Advent Rising and Earthworm Jim, but he's most proud of having done VGL (and being in the Guinness World Records)

Phew!