Tommy_Tallarico

My two greatest loves and passions growing up were always video games and music, but I never really thought to ever put the two together until I moved out to California (from Massachusetts) when I was 21 years old. I just got in my car and I drove out west, left my parents crying on the doorstep. I didn’t have a job, money, I had no friends, no place to stay, nothing. I was homeless and sleeping under the pier at Huntington Beach. I just drove to California and the first day I got there I drove to Orange County because the only thing I really knew out there was Disneyland. When I got there I picked up a newspaper and saw a job for selling keyboards at Guitar Center. I went down there and they hired me and I started the following day. On my first day at the new job, the first person who walked in the store, happened to be a producer at a video game company called Virgin. I was wearing a TurboGrafx 16 shirt — a video game T-shirt — which, back then, 24 years ago, no one had video game T-shirts. He saw my shirt and he asked if I wanted a job testing games. I was like “Heck yeah!” I was in California for three days and I was in the video game industry.

Back then there was no such thing as a video game composer you had to be a programmer to do music and I didn’t really know too much about programming. I was hired as a games tester, and I would literally bug the vice president of the company every day, saying, "Whenever you need music, just let me know. I'll learn how to do it, and do it for free, and if you don't like it, you don't have to use it." So about three or four months later, one of the first games that I was actually a producer and a tester on was the original Prince of Persia on the Gameboy. I asked him to do the music and he let me. They liked what they heard and made me the full-time music guy after that.

IMO...

Greatest game: Super Mario World Greatest game soundtrack: Final Fantasy VIII

Notable Greatest Games: Shadow of the Colossus, Red Dead Redemption, Medal Gear Solid, Grand Theft Auto, ICO, Sonic the Hedgehog

Notable Game Soundtracks: Mario, World of Warcraft, Skyrim, Castlevania, Chrono Trigger/Cross, Zelda, Halo... and wait until everyone hears Destiny! Bungie's next game! We already perform it in VGL even though the game isn't coming out until 2014! My good friends Marty O'Donnell & Mike Salvatori (originally Halo composers) wrote the score with none other than Paul McCartney!! And it's MIND BLOWING!!!!!!

HAHAHAHAA!!! Ladies and Gentleman... please welcome Dr. Stephen Clarke-Wilson who is the man responsible for me being a video game composer!!! What a GREAT video!!! Classic!! I gotta repost this on my Facebook tomorrow!

Thanks Doc! Without you... I wouldn't be here right now!

p.s. How AWFUL was my hair!! Baby Mullet anyone??

I'm all for it! But I think Vic might be a little hesitant because he doesn't want to take attention away from the current reviewers on the show (at least that's the word on the street). I think it would be fun if me & Vic reviewed games... as well as me & FUBAR, me & Scott, etc.

I keep asking! But I never get a positive response. So they keep me alive in classic reruns! :)

HAHAHAHAA!!! But wait... you forgot to post the Ad for it as well...

Equally as awful!

:)

http://extralives.files.wordpress.com/2012/03/tommytallarico_ad.jpg