Video Game Composers List v3!
 

Hidiho!

The old guys (and elder ladies, of course) of you may be remember that there was a big simple listing of games and its composer(s) in the net. At the beginning updates were did every week. Later a few per month. Then every once a while in the year. Till the website was more or less dead... and went offline.

Here and there were some mirrors and the last I had known and found was at Kaleb.G's homepage (thanks, man!) some days ago. Before, I thought the whole thing were lost and all the more happier that it wasn't.

And from that moment I had taken a decision: I'm reviving the project!

Game music fans around the world, here is it: Game Music Composers v3!

Simple in design but full of games and composers! I hope you like it as much as I do and you're helping to fill out the info holes. :) (For registered users do it a PM!).

Thanks in advance and let me hear your comments! ;)

Very nice. What sources do you use ?

I generally use GMCL ver.2

That's very useful. Thanks for sharing.

Pretty good, although a truly comprehensive and exhaustive list would be a gigantic project! Thus, I'll send the ones that I know of that aren't on there yet before some others beat me to the punch.

All I can get. Music4games.net, Chudah's Corner, gamemp3s.net, Game Music Revolution, and so on. My most loved source are the credits of every game ;)

Wow, nice one. Doesn't know it before. Thanks! *bookmarked*

Well that's a pretty big job you've been doing all by yourself. =p

I know several people talked about translating GMCL before, bit doesnt know if anything has been done.

The very most entries were done by founder imperial_ubiqtorate (damn it, every time I must look up how to write it *laughs*) so my work so far wasn't as much as it may be seems.

And for the future, we'll see how the community supports it 'cause one thing is clear: I haven't my eyes everywhere. :)

Good idea of reviving this page! You're quite courageous and I hope you'll keep the faith.

It's done!
 

I'm sorry for the very very few updates in the last time but there was a reason: I had rewritten the whole site, giving it a fresher look and one new feature (links to VGMdb). Now, 3.1 is up and I will be glad if you give me some feedback, girls and guys! :)

--> Game Music Composers v3.1

Great work, Hamu! The new table format works a lot better, and the links to VGMdb is an excellent touch.

I also like the new format, good job!

Very nice project indeed. I'll have to bookmark this for sure!

Would it be worthwhile to make a kind of database open-endedness to this thing? For some reason the threshold for sending a PM about one or two artists you might've missed seems a lot higher than being able to edit it in (even if there's a mod approval instated).

Might be worth thinking about, but I don't know how hard it would be to code/maintain/host.

I know in times of Wikipedia is that send in scheme very oldschool but it works and for the one it's not more work than a direct edit.

And to say the truth my PHP skills are not existent. :riiight:

The site looks a whole lot better, Hamu, very nice! If you don't mind, there is a bit of info I could give you if you want to add it in:

* "10cm Sky in All Directions" is not a game, but rather a special album produced by Taito's in-house band Zuntata featuring unreleased music from Ray Storm. (Source).

* Depth Fantasia came out for PC. (Source.)

* Donkey Kong Country came out for SNES and Game Boy.

* Ghost Train was released for Arcade. (Source).

* Grandread came out for Saturn. (Source).

* Indiana Jones and the Emperor's Tomb came out for PlayStation 2, Xbox, Macintosh and Windows. (Source).

* Project X (or "Project-X") came out for Amiga. (Source).

* Riverworld was released for PC. (Source).

* Tales of Destiny 2 (PS2) was never released outside of Japan. Tales of Eternia, however, was called "Tales of Destiny II" in the US. There was no "Tales of Destiny 3".

* Legend of Zelda Ocarina of Time was composed by Koji Kondo, not Hitoshi Sakimoto. (Source).

I hope this helps!

Err, even though it's bit inappropriate to comment, but this one is surely one fatal mistake ^__^; (just couldnt imagine if Sakimoto really did compose for Zelda)

anyway, the site is good, I think it would be very useful for my future reference *bookmarked*

Oh shit. I just looked up and that's mistake were done by me. It seems during copy process I was a bit unconcentrated at this point. Damn, how awkward...
Thank you for the sign. Correction coming with next update, of course! (I hope that's the only one...)

Nall: I thank you for information, too. Will be implemented next update.

I have a few suggestions/additions to the list, too:
-Donkey Kong Land - Graeme Norgate and Dave Wise, you have only listened Norgate.
-Donkey Kong Country 3 for GBA - Dave Wise
-Donkey Kong 64 - Grant Kirkhope
-Final Fantasy USA - Mystic Quest - Ryuji Sasai and Yasuhiro Kawakami, and not Hitoshi Sakimoto again xD
-Kirby Air Ride - Jun Ishikawa, Hirokazu Ando, Tadashi Ikegami & Shogo Sakai
-Kirby Canvas Course - Jun Ishikawa & Tadashi Ikegami
-Kirby Nightmare in Dreamland - Jun Ishikawa, Hirokazu Ando, Tadashi Ikegami
-Kirby Squeak Squad - Hirokazu Ando, Jun Ishikawa, Tadashi Ikegami, Shogo Sakai
-Kirby's Star Stacker (GB) - Hirokazu Ando
-Kirby no Kira Kira Kids (SNES) - Hirokazu Ando, Jun Ishikawa
-Kirby's Block Ball - Sukezo Ouyama, Ryoue Takagi
-Knuckles Chaotix - Junko Shiratsu, Mariko Nanba
-Mario & Luigi Partners in Time - Yoko Shimomura
-Mario & Luigi Superstar Saga - Yoko Shimomura
-Mario is missing - Sam Powell, Rob Wallace
-Mario Party 2 - Hironao Yamamoto, Shohei Bando, Kazuhiko Sawaguchi, Yasunori Mitsuda
-Mario Party 3 - Ichiro Shimakura & Koji Kondo
-Mario vs Donkey Kong - Lawrence Schwedler
-Mario vs Donkey Kong 2 - March of the Minis - Lawrence Schwedler
-Sonic & the Secret Rings - Kenichi Tokoi, Fumie Kumatani, Hideaki Kobayashi, Seirou Okamoto, Le Club Bachraf, Runblebee
-Sonic Heroes - Jun Senoue, Johnny Gioeli, Naofumi Hataya, Hideaki Kobayashi, Keiichi Sugiyama!, Yutaka Minobe, Teruhiko Nakagawa, Mariko Nanba, Tomoya Ohtani, Fumie Kumatani & Crush 40
-Sonic Rush - Hideki Naganuma & Teruhiko Nakagawa
-Sonic Spinball - Brian Coburn, Barry Blum, Howard Drossin (and definetely not Spencer Nilsen)
-Sonic the Fighters - Maki Morrow & Takenobu Mitsuyoshi
-Star Trek Deep Space Nine - Crossroads of Time (SNES) - Atilla Dobos, Atilla Meger, Gabor Kis, Andras Magyari, Steve Zuckermann (i have no idea if these are the same credits for the Genesis-version you've listed, I haven't played it. But the music is the same in both versions, so I was a bit surprised to see only one name in your list for that game)
-StarFox Command - Hajime Wakai
-Virtual Sonic isn't a game, it's a arranged album for Sonic & Knuckles.

That's all I can think of for now. Nice work with the site so far, I like the new design and the addition of links to VGMdb is a nice idea, too.

Hey FPI, you coconut! How are you? :)

Concerning the Kirby games WarpStar was a bit faster than you. The rest looks fine and will be added next update. I uploaded today's update a few minutes ago.

What? I wrote Hitoshi Sakimoto again? Guys, I start to cry...

perhaps that reflects what you listened when updating that page:tpg:

I noticed you missing Wizardry IV Gaiden (SNES) in that list, snesmusic.org listed Ikuro Fujiwara as the composer (not Ikura Fujiwara :deadhorse:).

Here's a non-Sakimoto-related slipup. You have Yuzo Koshiro listed as composer for Jeanne D'Arc, but it's actually Takeshi Inoue.

As for Sakimoto, Legendary Wings (Aresu no Tsubasa) is also miscredited to him (the actual composer is Tamayo Kawamoto)

I'd also like to make it clear that the lists of Batrider, Bloody Roar, Breath of Fire V, Carat, Chip Chan Kicky, Dragon Master SILK 2, Final Fantasy Tactics, Grandprix, Gradius V, Metal Orange, Perfect Prince, Tekken Advance, Verytex and blah blah blah are somewhat incomplete (mostly missing co-composers info), but I know that doesn't matter to everybody so I won't be nitpicky.

I hope everyone can understand that I haven't controlled any entry imperial_ubiqtorate did in the last years. ;) The listing gives no warranty for full correctness. But good to point that out, I will write this thing in my beloved green box.

eriol33: For Ocarina of Time I'm very sure that it was like you say. Concerning Mystic Quest it seems I only watched to the wrong row. But whatever the reason was, such things shouldn't happen.

Wow! Cool list!

Thanks for the inclusion!

I just added the link to my LINKS section on www.tallarico.com - Links

If you're interested in adding all of the games I've worked on (there are over 250) you can view them all here: www.tallarico.com - Credits

Please note that over half of those were Sound Design only and not composition.

Could I offer up a suggestion? It would be really cool to somehow be able to click on the COMPOSER heading and get everything spit out alphabetically by composers instead of the games.

Thanks! Great job!


Tommy

Oh, welcome back, Tommy and thanks, it's an honor. :)

I'll take a look but don't be sad if I pick out only games you composed. ;)

Nice idea but as far as I know it couldn't be done with HTML and my PHP skills are not existant. But should be an PHP update coming in the future I'll remember this.

Thank you!

Hehehehee... I won't be sad. :D

Once you click on each title it takes you to a page and lists exactly what I did on the project (on the right hand side of the page).

Tommy

Hamu-Sumo: Here's a warning concerning Tommy's credits: for some projects, he wasn't the only composer, although it doesn't seem to be indicated on his website. You'd have to be careful for those. An example would be Evil Dead: Hail to the King, having been co-composed by Todd Dennis, Chris Rickwood, and Jack Wall.

I was planning to build a section on Tommy for my own site (VGM Rush) in the near future, and seeing that you're currently working on a credit list, I guess I could jump in and we could help each other out.

Tommy: It is a great pleasure to see you around here communicating with VGM fans; it's not something every composer would do. I've always been a fan of your work, especially the material you created in the period when your Greatest Hits CDs came out (i.e. the rock and electronic sound that accompanied the ripped jeans and keyboard guitar ;)). The Earthworm Jim tunes are actually among the most-played tracks on my MP3 player! As much as you've become a target many game music fans try to shoot down every time a conversation brings up Western composers or live shows topics, I can always find my way through the bitching and get back to the enjoyment of your musical talent. Some argue that you might not be the absolute best game composer out there, and, in all honesty, it would be hard not to concur as well from my point of view. But, who is this one and only best composer, a name everyone would have to agree on? I have ideas of the most popular ones, yet I'm certain there are VGM enthusiasts out there who don't dig them as much as the majority, and in most cases, people can also appreciate music that wasn't composed by the "one and only best." All in all, you might indeed not be THE best composer, but your music is still definitely rockin' my world!

Concerning the Earthworm Jim soundtracks, the official credits have always been nebulous. For the SNES and Genesis games, music is credited to Mark Steven Miller, who also did additional arrangement for the CD versions, along with Mical Pedriana. Yet, composition for the CD releases is by "Tommy Tallarico Studios," which you are obviously part of (:p), but there might have been other people involved who would have worked for your studio. In the liner notes of the EW Anthology album, Tony Bernetich and Christopher Beck are credited for "Additional Music & Orchestration." Furthermore, there is also mention of a co-guitarist, Bijan Johnson. What I'd be interested to know is to what extent these other people have been involved in the creation of the music (if possible, what have they exactly done for each concerned tracks)?

I might have other questions related to credits, but I'll first do some more research and contact you afterwards if there are still unclear details.

Thanks for your time and generosity of getting in touch with the community here. I'm looking forward to meeting you in person on February 8 in Montréal!

Hi Rimo,

Thanks for the kind words about my music. It's cool knowing that people listen to my music outside of the game. It's always been one of my goals when creating game music.

I personally don't consider myself the "greatest" game composer out there, so thank-you for even considering the mention of my name in that sentence.
Maybe I'm one of the more talked about game composers in the world because of all the games I've worked on, all of the organizations I've been involved with, all of the tv shows and concerts I've created/produced/hosted, etc. But that is due more to all of the hard work and passion I have for the industry and less to do with actual talent and composing ability.

Music is so personal that it would be crazy to even try to dub someone as the "greatest". You certainly can't do it with something like Rock-n-Roll. Was it Elvis? The Beatles? Led Zepplin? Rolling Stones? How about Classical music... Was it Beethoven? Mozart? Bach? Who knows... and who cares. They ALL made amazing music! In my opinion, people are going to listen to whatever turns them on emotionally. Some people may like my music as the "greatest" and others may dislike it. Take Country music for example. Some people LOVE it and others LOATHE it! I'm fine either way. My reason to compose music has never been to become the "greatest". I try to do the best of my ability to please myself and hope that it will touch others as well.

In regards to the credits question...

I've always loved collaborating with different composers and musicians throughout my career. And I've always given credit to all of the people who have worked with me (unlike most composers).

So if there are ever any questions as to which games people helped me out with... by all means just inquire. With so many different projects, styles and ways to write music it would be crazy to attempt every style and every instrument for every game. I'd much rather work and learn with the top people in the specific field and bring them into the mix. In terms of orchestral music... there are composers, arrangers, orchestrators, copyists, producers, etc. I like to give ALL of those wonderfully talented people the credit they deserve. Even if they only worked on one piece of music or even if they only orchestrated my work. Almost every game & film composer I've ever met uses a group of people as well... but most probably don't usually give as much credit as I have done.

I personally love helping people break into the industry for the first time and know that by putting their names on the credit that it will help them out a lot. Again... something most composers don't do. But if you ask young, talented and established game composers such as Chris Rickwood, Cris Velasco, Sascha Dikyasian, Sam Hulick, Shane Kneip, Todd Dennis, Emmanuel Frattiani, Laurie Robinson, etc... they would all tell you who was the first to ever hire them for a game and who made sure they received credit for their work. Something very RARE in any competitive entertainment & music field. But I've always enjoyed helping others which is why I founded the non-profit organization... G.A.N.G. (Game Audio Network Guild) - Game Audio Network Guild - Promoting Excellence in Interactive Audio.


In regards to your questions about Earthworm Jim....

We put Mark Miller's name on the credits because I was still working at Virgin when the game was being worked on (but was secrectly working on EWJ on the side). At the time we didn't want to upset anyone at Virgin so we put Mark's name (who is a great friend of mine... ToeJam & Earl baby!!) on the project. Mark actually did help to convert the Sega Genesis work I was doing to the SNES.

Because of the style of music, sounds, approach, samples, etc... everyone in the industry and press kinda knew it was me. So after I left Virgin and started my own company (Tommy Tallarico Studios, Inc.) people wanted to know the "real" story so I let everyone know it was actually me.

The other guys you mentioned (and who I give credit to) did the following...


Mical Pedriana - helped to orchestrate 3 or 4 of the electronica-style tunes (i.e. drum beats & synths). (EWJ 1)

Tony Bernetich - helped me orchestrate the banjo instrumentation and the ragtime piano piece. (EWJ 1)

Christopher Beck - worked with me on writing the "Anything But Tangerines" organ stuff (from EWJ 2)

Bijan Johnson - played guitar on the "Anything But Tangerines" tune (Sega-CD and album version)


Thanks again for the questions and interest! Look forward to meeting you in February!!


Tommy

Rimo: Thank you for the information! I'm not surprised. It's about one month ago as Charlotte McMillan wrote an eMail to tell me that one track from Advent Rising OST are made by her, calling "Poeta".

And sure we can work together on this but I'm sure you have more information for me as I for you. :riiight:

Actually, 3 people helped me work on parts of that track. I was the author of the piece/motif and then Charlotte, Emmanuel Frattiani & Laurie Robinson came in and did the arranging and orchestration. They are all very talented composers!


Tommy

Good to know. Will update that thing. :)