Video Games Live

Mr. Tallarico, you may have already addressed this elsewhere, but in an interview you gave to enthusiast site n-sider (apparently after a VGL event?), you answered as follows to a question:

Quote:

Max: What was the first CD-ROM game you did the music for?

Tommy: That was the Terminator, on the Sega CD. And that was actually the very first video game to ever use a live guitar, in… 1993.

Did you ever clarify exactly what you meant by that final statement?

Jam it back in, in the dark.

Man, I can't believe how many months it's been since I thought to reply to this.

Originally Posted by Tommy Tallarico

Not sure exactly what you're asking. Could you please clarify.

In regards to my statement, to my knowledge The Terminator on the Sega-CD was the very first video game to ever record a live guitar (not midi samples). It came out in 1993. It was also the first game to ever use 3-D audio (Q-Sound). If you are aware of another game that did this before 1993 please let me know.

Thanks,


Tommy

In the assumption that no one else has pointed this out:

http://www.fileden.com/files/2007/9/...0Moondoria.mp3
http://www.fileden.com/files/2007/9/...of%20Power.mp3

a pair of redbook audio tracks from Falcom's "Ys: Book I and II" for the Turbo CD, released in 1989. While a lot of the music is synth, multiple tracks use some guitar backing, and these two in particular have extensive guitar work in them. There's even more in Ys III, released in 1991:

http://www.fileden.com/files/2007/9/...%20Careful.mp3
http://www.fileden.com/files/2007/9/...he%20Night.mp3
http://www.fileden.com/files/2007/9/...eath%20God.mp3
http://www.fileden.com/files/2007/9/...estruction.mp3
http://www.fileden.com/files/2007/9/...gest%20Foe.mp3

The three boss tracks and two of the area themes from the game may feature mostly synth, but they've also got some great guitar backing, especially the boss themes (09, 13, 20), which have always been favorites of mine.

Considering the Turbo CD hit the US in the same year as Ys Book I and II, and the Sega CD wasn't until two years later (in Japan)...well, I can understand and accept simple ignorance as an excuse for this gaffe, but if I were to seriously claim to be the first to do something, I have to say I'd try to make sure to do considerable research beforehand.

I don't really want to come across as a jerk here (although I practically did a spit take when I read what you said in that interview, and started itching when I saw it posted elsewhere on the web), especially since I've come to appreciate that you're nowhere near as aloof as your critics would say you are. I'm just a nitpicker to the extreme.

On Falcom: Although they've kind of slowed down (they've gone from a famous developer to more of a niche publisher now), they're one of the most prolific VGM producers/publishers of all time, with dozens of different CDs for the Ys series alone.

Falcom was also one of the first game companies to turn out a guitar/rock-focused album in the form of the first J.D.K. Band album in 1991. And that album is pretty much a classic to this day. They also still do concerts every so often - there was one this year, I believe.

(if I've peaked your interest, you can find many reviews of Falcom albums over at RPGFan. It's also pretty easy to find Falcom music via means, including digital distribution via various Japanese sites. As for Ys itself, Hardcore Gaming 101 naturally has an excellent article on the series)

So, uh, I'd like to spin this as more of a "here's something a prominent VGM personality should know about", because that's what I believe - Falcom did a lot for early RPGs and VGM, and these days most of their fanbase outside of Japan is based on the music they've produced.


(Actually, come to think of it, Download 2 (Japan only, 1991) was pretty much all rock....although not very good rock, generally wasting the smalll bit of inspiration the first game had.)

There's nowhere I can't reach.