Metroid Database.com

Nintendo World Report gives the rumor mill a crank with word that Retro Studios should be at E3 showcasing their new game, which is rumored to be a new Donkey Kong game. Whatever it is, it should be pretty exciting - I just hope if DK IS what they are working on, they go back to the basics. No more DK64 rap or Donkey Konga for me!

Johnny Metts also from Nintendo World Report ran a VERY interesting Radio Free Nintendo podcast with Tommy Tallarico, who composed the sound design (SFX such as weapons sounds and atmospheric ambience) for Metroid Prime. Tallarico also states he worked on some of the trailers (likely the Spaceworld 2000 and E3 2001 videos, but we're trying to clarify that!). Some of this had been reported earlier in GamesTM as well as on Tallarico's website, but this is the first time the story has been narrated in such detail. Tallarico never appeared in the credits because the company had forgotten about his work by the time the game was completed! He later got a letter from the company verifying his work (Tallarico's homepage is down at the moment though...).

Tallarico states he worked on Prime on contract for about two and a half years, ending about three years before Prime was released. This seems a little conflated - E3 1999 would have probably been when Tallarico talked with Miyamoto and then-Retro Studios president Jeff Spangenberg, who had just received the Metroid license (such random encounters are how a good number of business deals are made in the industry). Tallarico's contract ended in 2001 when Raven Blade and Car Combat were cancelled and Retro's internal development team could work full-time on the game. Higher-quality versions of Tallarico's SFX appear in Metroid Prime 2 and 3. (Also, note that back in 2001, Retro Studios had been looking for composers to score the game. They eventually settled on Kenji Yamamoto, but there were some US artists who submitted demos, such as Zhaytee.)

Perhaps the most interesting aspect of Metroid Prime's audio development was that the audio informed the visual and design instead of vice versa. Miyamoto told Tallarico to "create all kinds of cool weapon sounds" without any visuals. These SFX affected the visual and gameplay design of the weapons. Tallarico gives the example of the Sentry Drone: The original pulse rifle SFX had a static burst from which the artist was inspired to create the static interference on the visor. So if you are a big fan of the weapons and visor sounds, that's all Tommy's work!

The section on Metroid Prime begins around 26:00 in and lasts about 15 minutes. VERY interesting stuff!

Until next time...
Captain Commando