Tommy Tallarico

Tallarico continued working with Virgin Interactive as head of music and video division until 1994, when he went on to found Tommy Tallarico Studios. David Perry formed Shiny Entertainment at the same time, and the two studios collaborated on Earthworm Jim and MDK.[8] In 2005, Tallarico wrote part of an orchestral score for Advent Rising performed by the Mormon Tabernacle Choir.[9]

In September 1999, the "oof" sound effect was created for the game Messiah during its development, with the involvement of sound designer Joey Kuras (then employed at Tallarico Studios) and potentially, Tallarico.[10][11] Tallarico has at times claimed that Kuras created the sound, that it was a collaboration between the pair, and that he created it himself.[11][12] The sound effect was subsequently used in Roblox from 2006 to 2020, played after a character died in-game, and became an iconic part of the game after its adoption by meme culture.[13] Tallarico, who claims ownership of the sound, disputed Roblox's use of it in June 2019.[14] This dispute ended in July 2022 when the Roblox Corporation pulled the sound from all games on its platform.[15]

In 1995, Victor Lucas, founder of the Electric Playground, interviewed Tallarico at E3 . Lucas thereafter asked Tallarico to work with him on a television show. In 1997, Tallarico and Lucas started Electric Playground TV, which provided gaming news and reviews. In 2002, the reviews section of Electric Playground, Reviews on the Run, was spun-off into its own program, which Tallarico and Lucas hosted as well. In the U.S., Reviews on the Run was broadcast on G4 TV as Judgment Day. The Electric Playground is the longest-running video game television show in history.[16][17]

In 2006, Tallarico began to spend less time on the show owing to other projects, missing almost all of 2007 and 2008. In 2009, Scott Jones took over his spot as full-time co-host with Victor Lucas.[18][19]

In 2002, Tallarico co-founded Video Games Live, a symphony orchestra concert series that plays music from video games, with Jack Wall.[20] Tallarico hosted and played guitar for the shows. He also created the visuals—scenes from video games, as well as lights and lasers—that are played in sync with the music.[21][22] VGL has been awarded two Guinness World Records: one for the most video game concerts performed (357 at the time the record was awarded[23]), and another for largest audience to ever view a video game music concert live (752,109 people in total, where 750,023 viewers watched online via the Youku app, and 2,086 people attended the concert in person at the Beijing Exhibition Center).[24][25]

Tallarico has produced seven VGL albums. The first album, Video Games Live Volume 1, debuted at No. 10 on Billboard Top 10 for Classical Music Crossovers.[26] The second volume, Level 2, also sold as a Blu-ray DVD concert, debuted at No. 8 on the same Billboard list.[27] In August 2013, Tallarico also opened a crowdfunding campaign for the third album Level 3 on Kickstarter.[28] According to Tallarico, Kickstarter was chosen as the means to fund the album because he had not been successful in attracting support from the recording industry, which he claimed was because music producers "don't think gamers are willing to pay for music"[29] and did not recognize the perceived "culturally artistic significance" of video game soundtracks.[28] The Level 3 campaign successfully met and surpassed its goal of $250,000.[30]

In 2014, Tallarico and electronic dance music artist BT began working on Electronic Opus. As with Video Games Live, Electronic Opus presents EDM music alongside a symphony orchestra.[31] They used Kickstarter to fund an album, with a goal of $200,000.[31] The show opened at the Miami Winter Music Conference in 2015.[31][32]

In 2016, Tallarico co-produced the Capcom Live! concert tour with Shota Nakama.[33][34]

Following the death of Keith Robinson in 2017, founder of Intellivision Productions, Tallarico purchased a stake in the company from the estate. In May 2018, Intellivision Entertainment was re-formed with him as president. In the winter of that year, he announced the intent for the company to release the Intellivision Amico with the target of October 2020.[35] As of July 2022, it is reportedly still being worked on.[36] As of September 2022, the Amico has been delayed at least three times.[37] The console has been viewed very negatively by critics, drawing criticism for its delays,[38] fundraising tactics,[39] and use of NFTs.[40] The status of the console has been described as "grim" by TechRaptor[41] and compared to a car crash by Kotaku.[42]

In February 2022, Tallarico stepped down from his role as CEO of Intellivision, remaining on board as the company's president and largest shareholder. He was replaced by the company's former chief revenue officer Phil Adam.[43]