Have you been trying to get Koji Kondo to perform for a long time?
Absolutely. I've been on the advisory board for GDC for ten years, and we've always been trying to get him for GDC, but he's always been busy. Luckily, we caught him in between work on Zelda: Twilight Princess and Super Mario Galaxy. He gave the keynote speech for the audio track, and got a lifetime achievement award at the GANG Awards.
You're a game music composer -- was Kondo a great influence on you?
When I first heard Super Mario Bros., that was the first time I ever thought that maybe music in games actually existed -- that it could be something I was interested in getting into. If not for him and his scores, I might not have.
What about his music is so good?
The strongest thing in any song is melody. The themes that Koji has written are the most memorable themes in the world. [Super Mario Bros. is] the most-downloaded cell phone ringtone.
Right before I ran home from Video Games Live to pass out and die, I spoke with game music composer and VGL organizer Tommy Tallarico as he sat next to Kondo signing autographs after the show.
