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Grant Kirkhope turned down by Retro Studios [Update: Hired by Spark Unlimited]

E

edible_candle

Member
Bah. That's unfortunate. But I'm not sure they actively have a need for an in-house composer, since Kenji Yamamoto has scored all of their games so far, and it is likely someone else from Nintendo would step in if he couldn't do the job for whatever reason.

One can dream though. Nintendo should hire a bunch of talent and give Retro two teams. Have each team switch off between doing original IP work (or at least choosing their next game) and working on whatever Nintendo wants them to do. Hire Grant Kirkhope and/or David Wise.
 
H

Hero of Legend

Member
This also explains why David Wise didn't go to Retro for DKCR. :(

You can swap around composers Retro, save Kenji Yamamoto for Prime and whatnot, and Grant for the DK/platforming games!

What about NST? I mean Yasuhara is there, he may be known for Sonic and not anything related to Rare, but he is a platfoming god just the same.
 
K

KillerTravis

Banned
Probably they are full of personnel already and working full production on their next title. The hiring periods are usually done between projects.
 
T

The Xtortionist

Member
I can understand turning down Kirkhope if he isn't a good fit for their projects but I'll be super-disappointed if they do a DKCR2 without David Wise. At least do it as a one-time thing.
 
D

DDayton

(more a nerd than a geek)
Keep in mind this is less "turned him down" and possibly more "currently fully staffed in music/audio."

Although someone should alert Iwata that his favorite audio guys are free to be hired. (Iwata mentioned having DCK music on his iPod and listening to it frequently.)
 
H

Hero of Legend

Member
DavidDayton said:
Keep in mind this is less "turned him down" and possibly more "currently fully staffed in music/audio."

Although someone should alert Iwata that his favorite audio guys are free to be hired. (Iwata mentioned having DCK music on his iPod and listening to it frequently.)
Click to expand...

As he said in the new tweet he made (in OP).

I tweeted him about trying NST. I've actually kept in touch with him via email, nothing much but well wishes and such.
 
G

grandjedi6

Master of the Google Search
I'm not sure you understand how "getting a job" and "hiring" works, Hero of Legend lol. Not currently hiring =! getting turned down.
 
F

fernoca

Member
grandjedi6 said:
I'm not sure you understand how "getting a job" and "hiring" works, Hero of Legend lol. Not currently hiring =! getting turned down.
Click to expand...
That's what I'm wondering. :p

-Guy asks him to apply to Retro
-He said he already did, but...
-Retro is not hiring, yet...
-Retro turned him down? :p
 
B

Bjoern the Smexy

Member
That's really unfortunate :(

If I'd be head of Retro, I wouldn't even think twice about getting him on board, no matter if we're at full capacity or not.
 
W

walking fiend

Member
Nintendo's western developers development is a turd lol
I mean, even if people want to work with Nintendo, there's practically only one studio they can apply to!
 
T

The Xtortionist

Member
Mihael Mello Keehl said:
That is a damn lie they need david wise to compose all new music for DKCR2..while DKCR was full of nostalgic tunes they sounded different and sounded a bit off. Not saying they were bad just..they were just..
Click to expand...

What if...they already have David Wise?

images
 
K

KillerTravis

Banned
walking fiend said:
Nintendo's western developers development is a turd lol
I mean, even if people want to work with Nintendo, there's practically only one studio they can apply to!
Click to expand...

After Retro I think it's either Treehouse(localizations) or NST, even after companies like Next Level Games and Monster Games continuously work for them they refuse to buy them.

Maybe it's for the better.
 
D

DDayton

(more a nerd than a geek)
Bjoern the Smexy said:
That's really unfortunate :(

If I'd be head of Retro, I wouldn't even think twice about getting him on board, no matter if we're at full capacity or not.
Click to expand...

That's implying the Retro execs even know he applied... as opposed to random HR person at NOA/Retro going "eh, another stack of applications - we have no jobs right now."
 
T

Trike

Member
That is impossible. If your company does not have Grant Kirkhope in it, it is never at maximum capacity.
 
H

Hero of Legend

Member
A little more insight on what happened, apparently he didn't just contact ANYONE:

I wasn't there, I just contacted Michael Kelbaugh who runs the studio, he's an old friend from my Rare days
Click to expand...

Who better than the big cheese and an old friend?

So yeah, this wasn't some mere person at some employment counter.

Also, he MIGHT be working on something:

A bit drunk, writing music for a game I might possibly get to do ... And I'm really enjoying it!
Click to expand...

Let's just hope it's something on a Nintendo platform. :)
 
C

Cjdamon042

Member
Dark Octave said:
Oh is that who he is? One of the composers for DK Country SNES? I know the name David Wise but never heard of this guy.
Click to expand...

Goldeneye, Perfect Dark, Banjo Kazooie franchise, Viva Pinata etc

I love his music. Didn't realise he did some Kingdoms of Amalur though.
 
R

Richie

Member
Hero of Legend said:
A little more insight on what happened, apparently he didn't just contact ANYONE
Click to expand...

Huh! If the big boss of the company is an old friend of his, it's likely he didn't accept him now because his hands are tied, but may try to get Kirkhope in at the soonest opportunity. As KillerTravis said, hiring is usually done when moving from one project to another, so there may be hope in the future.
 
S

Shotgun Kiss

Member
Persona7 said:
Link?



To be honest, Grant Kirkhope would be a good fit for practically any game.
Click to expand...

This has a quote which hints at his feelings towards Rare and Microsoft (towards the bottom).

"The other factor of course was getting bought by Microsoft, everything went well at the start but over the years it just didn’t feel right. If you look at Microsoft’s history of acquiring games companies you’ll see a pattern I think …… I’ll leave you to look into it!"


He's been far more vocal elsewhere, but unfortunately, I don't have any links at hand. I remember him once being present in a video recording of various video game remixes that some website did. I forget his exact words, but he outright said something along the lines of "Rare are terrible now. Microsoft ruined them".
 
K

KevinCow

Banned
Persona7 said:
Link?
Click to expand...

No link. It was at a Magfest panel I went to. I think in... '09?

He didn't explicitly say, "Yeah, well fuck Microsoft," because he's not dumb and knows that publicly complaining about his former employer probably wouldn't be great for his career. But from his tone and reading between the lines, even with the way he tried to talk around it, he sounded really frustrated with the way Microsoft had handled Rare.
 
S

Shotgun Kiss

Member
Found it.

He first appears at the 1 hour 20 minute mark.

I'm watching it now; I'll let you know the point at which he comments on Microsoft when I find it. It's well worth watching him answer all the other questions though if you're a fan of the guy.
 
D

disco

Member
DavidDayton said:
Keep in mind this is less "turned him down" and possibly more "currently fully staffed in music/audio."

Although someone should alert Iwata that his favorite audio guys are free to be hired. (Iwata mentioned having DCK music on his iPod and listening to it frequently.)
Click to expand...
Whoa?! Iwata owns an iPod?!
 
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