This article has multiple issues. Please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page. It needs additional citations for verification. Tagged since March 2010. It is written like an advertisement and needs to be rewritten from a neutral point of view. Tagged since March 2008.

Shiny Entertainment was an American video game developer based in Laguna Beach, Southern California, and the creator of several popular titles such as Earthworm Jim, MDK, Sacrifice and The Matrix: Path of Neo. Shiny was founded by David Perry in October 1993. In 2007, Shiny Entertainment merged with The Collective to create Double Helix Games.

The name Shiny was conceived while listening to the R.E.M. track Shiny Happy People on loop during the development of Aladdin for the Sega Genesis.^{[citation needed]}

History[link]

David Perry, a veteran game developer, was developing for Probe Software in London on the Terminator movie video game, the game was to be published by Virgin Games in Irvine, CA. Perry agreed to complete the work in the United States and so moved over in 1991. While in the states he developed McDonald's Global Gladiators (Sega's Game of the Year), 7-Up's Cool Spot, early development work on Disney's Jungle Book and programmed Disney's Aladdin. Aladdin became a number 1 hit around the world.

At this time Perry got a US Green Card and decided to form Shiny Entertainment Inc. To fund it, he signed a three game distribution deal with Playmates Interactive Entertainment, the three games became Earthworm Jim, Earthworm Jim 2 and MDK. All three games were well reviewed, won awards and were highly profitable.

The first Shiny release was Earthworm Jim, which won the Sega Game of the Year award and put Shiny front-row center as a developer to be watched. A TV show deal was signed with Universal Cartoon Studios, a TV output deal was signed with the Warner Kids Network, Playmates Toys made a complete action figure toy line, a home video collection was made by MCA, Carl's Jr. made a kids meal, Del Taco made a kids meal, Marvel Comics made the official comic books, Fruit of the Loom made clothing and bed coverings, there were even lunch-box, strategy guide, sticker deals etc.

In 1997, former Shiny employees Nick Bruty (President) and Bob Stevenson (CEO) left to form the company Planet Moon Studios.

After a sequel and a remake (Earthworm Jim 2 and Earthworm Jim Special Edition for Sega CD and Windows 95), Shiny decided to move into the world of 3D with the game MDK. At this time Interplay Entertainment Inc. (who had published Earthworm Jim for Sega CD) bought Shiny so co-published MDK with Playmates Interactive Entertainment.

In 2002, during the development of Enter the Matrix, Shiny was acquired by Infogrames (which later changed its name to Atari), for $47 million. Atari purchased only the team and the rights to the Matrix franchise.

Perry kicked off a yet-to-be-announced game, Earthworm Jim on Sony's PlayStation Portable, and a new fighting Game called Age of Elements at E3 2006 on Sony PSP.^[1]

Atari announced their interest in selling off all their development studios,^[2] so Perry resigned in an attempt to help Atari find a quality buyer. On October 2, 2006, Foundation 9 Entertainment acquired Shiny Entertainment.^[3] In October 2007, Foundation 9 merged Shiny Entertainment with The Collective to form Double Helix Games.^[4][5]

Games[link]

• Earthworm Jim (1994)
• Earthworm Jim 2 (1995)
• MDK (1997)
• Wild 9 (1998), an action game for the Sony Playstation. This game featured a weapon called the Rig, which allowed the main character, Wex Major, to attack his enemies in many sadistic ways. Sony Japan licensed the game from Interplay so they could release it themselves in Japan.
• R/C Stunt Copter (1999), a game that made the PlayStation controller act just like a dual stick remote control helicopter transmitter. This game was bought from Interplay by Midway, then it was bought from Midway by Titus. Titus then bought Interplay as well.
• Messiah (2000), a game featuring the hook of "possession" and a new real-time tessellation video game engine.
• Sacrifice (2000), Shiny's first online multiplayer game.
• Enter the Matrix (2003) returned Perry to licensing, based on the Matrix movie franchise. The movies' directors made around 1 hour of original Matrix footage just for the game. The game was commercially successful, selling an estimated 5 million copies. Reviewers were not too pleased, however, with the game's lack of polish and bugs.
• The Matrix: Path of Neo (2005) shipped by Atari, again based on the Matrix movie franchise, this time focusing on the lead character from the movies. It is generally considered to be better than Enter the Matrix and is viewed as something of an "apology" to fans who felt cheated by not being able to actually control Neo at all during Enter the Matrix.
• The Golden Compass (2007), based on the film of the same name.

References[link]

External links[link]

	Greater Los Angeles portal
	Companies portal
	Video games portal

• Official website at the Wayback Machine (archived March 29, 2008)
• Shiny Entertainment profile at MobyGames
• David Perry - Founder of Shiny's Personal Website
• Foundation 9 Entertainment - Current Owner of Shiny Entertainment
• Atari Inc - Previous Owner of Shiny Entertainment
• Interplay Entertainment Inc - Past Owner of Shiny Entertainment

This article relies on references to primary sources or sources affiliated with the subject, rather than references from independent authors and third-party publications. Please add citations from reliable sources. (March 2008)

Tommy Tallarico
Tommy Tallarico at a Video Games Live event in 2009
Background information
Born	(1968-02-18) February 18, 1968 (age 44) Springfield, Massachusetts
Occupations	Composer, musician
Instruments	Electric guitar, Piano
Years active	1991–present
Associated acts	Jack Wall

Tommy Tallarico (born on February 18, 1968) is an American video game music composer and musician. He is best known as the co-creator of the concert series Video Games Live. He is also well known for being the co-host of Reviews on the Run (formerly known as Judgment Day in the US).

Biography[link]

This section may require cleanup to meet Wikipedia's quality standards. No cleanup reason has been specified. Please help improve this section if you can; the talk page may contain suggestions. (January 2009)

Born in Springfield, Massachusetts, Tallarico entered the video game industry in 1991 and has worked on more than 250 games, including the Earthworm Jim series, Color a Dinosaur, Treasures of the Deep, Messiah, MDK, Flip's Twisted World, Wild 9, Unreal, Cool Spot, Spot Goes to Hollywood, RoboCop versus The Terminator, Maximo, Pac-Man World, Another World, Prince of Persia, Tony Hawk's Pro Skater, and Advent Rising. Tallarico has won over 25 industry awards for best video game audio.^[1]

He founded Tommy Tallarico Studios in 1994^[1] and the Game Audio Network Guild (G.A.N.G.), of which he is also the president, in 2002. He wrote, co-hosted, and co-produced The Electric Playground and Reviews on the Run (formerly Judgment Day on the G4 network),^[1] and co-hosted alongside Victor Lucas in both television programs until he left to focus on Video Games Live. He is also an advisory board member for the Game Developers Conference, a governor for the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (NARAS/Grammy) and a nominating peer panel leader for the Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences. He released a CD with his music on it, entitled Virgin Games: Greatest Hits, Vol. 1 in 1994. A subsequent volume in the series was released in 1997. His work can also be found on additional releases in official game soundtrack albums with his music featured on them. Tallarico is the co-creator, executive producer, and host of Video Games Live.^[1]

In January 2006, Tallarico announced on his website that he and Victor Lucas had decided to move Judgment Day from G4 to a different network, under the name Reviews on the Run, as it is known in Canada.^{[citation needed]} He and Lucas also act as video game correspondents for HypaSpace Weekly. As of August 2007, Tallarico has not co-hosted any episodes of The Electric Playground or Reviews on the Run, as he is not available due to commitments to Video Games Live. As of now, he has only come back for one Reviews on the Run on episode number 647 and has not yet made another appearance.^[2] A two page interview with Tallarico was featured in Guinness World Records Gamer's Edition 2008, focusing only on his soundtrack and Video Games Live work.^[3] In March 2009, Tommy Tallarico received the Ambassador award at the Game Developers Conference for his contributions to the video game industry.

Tallarico is the co-founder and current host of Video Games Live, a touring orchestral show that performs scores of video game music. At the 2011 E3 Expo, VGL celebrated its 200th show.

Personal[link]

Tallarico is the cousin of Steven Tyler, the lead singer of Aerosmith.^[4]

In December 2010, Tallarico announced that he had become a vegan.^[5]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Tommy Tallarico Studios
• Tommy Tallarico at the Internet Movie Database
• Tommy Tallarico's profile at MobyGames
• Gamasutra Game Audio Gallery: Tommy Tallarico
• The Electric Playground
• Game Audio Network Guild (G.A.N.G.)
• Video Games Live
• Interview at DPerry.com
• Interview at Midlife Gamer
• Podcast Interview Tommy Tallarico on "We Talk Games." [Timecode, 00:58:22]