Graeme Norgate
Encyclopedia
Graeme Norgate is an English
video game music composer
, who has composed music for a variety of video games developed by Rare. His first project at Rare was writing the music for the Game Boy
game, Donkey Kong Land
. He also contributed to the soundtracks of Blast Corps
and GoldenEye 007. Graeme was an employee of Free Radical Design
; The company was later bought out by Crytek
; Norgate retained the position of audio director after company's buyout. His recent scores include Second Sight
and the Timesplitters
series of video games.
Originally working at a bank before joining Rare in 1994, Norgate later would become famous for taking part in the music of such games as GoldenEye 007 and Blast Corps. When asked what his worst piece of music was, he said "Oh, Jesus. One of my tracks for Blast Corps on the N64
. It was when the space shuttle took off. It was completely inappropriate. I still cringe every time I hear it."
A friend of fellow Rare composer Robin Beanland
, the two worked on the original soundtrack to Killer Instinct
in the 1990s. He also composed music (but was not totally credited) for other Rareware games, such as Diddy Kong Racing
, Jet Force Gemini
, and Perfect Dark
.
Norgate has a personal website, specifically devoted to the music of the Commodore 64
era of gaming / remixes.
Norgate works under the alias of Virez when remixing, he has remixed several songs for bands such as Goteki, Code 64, Seize and Illumina.
English people
The English are a nation and ethnic group native to England, who speak English. The English identity is of early mediaeval origin, when they were known in Old English as the Anglecynn. England is now a country of the United Kingdom, and the majority of English people in England are British Citizens...
video game music composer
Composer
A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
, who has composed music for a variety of video games developed by Rare. His first project at Rare was writing the music for the Game Boy
Game Boy
The , is an 8-bit handheld video game device developed and manufactured by Nintendo. It was released in Japan on , in North America in , and in Europe on...
game, Donkey Kong Land
Donkey Kong Land
Donkey Kong Land is a video game developed by Rareware and published by Nintendo for the Game Boy. This game was first released in June, 1995. It is a completely original follow-up to the original Donkey Kong Country. The game was later followed by Donkey Kong Land 2 and Donkey Kong Land III which...
. He also contributed to the soundtracks of Blast Corps
Blast Corps
Blast Corps is a video game for the Nintendo 64 developed by Rare and published by Nintendo. It was released in North America on February 28, 1997, and in the PAL regions on September 1, 1997...
and GoldenEye 007. Graeme was an employee of Free Radical Design
Free Radical Design
Crytek UK, formerly known as Free Radical Design, is a video game developer based in Nottingham, United Kingdom, probably best known for Second Sight and the TimeSplitters series. After going into financial administration, it was announced on February 4 2009 that the studio had been acquired by...
; The company was later bought out by Crytek
Crytek
Crytek is a German video game company founded in 1999 by three Turkish brothers: Cevat, Avni and Faruk Yerli. Crytek's main headquarters are in Frankfurt, Germany, with five other studios in Kiev, Budapest, Nottingham, Sofia and Seoul. The company is best known for developing the game Far Cry and...
; Norgate retained the position of audio director after company's buyout. His recent scores include Second Sight
Second Sight (video game)
Second Sight is an action-adventure video game developed by Free Radical Design and published by Codemasters for Nintendo GameCube, Xbox, PlayStation 2, and Microsoft Windows. It was released on September 21, 2004...
and the Timesplitters
TimeSplitters
TimeSplitters is a series of first-person shooter video games created by Free Radical Design. The games are often compared to Rare's shooters GoldenEye 007 and Perfect Dark since Free Radical Design was founded by a group of ex-Rare employees who developed these games...
series of video games.
Originally working at a bank before joining Rare in 1994, Norgate later would become famous for taking part in the music of such games as GoldenEye 007 and Blast Corps. When asked what his worst piece of music was, he said "Oh, Jesus. One of my tracks for Blast Corps on the N64
Nintendo 64
The , often referred to as N64, was Nintendo′s third home video game console for the international market. Named for its 64-bit CPU, it was released in June 1996 in Japan, September 1996 in North America, March 1997 in Europe and Australia, September 1997 in France and December 1997 in Brazil...
. It was when the space shuttle took off. It was completely inappropriate. I still cringe every time I hear it."
A friend of fellow Rare composer Robin Beanland
Robin Beanland
Robin Beanland , sometimes credited as R. Beanland or simply "The Bean", is a British video game music composer for numerous Rare titles, such as the Killer Instinct franchise, Conker's Bad Fur Day , and many others...
, the two worked on the original soundtrack to Killer Instinct
Killer Instinct
Killer Instinct is a fighting game developed by Rare and published by Midway and Nintendo. Initially released in arcades in 1994, and rumored to use an "Ultra 64" hardware engine, in reality the proprietary arcade hardware was co-developed by Rare and Midway. The game received a high profile launch...
in the 1990s. He also composed music (but was not totally credited) for other Rareware games, such as Diddy Kong Racing
Diddy Kong Racing
Diddy Kong Racing is a 1997 racing game for the Nintendo 64 developed by Rareware. 800,000 copies were ordered in the two weeks before Christmas 1997, making it the fastest selling video game at the time, according to the Guinness Book of World Records. It is the first game to spin off from the...
, Jet Force Gemini
Jet Force Gemini
Jet Force Gemini is a third-person shooter video game developed and published by Rare. It was exclusively released for the Nintendo 64 in late 1999 in North America, Europe and Japan...
, and Perfect Dark
Perfect Dark
Perfect Dark is a first-person shooter video game developed by Rare for the Nintendo 64 video game console. It is considered the spiritual successor to Rare's earlier first-person shooter GoldenEye 007, with which it shares many gameplay features...
.
Norgate has a personal website, specifically devoted to the music of the Commodore 64
Commodore 64
The Commodore 64 is an 8-bit home computer introduced by Commodore International in January 1982.Volume production started in the spring of 1982, with machines being released on to the market in August at a price of US$595...
era of gaming / remixes.
Norgate works under the alias of Virez when remixing, he has remixed several songs for bands such as Goteki, Code 64, Seize and Illumina.
Video game soundtracks
| Title | Year | System | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Killer Instinct Killer Instinct Killer Instinct is a fighting game developed by Rare and published by Midway and Nintendo. Initially released in arcades in 1994, and rumored to use an "Ultra 64" hardware engine, in reality the proprietary arcade hardware was co-developed by Rare and Midway. The game received a high profile launch... |
1994 | Arcade Arcade game An arcade game is a coin-operated entertainment machine, usually installed in public businesses such as restaurants, bars, and amusement arcades. Most arcade games are video games, pinball machines, electro-mechanical games, redemption games, and merchandisers... , SNES Super Nintendo Entertainment System The Super Nintendo Entertainment System is a 16-bit video game console that was released by Nintendo in North America, Europe, Australasia , and South America between 1990 and 1993. In Japan and Southeast Asia, the system is called the , or SFC for short... , Game Boy Game Boy The , is an 8-bit handheld video game device developed and manufactured by Nintendo. It was released in Japan on , in North America in , and in Europe on... |
|
| Donkey Kong Land Donkey Kong Land Donkey Kong Land is a video game developed by Rareware and published by Nintendo for the Game Boy. This game was first released in June, 1995. It is a completely original follow-up to the original Donkey Kong Country. The game was later followed by Donkey Kong Land 2 and Donkey Kong Land III which... |
1995 | Game Boy Game Boy The , is an 8-bit handheld video game device developed and manufactured by Nintendo. It was released in Japan on , in North America in , and in Europe on... |
|
| Killer Instinct 2 Killer Instinct 2 Killer Instinct 2 is a 1996 arcade-only fighting game developed by Rare, licensed by Nintendo, and manufactured by Midway.KI2 is the sequel to Killer Instinct , an arcade game which was also ported to the SNES... |
n/a | SNES Super Nintendo Entertainment System The Super Nintendo Entertainment System is a 16-bit video game console that was released by Nintendo in North America, Europe, Australasia , and South America between 1990 and 1993. In Japan and Southeast Asia, the system is called the , or SFC for short... (Unreleased) |
Worked on the cancelled port. |
| Blast Corps Blast Corps Blast Corps is a video game for the Nintendo 64 developed by Rare and published by Nintendo. It was released in North America on February 28, 1997, and in the PAL regions on September 1, 1997... |
1997 | N64 Nintendo 64 The , often referred to as N64, was Nintendo′s third home video game console for the international market. Named for its 64-bit CPU, it was released in June 1996 in Japan, September 1996 in North America, March 1997 in Europe and Australia, September 1997 in France and December 1997 in Brazil... |
|
| GoldenEye 007 | 1997 | N64 Nintendo 64 The , often referred to as N64, was Nintendo′s third home video game console for the international market. Named for its 64-bit CPU, it was released in June 1996 in Japan, September 1996 in North America, March 1997 in Europe and Australia, September 1997 in France and December 1997 in Brazil... |
|
| Diddy Kong Racing Diddy Kong Racing Diddy Kong Racing is a 1997 racing game for the Nintendo 64 developed by Rareware. 800,000 copies were ordered in the two weeks before Christmas 1997, making it the fastest selling video game at the time, according to the Guinness Book of World Records. It is the first game to spin off from the... |
1997 | N64 Nintendo 64 The , often referred to as N64, was Nintendo′s third home video game console for the international market. Named for its 64-bit CPU, it was released in June 1996 in Japan, September 1996 in North America, March 1997 in Europe and Australia, September 1997 in France and December 1997 in Brazil... |
Worked on the sound effects. |
| Jet Force Gemini Jet Force Gemini Jet Force Gemini is a third-person shooter video game developed and published by Rare. It was exclusively released for the Nintendo 64 in late 1999 in North America, Europe and Japan... |
1999 | N64 Nintendo 64 The , often referred to as N64, was Nintendo′s third home video game console for the international market. Named for its 64-bit CPU, it was released in June 1996 in Japan, September 1996 in North America, March 1997 in Europe and Australia, September 1997 in France and December 1997 in Brazil... |
|
| Perfect Dark Perfect Dark Perfect Dark is a first-person shooter video game developed by Rare for the Nintendo 64 video game console. It is considered the spiritual successor to Rare's earlier first-person shooter GoldenEye 007, with which it shares many gameplay features... |
2000 | N64 Nintendo 64 The , often referred to as N64, was Nintendo′s third home video game console for the international market. Named for its 64-bit CPU, it was released in June 1996 in Japan, September 1996 in North America, March 1997 in Europe and Australia, September 1997 in France and December 1997 in Brazil... |
|
| TimeSplitters TimeSplitters TimeSplitters is a series of first-person shooter video games created by Free Radical Design. The games are often compared to Rare's shooters GoldenEye 007 and Perfect Dark since Free Radical Design was founded by a group of ex-Rare employees who developed these games... |
2000 | PS2 PlayStation 2 The PlayStation 2 is a sixth-generation video game console manufactured by Sony as part of the PlayStation series. Its development was announced in March 1999 and it was first released on March 4, 2000, in Japan... |
|
| TimeSplitters 2 TimeSplitters 2 TimeSplitters 2 is a first-person shooter video game available for the PlayStation 2, Xbox, and Nintendo GameCube game consoles. The game was published by Eidos and developed by Free Radical Design. The game was first released in October 2002 in North America and Europe, and later in Japan... |
2002 | PS2 PlayStation 2 The PlayStation 2 is a sixth-generation video game console manufactured by Sony as part of the PlayStation series. Its development was announced in March 1999 and it was first released on March 4, 2000, in Japan... , Xbox Xbox The Xbox is a sixth-generation video game console manufactured by Microsoft. It was released on November 15, 2001 in North America, February 22, 2002 in Japan, and March 14, 2002 in Australia and Europe and is the predecessor to the Xbox 360. It was Microsoft's first foray into the gaming console... , Nintendo GameCube Nintendo GameCube The , officially abbreviated to NGC in Japan and GCN in other regions, is a sixth generation video game console released by Nintendo on September 15, 2001 in Japan, November 18, 2001 in North America, May 3, 2002 in Europe, and May 17, 2002 in Australia... |
|
| TimeSplitters 2 | n/a | GBA (Unreleased) | According to Norgate, the game was "finished, but never released." |
| Second Sight Second Sight (video game) Second Sight is an action-adventure video game developed by Free Radical Design and published by Codemasters for Nintendo GameCube, Xbox, PlayStation 2, and Microsoft Windows. It was released on September 21, 2004... |
2004 | PS2 PlayStation 2 The PlayStation 2 is a sixth-generation video game console manufactured by Sony as part of the PlayStation series. Its development was announced in March 1999 and it was first released on March 4, 2000, in Japan... , Xbox Xbox The Xbox is a sixth-generation video game console manufactured by Microsoft. It was released on November 15, 2001 in North America, February 22, 2002 in Japan, and March 14, 2002 in Australia and Europe and is the predecessor to the Xbox 360. It was Microsoft's first foray into the gaming console... , Nintendo GameCube Nintendo GameCube The , officially abbreviated to NGC in Japan and GCN in other regions, is a sixth generation video game console released by Nintendo on September 15, 2001 in Japan, November 18, 2001 in North America, May 3, 2002 in Europe, and May 17, 2002 in Australia... , Windows Microsoft Windows Microsoft Windows is a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft.Microsoft introduced an operating environment named Windows on November 20, 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces . Microsoft Windows came to dominate the world's personal... |
|
| TimeSplitters: Future Perfect | 2005 | PS2 PlayStation 2 The PlayStation 2 is a sixth-generation video game console manufactured by Sony as part of the PlayStation series. Its development was announced in March 1999 and it was first released on March 4, 2000, in Japan... , Xbox Xbox The Xbox is a sixth-generation video game console manufactured by Microsoft. It was released on November 15, 2001 in North America, February 22, 2002 in Japan, and March 14, 2002 in Australia and Europe and is the predecessor to the Xbox 360. It was Microsoft's first foray into the gaming console... , Nintendo GameCube Nintendo GameCube The , officially abbreviated to NGC in Japan and GCN in other regions, is a sixth generation video game console released by Nintendo on September 15, 2001 in Japan, November 18, 2001 in North America, May 3, 2002 in Europe, and May 17, 2002 in Australia... |
|
| Haze Haze (video game) Haze is a first-person shooter video game, developed by Free Radical Design and published by Ubisoft for the PlayStation 3. It was released worldwide in May 2008. A demo for Haze was released on the PlayStation Network on May 6, 2008... |
2008 | PS3 PlayStation 3 The is the third home video game console produced by Sony Computer Entertainment and the successor to the PlayStation 2 as part of the PlayStation series. The PlayStation 3 competes with Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Nintendo's Wii as part of the seventh generation of video game consoles... |
External links
- Graeme's personal website
- Artist profile at OverClocked ReMixOverClocked ReMixOverClocked ReMix, also known as OC ReMix and OCR, is a non-profit organization dedicated to preserving and paying tribute to video game music through arranging and re-interpreting the songs with new technology and software, as well as by various traditional means...
- Timesplitters Music Box