Topic: Retro Studios Turns Down Former Rare Composer Looking for Work

[Patchkid15]

Retro appears to be fully staffed at the moment.

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/news/30880

While looking for work, Grant Kirkhope, a former composer for Rare, was turned down by Retro Studios.

In response to someone trying to aid his job search on Twitter Kirkhope said "I already tried Retro .... They're full up!" 

Kirkhope, who composed the score for the action-RPG Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning, was recently laid off from Big Huge Games due to the financial trouble that followed the game's release. He has worked on projects such as Goldeneye 007, Banjo-Kazooie, and Perfect Dark.

[5kytar]

Shame that such talent is going to waste. I hope he finds a job soon.

[Ian Sane]

When I first saw the headline I feared they turned away David Wise.

[geo]

Headline made me think he applied for an open position and they chose someone better.   Glad to know it's because they werent looking for any composers at the moment.

[PetariJ]

Just the thought of Retro and seeing that logo makes me want to romp through Phendrana Drifts again.

[Chozo Ghost]

I don't know who this guy is or what he's done that's notable, but its always a sad thing when someone is turned down on employment so I feel for him.

[Spak-Spang]

Actually, I really don't like the music in Rare's games.  They are always off to me.

[the asylum]

If it was Graeme Norgate I would totally never forgive Retro for turning him down

[NWR_Lindy]

Mmmm...Phendrana Drifts.

[Tora]

@Ian Sane

Same...

[Morari]

When I first saw the headline I feared they turned away David Wise.

I immediately thought the same thing. That guy is a genuis, if for no other reason than composing the Battletoads tunes. About the only thing better in the video game world is the DooM sound track.

[Chozo Ghost]

I immediately thought the same thing. That guy is a genuis, if for no other reason than composing the Battletoads tunes. About the only thing better in the video game world is the DooM sound track.

What about the soundtrack for COD MW2? It was composed by Hans Zimmer and is very good, regardless of what one may feel about the game itself.

[ShyGuy]

Retro ain't charity! Show us yo skillz, mang!

[MegaByte]

Retro ain't charity! Show us yo skillz, mang!

[Coolboyman]

First of all, tweets are not news.  You should have gotten more information on this by emailing Kirkhope himself with a few questions and gotten a better answer on the situation instead of basing all of your information off of a twitter tweet.

Second of all, that headline is grossly bias.

He was not "turned down". They had enough composers for their projects already. That headline makes it seem like that Retro Studios will NEVER hire Kirkhope, when in reality Kirkhope would have a very good shot if another musician left and they needed a replacement.  Sure you have a sentence that says "Retro is full up" following it, but people are going to pay way more attention to the headline than the sub-headline.

I've talked people who believed the first scenario of my paragraph after reading your headline (who are now pissed at Retro) when in reality, it's the second.

Patrick Barnett, please change the headline.  I have nothing against you, but please choose your words more carefully in the future.

[TJ Spyke]

The headline is accurate though, he WAS turned down. Yes it was because they are not hiring composers right now, but he was still turned down. Even if they were hiring, why would anyone be mad at Retro for not hiring some random composer?

[Chozo Ghost]

some random composer

He worked at Rare on some high profile games. I think that's enough to make him more than just "some random composer".

[ThePerm]

the question on everyones mind is still WTF is retro working on?