Her inspirational message is one you may need to hear today
The Game Developers Choice Awards 2024 took place on Wednesday and there was one moment in particular that stood out for fighting game players across the globe: when composer Yoko Shimomura received a well-deserved lifetime achievement award.
You may or may not know Miss Shimomura by name, but you almost certainly know some of the themes she’s put together. Her work on Kingdom Hearts is often first-billed when recounting her impressive resume, but around these parts we know her for writing the music of Street Fighter 2.
That’s right, Guile’s theme (which happens to serve as a great song to walk out to an awards show to… who knew?) was first imagined by Yoko Shimomura.
Tons of her work lives on to this day in the Street Fighter franchise as Capcom regularly builds upon older versions of character songs, though it’s hard to argue that any game since SF2 has as good or memorable of music.
During her acceptance speech, Shimomura shares an inspirational story from her early years as a video game composer. She notes how despite her love for both music and video games, she went through a very relatable period of self doubt when first starting out.
“I didn’t really understand how to compose game music, or how to compose music in general,” she starts. “During these tough times I would cry to myself every day, overcome by feelings of depression and hopelessness. I felt weighted down by my lack of ability. Maybe I just wasn’t cut out to be a video game composer.”
Obviously she stuck with it and wound up creating some of the most memorable music in all of gaming, but this story (like many others) points to the fact that you have to be willing to be the fool if you ever want the chance to become the master.
You can hear Shimomura’s full speech and story in the video below:
If you’d like hear Yoko Shimomura’s take on why Guile’s theme became so popular, check out this interview snippet from 2019.