Okay, let’s just begin with a quick Comedy 101 lesson here. All you kids, and Dreamworks studio executives, need to hear this. Farting is not funny. It’s not. It can be funny, if used tastefully and in the correct context, but if you’re just watching someone letting rip, what are you left with? Um… a 2-second period of momentary amusement, before the room becomes hotboxed and no-one wants to go near it for a good half hour. Yeah, pure gold, I’m sure.
Disregarding all that, however, today’s story is pretty hysterical, and just happens to centre tangentially around that particular breed of methane-based comedy. OutRun is one of SEGA’s most well-known, quintessential franchises; delivering as it does a tight, high-octane driving experience that would put Crazy Taxi to shame and make Mario wonder if his kart isn’t short on the torque. In fact, 2021 marks the 35th anniversary of the series, and I’m sure that’s an occasion that will in no way be overshadowed by any other SEGA-related IPs celebrating a milestone this year.
To mark the occasion, OutRun composer Hiroshi Kawaguchi shared one of the game’s iconic tunes on Spotify. “OutRun is celebrating its 35th anniversary, and we bring you a song to commemorate it,” wrote Kawaguchi. “We hope you enjoy listening to these nostalgic original songs.”
The name of the song? “Passing Breeze,” and, as TheGamer reports, Kawaguchi followed it up with an amusing anecdote from development. The more immature among you may have already clocked where this is going.
“The song was named ‘Passing Wind’ when it was developed. SOA pointed this out to us when we did a location test in the US, so we changed the song name. I’m glad we were able to fix it before release.”
All done snickering? Good. Let’s all take a moment to share in Kawaguchi’s relief that OutRun never hit Western shores with that unfortunate little number attached – who knows what its reputation might have become?
What do you think of that little accidental idiom? Are you glad SOA saved the game from over three decades of mockery? Let us know!
Via, TheGamer.
