Where are they now? - Dwight K. Okahara

Dwight K. Okahara helped with the music and sound effects on Dune II

From now on I'm going to adopt a different format to the "Where are they now?" posts. Usually they end up just being a chronology of a particular person's career so I might as well make it official and organise the post that way (i.e. with years as subheadings along with accomplishments or important life events). I'll always have, at the very least, a little introductory paragraph of why I think the guy or girl in question is important and for today's "Where are they now?" I'd like to focus the spotlight on a man named Dwight K. Okahara.

Dwight K. Okahara might not be as well known as one of his colleagues, namely Frank Klepacki, but he's been working in the game industry for quite some time now, at least for over 25 years. While it seems he mostly does audio engineer/sound effects work on games (which is a very important job I might add) his name caught my attention when it popped up next to Frank Klepacki's for the music credits on the classic Westwood Studios RTS, Dune II. However, it seems to have been a blip on the radar as the only other game I could find where he contributed to its music was the 1990 game Battletech: The Crescent Hawks' Revenge.

Okahara worked at Westwood Studios until it was disbanded in 2003 but was pretty busy while working there, providing the sound effects for many games including The Legend of Kyrandia games, the Lands of Lore games, the Command & Conquer games and the Dune II remakes, just to name a few.

Following the disbanding of Westwood Studios, Okahara found work at Insomniac Games in 2004 as an Audio Lead. He's been at the company ever since working on very popular console franchises such as Ratchet & Clank and Resistance.

Career Highlights

1989 - Started working at Westwood Studios in Audio. Promoted to Audio Lead and Sound Designer later on.

1990 - Battletech: The Crescent Hawks' Revenge - Music
1991 - Eye of the Beholder II - Sound
1992 - The Legend of Kyrandia - Sound Effects
1992 - Dune II - Sound
1993 - The Legend of Kyrandia: Hand of Fate - Digital sampling
1993 - Lands of Lore - Sound and Music
1994 - The Legend of Kyrandia: Book 3 - Malcolm's Revenge - Sounds
1995 - Command & Conquer - Sound Effects
1996 - Red Alert - In-game voices
1997 - Lands of Lore: Guardians of Destiny - Sound
1997 - Blade Runner - Additional Voices
1998 - Dune 2000 - Sound Effects

1998 - Westwood Studios acquired by EA

1999 - Lands of Lore III - Sound Design
1999 - Command & Conquer: Tiberian Sun - Sound Effects
2000 - Nox - Sound
2000 - Red Alert 2 - Production Sound
2001 - Emperor: Battle for Dune - Sound Effects
2002 - Command & Conquer: Renegade - Additional Sound Effects

2003 - Westwood Studios closed down. Okahara leaves.

2004 - Joined Insomniac Games as Audio Lead (Insomniac Games behind popular console franchises such as Spyro the Dragon, Ratchet & Clank, and Resistance). Has worked on several games including ones in the Ratchet & Clank, and Resistance series.

LINKS:
[ MobyGames: Dwight K. Okahara ]