NYT Catches Up With Fat Man & Team Fat

Starting with "Loom," one of the first computer games to appear on CD-ROM, the Fat Man and Team Fat have broken from the ice cream truck school of composition to generate a medley of hits for leading game developers like Lucas Arts, Electronic Arts, Origin Systems and Compton's New Media.

Mr. Govett, who created the soundtrack for Origin's "Wing Commander" and other popular games, lists Stravinsky and John Williams among his main influences.

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"I didn't know it then, but it was the great crash of '84," Mr. Sanger recalled. Before long, he said, he was "writing custom music for $79.95, up to three minutes, and planning on making three figures a year."

He moved to Austin in 1985, convinced that his skills in the developing high-technology region would make him a "fat man," the one to whom everyone turned for recording assistance. His fortunes turned with the offer to write tunes for some Nintendo games. Mr. Govett joined him, and within a short time both "Loom" and "Wing Commander" were at the top of the charts.