Common reactions to the mention of a video game concert generally include: "That sounds lame", "Wow, that's dorky" and the ubiquitous "I like games, but not that much." I was always puzzled by these reactions, especially from hardcore gamers. What they don't even realize is the formative power of video game music -- so subtly essential that you don't even notice its presence until a stranger in a public place says to you, "Wow, are you humming the boss theme from Super Metroid?" Ironic, isn't it?
UPDATE: Literally as I posted this, Vertexguy sent us some footage of both his performances from VGL. Hot! Check em out at the end of the jump!
Then of course, there's another core group (mostly pained cosplayers) that truly love game music. By love I mean they watch for new releases, load them onto their iPods and babble to their friends about the third track on disc 5. So where does this leave those of us who just go to events like Video Games Live just to see what its all about? On the final night of GDC, I had the pleasure of finding out firsthand, and let me tell you before you shoot it down -- I saw something truly fantastic.
The show kicked off with a medley of arcade images and themes, getting the crowd reacting right off the bat. Tommy Tallarico came out and got a kid to play Space Invaders using his body for the ship's movement, which was more difficult than it looked at first glance. Engaging the audience with that type of interactive play was awesome, but it wasn't until the orchestra launched into "One Winged Angel" from Final Fantasy 7 that those amazing chills of memory started to hit me. The best part of the music is remembering -- the moments you played those games for the first time, discovered those characters, and lived through the stories told there.
The highlight of the evening for me was not the much anticipated appearance by Koji Kondo (although he was wonderful), but instead seeing pianist Martin Leung perform. He moved so swiftly across the keys, the massive screens we watched appeared to show fast forwarded footage. We were unable to record at the show itself, but you have to check this guy out as watching him actually blew a couple of my brain fuses.
We also got the pleasure of rocking out with Chris Kline ("vertexguy") as debuted his version of the Contra jungle theme. Tommy Tallarico came out later in the show and joined him and the orchestra for a fierce jam session (check the video below to see that performance). God, Contra makes me more excited than pre-pubescent Japanese schoolgirls being violated by alien life. To end the evening with a bang, Koji Kondo gave us his rendition of the all the Mario themes. As I watched, I thought about my entire gaming career from age 10 on. What a pleasure it has been, and still the world of games explodes with new life every second. These games have marked my memories in ways that few other things ever could. If reliving the pleasure of all those golden days sounds good to you, you might want to check out Video Games Live. In fact, it made me decide to replay Final Fantasy 7. Imagine my delight watching the world of Midgar surge up around me, and finding it was like watching it again for the first time.
UPDATE: Check out exclusive footage of vertexguy!!!
I saw the Final Fantasy More Friends concert in LA about a year ago, and it was definatly worth going to, save all the lame people there who don't know how to act at a fucking concert
Sounds good, though I attended the Play! World Premiere in Chicago, and that was absolutely mind blowing. I find it hard to think any similar concert could come anywhere near topping it. Though the fact I sat beside Akira Yamaoka and met several other composers throughout the night may have had a part in that. xD
I saw VGL in Chicago last year, in the summer of '06. It rocked , except the cosplay contest before the show was a real let-down. The final two votes were between Cloud and Link, and I feel Link should have won. Clearly he had spent more time on his costume. It was the spitting image of Twilight Link. Cloud was... eh... His giant sword was cool, but that's about it.
Live symphonic orchestra + great video game music + lasers + cosplay + = awesome evening. Oh, and Becky Young is, like, the hottest chick on the planet.
Some guy from my school got this grant to study video game music. The deal was to explore the well accepted idea that constraints often drive artists and musicians to be more creative. For example, Bach was great because he had to compose within the confines of the highly structured musical theory of the time. It's mathematical and precise and still beautiful. Constraints for video game music (especially from earlier times) include:
- limited disk space for data
- limited output options
- short time windows to make an interesting loop
- song needs to be engaging enough within that loop so that it doesn't get obnoxious after 2 or 3 repetitions
- song can't be _so_ interesting or weird that it distracts from the gameplay.
I can't remember what else, but listening to the Marble Madness songs (with the sound effects from the game) still gives me some chills.
I will admit I have a large collection of game music, from the original NES games (such a wave of nostalgia rushes over you hearing those songs) to the Banjo Kazooie series. Zelda and Final Fantasy are probably my biggest collections where I've got original soundtracks, orchestral versions and a few live concerts like the Mario/Big Band performance. Hell I even got the Oblivion soundtrack since the music was pretty good. Not getting the Half Life music would have been a sin so it was cool someone ripped the files from HL2. I've used a ton of game music in my animations before simply because it's fitting.
Anyone who thinks video game music is lame is just ignorant. So many awesome tunes down through the years. I'd really like to see that kind of concert, but it's not going to happen in ireland, and I'm too broke to travel for one.
By the way, people who like vertex guy should do themselves a favour and check out the Kode. They do a pretty rocking rendition of the contra theme too. Snakeman and spring hill zone fucking rule though.
Holy Hell there were a ton of people ther. I met Marty O'Donnell, Tommy and Keith Robinson (from Intellivision) told me where to get some good ribs three blocks down from my college.
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Contest:
10:12 PM on 03.13.2007 | 
Live symphonic orchestra + great video game music + lasers + cosplay + = awesome evening. Oh, and Becky Young is, like, the hottest chick on the planet.
- limited disk space for data
- limited output options
- short time windows to make an interesting loop
- song needs to be engaging enough within that loop so that it doesn't get obnoxious after 2 or 3 repetitions
- song can't be _so_ interesting or weird that it distracts from the gameplay.
I can't remember what else, but listening to the Marble Madness songs (with the sound effects from the game) still gives me some chills.
PetiePalo, try searching for the music of Might and Magic V, or Republic Commando, some of their bg music are really great.
Reminds me of Metal Slug, that had great music too
By the way, people who like vertex guy should do themselves a favour and check out the Kode. They do a pretty rocking rendition of the contra theme too. Snakeman and spring hill zone fucking rule though.
Holy Hell there were a ton of people ther. I met Marty O'Donnell, Tommy and Keith Robinson (from Intellivision) told me where to get some good ribs three blocks down from my college.
In short, Videogames Live kicked ass.