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I’ve attended several video game orchestras, and definitely enjoyed them. Video Games Live last night in KL was, however, was a step above in entertainment.

The main reason? It was made for gamers. Other game orchestras focused on making the event formal, seeking to elevate game music into high art. While delivering quality music, VGL actually emphasized the fun that came from being a gamer, by including in-jokes that only gamers would understand, and adding little touches that resonates well to gamers and game developers.

The review for the VGL Minnesota’s performance said it well:

Tallarico and Wall clearly understand that the excitement of Video Games Live lies in its open invitation for people who have spent untold hours with, and become emotionally involved in, video games (”I’ve literally cried playing this game,” my 25-year-old brother told me while the orchestra played music from Metal Gear Solid) to come together by the thousands to share an experience that otherwise is shared by only as many people as one can fit in a living room.

The first music, theme from MGS, was done with a soldier walking along the track, going into alert (with a glow-in-the-dark pop-up!) as a man in a box passed by. The laughter it generated showed the audience is full of gamers. Little moments of silliness like this occured now and then at VGL.

A guest performer, Laura Intravia singing with the God of War soundtrack. Was impressed by her imposing stance and voice, because it fit the music and theme so well.

This was a surprise; a live Skype chat with Ralph Baer. I blogged about it the IGDA website because from a game developer’s POV, this was a pretty cool moment.

Laura Intravia is back, dressed as Link and performing her own rendition of the Zelda music, along with some dramatization with a very annoying Navi. A charming and impressive performance.

The show continued with a remix of Sonic the Hedgehog soundtrack, which started with the choir singing “SEEEEEEEGAAAAAA~~~~~!”. Another in-joke that fans nostalgically appreciated.

The intermission has a loading screen. The meter actually works. Another great gaming in-joke.

Norihiko Hibino performed Snake Eater with his saxophone. I ended up singing to the piece.

This is where Tommy Tallarico really shone. Grabbing a guitar, he performed by playing music from Megaman, Halo, One Winged Angel and Castlevania. He was an excellent performer, headbanging with the cellist for One Winged Angel, really hamming up the music for Halo and entertaining the audience by moving, jumping around and really getting into the music.

I’ll come back to see VGL again just to see Tommy perform. Hopefully to a Contra soundtrack!

The final piece was music to Chrono Trigger + Cross, which was definitely a crowd pleaser. For this one, Tommy, Jack and Laura played together.

Nobihiro Hibino joined with his saxophone.

The intermission didn’t feel necessary as the session didn’t feel long (even though the whole show was 2.5 hours). The amazing thing for me was that the show made it so personal; as opposed to an impersonal formal show from other video game sessions, this one was made to be fun. It was certainly good for the gamer soul.

This entry was posted on Sunday, April 18th, 2010 at 11:30 am and is filed under Events. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.