The day is here for Video Games Live and I am hyped! My hubby and I got here super early and it wasn’t worth it. It was nice walking around downtown Ft. Lauderdale but once the doors open and we walked inside it was a bit of a letdown.
I’ve been to Star Wars in concert and out in the lobby they had memorabilia to look at and the 501st. The concert was amazing and to view items from the Star Wars universe was the topping on the cake.
As we walk into the lobby there’s food, a guitar hero competition, cosplay contest and a booth to buy t-shirts and DVDs. That’s it. I was under the impression that there would be more, like at Star Wars in concert.
Now I’m standing in the lobby with fellow geeks from sflsocialgeeks.com just talking about Star Wars, video games and Family Guy. This is the one place where everyone has at least something in common. Then I met up with GameCouch.com and his wife which was great however the doors opened up and I was eager to see where I would be seating.
The stage is small with two small screens on either side of a larger screen. The orchestra sits in the middle with green lights causing a small glow.
Before the show, there was a cosplay contest on the stage and the crowd gets to pick the winner, who was a young boy as Yoshi.
The first half is over and it is amazing!!!! Words cannot describe but I did squeal like a little school girl when they played music from Final Fantasy X.
The show is very interactive and laid back. Sadly the place is not filled and there are many empty seats.
The live (sorta) article ended there. I was too much into Video Games Live to worry about writing on my Blackberry. This concert was amazing and I wasn’t afraid to scream like a school girl when certain pieces of music started to play. The best part of the night was when they played the Chrono Trigger and Chrono Cross mix at the very end. I honestly did not think they were going to play it and at the very end, to my delight, they did.
Video Games Live was founded in 2002 by video game composers and game industry veterans Tommy Tallarico and Jack Wall under the parent company Mystical Stone Entertainment, LLC. Tommy & Jack have over 35 years experience in the game industry and utilize all of their personal contacts, friends and knowledge in the industry to help create the show. When creating a segment for Video Games Live, the actual game composers, designers, creators, artists, producers and marketing teams all join in to help produce and ensure the highest quality.
The main goal for creating Video Games Live was to show the world how culturally significant and artist video games have become. Aside from being a celebration of the entire gaming industry, we also wanted to create a unique entertainment experience for the non-gamers and/or casual gamers as well. By utilizing incredible visuals and interactive segments in such a unique way, we are drawing in an audience that may normally not be interested in attending a game music production. Some of our greatest letters and e-mails have been from non-gamers who felt like their eyes were opened to a completely new form of entertainment and music.
Another goal of Video Games Live is to usher in a whole new generation of people to experience an orchestra performance. A lot of people who attend our show are seeing a symphony for the first time. A lot of symphonies around the world unfortunately don’t seem to be connecting with the younger generation and are sometimes struggling to fill the music halls. Video Games Live is constantly being credited as helping to rejuvenate symphonic music similar to what opera did hundreds of years ago.
It’s amazing that with so many pieces out there, each concert is different and they try to never play the same stuff twice at the same venue. I really hope VGL returns to South Florida and if you get the chance, go see it, it is totally worth it.
I’m just sad that there isn’t that much marketing for this event. I remember seeing a tweet about it several months ago that they were going on tour but that was the only type of advertisement that I saw. It would be nice to see an ad on PsN and on XB360’s marketplace promoting this great event.
The night ended up with me and my husband hanging out at OutBack Steakhouse with the great people of SFX-360.com and other gamers, where we simply talked about video games and other geek related stuff. This is an event that brings gamers and strangers together and one that every gamer needs to attend. Its one thing to hear the music while playing a game but it’s truly another to see and hear it live by an orchestra where the music is so loud, it feels like it’s inside of you.
