Gamertell

Title: Video Games Live: Volume One
Price: $16.98 ($0.99 per song download)
Release Date: July 22, 2008
Publisher: EMI Records Ltd. (Angel Records)
Pros: An excellent collections of impressive performances. Often well-orchestrated collections and homages to game music with an honest air of respectability that even non-gamers can appreciate. The name implies there will be a Volume Two.
Cons: A few segments are a bit slow and some of the instrumentation plainly mimics or masks the vocals.
Overall Score: Two thumbs up; 91/100; A-; * * * * out of five.

No matter where you fall in the games as art spectrum there’s no denying that plenty of artistic efforts are put into many games’ production. Case in point is the Video Games Live tour which offers orchestral performances of video game music that would be difficult for any music snob to scoff at.

The CD (and digital download) release of Video Games Live: Volume One offers selected studio and live performances featuring the Slovak Symphony Orchestra, Crouch End Festival Chorus and various soloists as conducted by Jack Wall.

Click through for a track-by-track review…

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Check out the gallery: Video Games Live: Volume One CD art

Apple’s App Store has plenty of fun games that can be downloaded and played on iPods and the iPhone alike. Unfortunately, there is one free game that ruffled the feathers of The Tetris Company enough to threaten legal action. The Tetris-style puzzle game known as Tris will be taken off the App Store this Wednesday (August 27, 2008).

The creator of the game, Noah Witherspoon, wrote on his blog that he was contacted by Apple informing him of The Tetris Company’s complaint. According to Witherspoon, the game’s name is way too similar to Tetris for the company to allow…

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Everyone in Japan gets involved in video games. It almost seems like it is an honor to have a song included in an upcoming title. When these games are localized for North American releases, it’s a toss-up as to what happens to the original music. Many companies are including the original tracks with games, while some will substitute them with songs in English.

Hikaru Utada is one of the biggest pop singers in Japan. This means that her music has appeared in games, animes and Japanese dramas. She’s also has worked as a voice actress - one of her roles was Pinoko in the anime Black Jack.

Before we get into her relationship to video games and a few of her songs I’d recommend, here’s a brief backstory. Utada was born in New York, New York. She’s fluent in English and Japanese. Her mother’s the Enka singer Fuji Keiko. Her first album was released as Cubic U in both the US and Japan. After that, she focused on a Japanese-only career. She’s sold over 40 million records, and has released eight CDs. She released her English R&B CD, Exodus, in the US in 2004, and is currently working on a second US CD that might be released this year.

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The marching band for the University of California at Berkley had a special presentation planned for the November 3, 2007, football game. During the halftime show of the California Golden Bears vs Washington State Cougars game, the marching band put on a tribute to video games. Thanks to diligent fans, the entire six and a half minute performance is available for the whole world to see. The show pays tributes to some of the more famous video games.

The performance begins with a brief Pong match. Players march while the classic beeps sound off. It then transitions into Tetris. While the band plays the theme, the members take the shapes of various blocks falling to the bottom of the field. Mortal Kombat comes next, first with the MK logo and shouts of “Mortal Kombat,” and then with dragon insignia representative of the series.

Pokemon is honored next, as the Pokemon theme then kicks in and two pokeballs appear on field. At this point the camera zooms in to show two marchers representing pokemon duking it out. After one emerges victorious, music from the Legend of Zelda games pipes in, and a triforce and sword take shape. The last minute of the presentation is devoted to Super Mario Brothers, with the band members taking the shape of various levels. A lone individual then goes through the pipes and levels. The stunning finish features the lone figure representing Mario begins dashing to the flagpole from the original Super Mario game, while a castle appears in the background.

This whole presentation is amazing. It is something any video game fan should see. It is even better than the YouTube video of the prisoners dancing to Thriller. It is amazing.

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