Video Games Live takes you there
Review by: Alana Kansaku-Sarmiento
Issue date: 11/12/09 Section: Student Life
My mind was blown. I in fact had to pick my melted face up from off the ground.
In other words, the concert was good.
On Saturday, Nov. 7 I attended a Video Games Live concert in Portland, an event that travels across the world to various cities presenting the most immersive video game music experience ever known to man. An orchestra will play tunes taken strictly from video games both new and old, while a choir stands in the back at ready, a giant screen above the stage broadcasts video game clips in time with the music, and strobe lights sweep across the audience. An occasional live-action actor in full costume will pop out on stage to act out the part of whatever character happens to be onscreen at the time.
This Portland performance was the first Video Games Live performance in the state of Oregon (the concert series has been traveling the country and globe since 2005). The Oregon Symphony played themes from games like Metal Gear Solid, Final Fantasy, Halo and World of War Craft, as well as from beloved classics like Super Mario Brothers, Donkey Kong, Sonic the Hedgehog and Castlevania.
The concert opened with a clip of a game "Pong" on the big screen, as the symphony played a simple note each time the ball hit any wall of the screen. Things got interesting, quick, as the "game" went from slow to fast to faster, eventually switching to clips/themes from games like Duck Hunt and Tetris.
It was a thrill to watch, even for a person like myself who has never owned a video game in their life. Yes, that's right. Not so much as a handheld Nintendo.
I can track the timeline of my history with video games from my first to my last experiences: playing Street Fighter (once) in a downstairs neighbor's apartment when I was in grade school; playing Grand Theft Auto (once) at a friend's birthday party in 7th grade; playing Mario Kart in college (once…maybe twice) in a friend's dorm room.
The point is, this concert is an experience that anyone could enjoy - gamer or not, expert or noob, old or young, Democrat or Republican.
In other words, the concert was good.
On Saturday, Nov. 7 I attended a Video Games Live concert in Portland, an event that travels across the world to various cities presenting the most immersive video game music experience ever known to man. An orchestra will play tunes taken strictly from video games both new and old, while a choir stands in the back at ready, a giant screen above the stage broadcasts video game clips in time with the music, and strobe lights sweep across the audience. An occasional live-action actor in full costume will pop out on stage to act out the part of whatever character happens to be onscreen at the time.
This Portland performance was the first Video Games Live performance in the state of Oregon (the concert series has been traveling the country and globe since 2005). The Oregon Symphony played themes from games like Metal Gear Solid, Final Fantasy, Halo and World of War Craft, as well as from beloved classics like Super Mario Brothers, Donkey Kong, Sonic the Hedgehog and Castlevania.
The concert opened with a clip of a game "Pong" on the big screen, as the symphony played a simple note each time the ball hit any wall of the screen. Things got interesting, quick, as the "game" went from slow to fast to faster, eventually switching to clips/themes from games like Duck Hunt and Tetris.
It was a thrill to watch, even for a person like myself who has never owned a video game in their life. Yes, that's right. Not so much as a handheld Nintendo.
I can track the timeline of my history with video games from my first to my last experiences: playing Street Fighter (once) in a downstairs neighbor's apartment when I was in grade school; playing Grand Theft Auto (once) at a friend's birthday party in 7th grade; playing Mario Kart in college (once…maybe twice) in a friend's dorm room.
The point is, this concert is an experience that anyone could enjoy - gamer or not, expert or noob, old or young, Democrat or Republican.
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posted 12/17/09 @ 3:13 AM PST
It was a great concert.
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