Last week, in the first of a series of nationwide concerts, an audience of over 10,000 witnessed the evolution of gaming. The Los Angeles Philharmonic orchestra played a variety of musical themes taken from the world of games.
Culture and gaming, until recently, had not been considered compatible concepts but this latest move from two well respected classical musicians, may bring the acknowledgment that gaming does contribute to modern culture. In a story on the BBC, the scene is described as the LA Philharmonic Halo plays versions of Halo, Tomb Raider, the Mario games, plus a medley of old-school favorites like Pong, Space Invaders and Pacman, while a light show goes on in the background.
The article also mentions that the project, created by Jack Wall and Tommy Tallarico, will attempt to attract a large enough audience in order to take the show to other countries. Wall, has composer the score for Jade Empire, Myst III and Splinter Cell and knows the potential of the game industry and expects this show, called Video Games Live, to be a success. This is music people really love, he says.
The BBC has also created a little timeline of important events in the musical history of gaming:
1978 Space Invaders' panic-inducing bassline
1980 Berserk's voice synth: "Get the humanoid"
1980 Pacman's jingles
1985 Tetris' infectious Russian muzak
1989 Michael Jackson Moonwalker game
1994 Sophistication of Final Fantasy VI
1996 Trent Reznor does music for Quake
1998 Zelda takes sound to new level
2000-1 PS2, Xbox, GameCube offer new possibilities
2003 Tony Hawks Underground, 70 songs in one game
20 dates have been arranged for the US tour of Video Games Live, and international events are planned if the business model proves successful.
