Inconstant Readers are no doubt aware of my recent gaming slump. Aside from occasional forays into SFIV and a slow but steady second slog through Puzzle Quest (a corrupted file ended my first play through) I haven't had much hands-on experience of gaming in the recent past. That did not, however, keep me from being as giddy as Henry Jones Sr. upon discovering that Video Games Live was coming to Pittsburgh.
Wait, I mean Video Games LIVE!
Or perhaps it would be more appropriate to call it Video Games LIVE!!!!!!111oneoneone
Yes, it's geared towards that sort of audience. But I'm getting ahead of myself.
I've been in love with Nobuo Uematsu's music for over 17 years, ever since I dubbed - to 4 cassettes! - a friend's copy of the Final Fantasy VI OST which, no doubt due to Americans not having the slightest clue what an OST was at the time (Original Sound Track for those of you still out-of-the-know), was strangely titled "Kefka's Domain". Having played through the 60+ hours it took to complete the game and all attendant side quests and developed an overdue appreciation for Final Fantasy (I had played I and IV but didn't
think them anything special) popping those tapes into my Walkman and pedaling to school every morning was nothing short of sublime. The way each character had a unique theme woven seamlessly into the bulk of the soundtrack, the fantastic reprisals of each major theme during the closing credits, and, of course the absolute best final battle music in gaming history (yes, even better than One-Winged Angel - you fanboys realize that wasn't an entirely original composition, right?) all came together to make me appreciate just how powerful music in games could be.Flash forward a decade or two. I've imported every OST, lyrical interpretation, and piano etude from Final Fantasy 1 through 10. I've longed to hear The Black Mages in concert. I've become familiar with other composers through my love of games - Akira Yamaoka, Yasunori Mitsuda, and Harry Gregson-Williams come to mind. Game music has found itself a staple of both my yoga and massage therapy playlists. When I heard about Video Games Live I thought this was finally it, game music has achieved mainstream appeal and I would be able to enjoy some of my favorite orchestrations in their full symphonic glory.
Someday perhaps I will. For the nonce, however, I'll have to keep dreaming.
Don't get me wrong, I love what VGL is trying to do. Anything that helps get the masses to recognize gaming as an artistic cultural artifact is a good thing. But the current iteration may not necessarily be a gateway to widespread acceptance.
Simply put the focus of the concert was more about fan service than about music. Extreme fan service. I'll admit that perhaps the video game concert of my dreams is on one end of a scale - something very much akin to a traditional night out at the symphony only all the pieces are from games - but VGL is firmly at the other extreme. The cosplay extreme if you catch my general drift. There must be some kind of middle ground.
I've got no problem with the costume contest that opened the show (and the pretty bad-ass Lich King getup that won was no joke), nor the guitar hero competition and general geeky swag-fest atmosphere that permeated the theater. But when it comes to the actual concert, well, I want to pay attention to the music.
Sure the youngsters that inevitably beg their parents to go (along with the more twitchy of the older gamers in attendee) probably couldn't handle just sitting and watching an orchestra perform, so the three screens of video clips are a good idea. Heck my SO really appreciated getting to see the graphical transformation of legendary franchises over the years (although it's jarringly obvious that VGL doesn't have the right to use images from Square-Enix games - a glaring omission when music from several Final Fantasys, both Chronos , and Kingdom Hearts is included). Having a little something pleasing for the eye as well as the ear is only appropriate for a concert rooted in a multimedia art form like games.
Still the emphasis on greatest hits medleys rather than full orchestral songs takes its toll on the artistic integrity of the music.
The only piece played in its entirety and not wedged into a medley was One-Winged Angel. This meant that as a fan of the music I wasn't able to close my eyes and get lost in the nuances of a pieces with which I was familiar. Instead I had to settle for the occasional soupçon of a loved phrase during long mash ups that mostly string together riffs of the most well-known and recognizable themes.For all my gripes it was still a very enjoyable experience. There were several moments of gooseflesh and many more of pure joy (though years of overexposure to rabid fanboys have long since deadened my heart from being affected by the first three notes of Aerith's Theme). I'm very glad that there's something out there that highlights one of the lesser talked about artistic aspects of games. Music-in-games talk today is almost exclusively about interactive music, but it's important to remember that there are well-established craft elements that stand up on their own (music, cinematography, voice-acting, etc.) and need to be recognized. But until such times as the market will support a traveling show of game music in a more traditional orchestral style I'll just keep cranking up my symphonic suites in the comfort of my own home.
What do you want out of your local video games/high culture crossover?
