While a bunch of lucky gamers get to be in Japan this weekend for the Tokyo Game Show, that doesn't mean there's nothing else interesting in our own backyards. Blizzard is reminding everyone that BlizzCon 2008 will be opening its gates this Friday, October 10.

As if the opportunity to play Wrath of the Lich King and StarCraft 2 wasn't enough, Blizzard is giving us not one, but two more reasons to go to the 2008 Worldwide Invitiational: Video Games Live and Level 70 Elite Tauren Chieftain. Details in the full article.

Soundtracks designed for video games have evolved a lot since the first synthesized beep was created years ago. Indeed, music in the interactive gaming industry has gone a long way. Now you can hear entire musical scores dedicated for a single game.

EMI Classics has pushed this concept further as they, Video Games Live and IMG Artist, are planning to release an album filled with some of the best known and most popular video game music of all time.

Entitled Video Games Live: Greatest Hits - Volume One includes medleys from various well-known games such as Zelda, Mario, Halo, Warcraft, Sonic, Tron, Myst, Civilization IV and Final Fantasy. The album was compiled by Tommy Tallarico and Jack Wall, reknowned video game composers and Video Games Live co-creators. Included as well are the Slovak National Orchestra and the Crouch End Chorus and the "Video Game Pianist," Martin Leung.

The album will be released on October 19, coinciding with this year's Video Games Live event on the same day at the Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles and on October 22 at London's Royal Festival Hall, performed by the Philharmonic Orchestra.

 

Although Sega, Sony Computer Entertainment America (SCEA), Capcom, and Microsoft are still a no-go, organizers IDG World Expo confirmed that dozens of game companies are confirmed to attend the E For All (EforAll) convention coming in October. The trade show that focuses more on the consumer is set for the Hollywood limelight starting October 18 at the Los Angeles Convention Center.

Carolyn Rauch, former ESA vice president now in IDG World Expo's camp, said:

We have over 50 exhibitors, including Nintendo, Namco, THQ, Konami, EA and other major companies to be announced shortly. This is a group of companies that sold about half of all the games purchased in the U.S. last year.

Packed with events and programs dedicated to the consumer, E For All is often mistaken as the replacement of the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3). But for IDG World Expo, it's simply an avenue for consumers to relive their part of the former E3.

Rauch maintained that official announcements of attending companies would be released in the near future. She added:

Gamers should be excited because this event is all about them -- from a terrific line up of the newest games from the industry's leading publishers, to the World Series of Video Games tournament and Video Games Live concert.

People who are lucky enough to live near the Royal Festival Hall in Southbank Centre, London should take heed: Video Games Live is coming up, and Philharmonia Orchestra will perform various memorable video game music ranging from Mario, Zelda, Final Fantasy, Space Invaders, Tetris and yes, even Halo 3. The event is scheduled on October 22, 7:30 p.m.

The variety of video games to be covered, from retro-classic gaming to next-gen, will ensure that everyone who watches the event will leave the venue satisfied. We ourselves will be way over our heads with glee after hearing an orchestra play our beloved Space Invaders tune.

Those who are interested better get their tickets as soon as possible. The ticket prices (depending on the seating) range from GB£ 32.50 (US$ 65.25) to GB£ 19.50 (US$ 39.15), with additional booking fees worth GB£ 1.50 or US$ 3 (no booking fee for Southbank Centre members).

Blizzard has sent 'round an official press release announcing the BlizzCon 2007 gaming festival. The two-day convention will kick off this Friday, August 3 at the Anaheim Convention Center.

"We received an overwhelming response to our first BlizzCon in 2005, and we’ve looked forward to being able to come back and spend another weekend with our players ever since," said Mike Morhaime, president and co-founder of Blizzard Entertainment.

"Our employees and our partners have worked hard to make this a memorable experience for the attendees, and we’re hoping everyone truly enjoys the show."

This year's event will feature two days of gaming, contests, developer Q&A panels, and tournaments, as well as the first-ever chance for the gaming public to play StarCraft II. The show will conclude with performances by comedian Jay Mohr, Video Games Live, and World of Warcraft-themed rock band Level 70 Elite Tauren Chieftain. Blizzard's global staffing team will also be on hand to accept materials and discuss any job-related questions.

 

What new content would you like to see in World of Warcraft? Personally, I'd like to get members of the QJ.NET WoW team and go toe to toe with Arthas in Northrend. Will this dream ever come true? The chances are pretty big that it might.

WoW Insider was able to get some information regarding what the Video Games Live orchestra will be playing. Apparently, there are three sheets of music titled Northrend 1, 2, and 3. These soundtracks do not seem to be in any of the previously released media from Blizzard. The signs have all been pointing towards Northrend, but Blizzard has still been keeping mum on the topic.

Does this mean we'll be getting this new land to explore? Perhaps. It doesn't hurt to get ready, just in case we'll be getting Northrend. So players, start your grinding! That is, unless you have no interest in checking out the new content when it comes out.

Video Games Live, the foremost game music-centric concert tour in the world, has announced that it will be creating and performing special concert presentations for attendees at the 2007 Blizzard Worldwide Invitational in Seoul, Korea and BlizzCon 2007 in Anaheim, California.

In keeping with the whole Blizzard theme, the performances will showcase a variety of tunes from Blizzard titles. Mike Morhaime, president and co-founder of Blizzard Entertainment, said that the company is "looking forward to sharing the experience with our players at these events."

"It's really great to see how connected Blizzard is to their players, and it's easy to realize why Blizzard's games have become so popular around the world," said game composer and Executive Producer Tommy Tallarico. "They really appreciate and understand their audience."

The student body of Yale University will be getting smothered with some Video Games Live loving on March 31, in cooperation with the Yale Symphony Orchestra. VGL's on-going tour (with sold out tickets at its wake) hits the academic campus by 8 p.m., but not without some pre-concert festivities. Special events served on the side of the VGL performance include a video game industry educational panel scheduled a day before the concert.

Entitled "Video Games - Past, Present, and Future," the panel is open to the public without any charge. And dropping by for the said talk would be the industry's iconic composers like Lorne Lanning (OddWorld Inhabitants), Tommy Tallarico (Metroid Prime), and Jack Wall (Myst III, Mass Effect). Now, for the show's date itself, from 6 - 8 p.m., they will be hosting cosplay contests, playable games, and gaming competitions (Guitar Hero II and Halo 2).

Ok. On with the concert proper: the show starts at 8 p.m. at Woolsey Hall. One of the biggest numbers for this show would be VGL's Castlevania arrangement. It's going to be played by Martin Leung on Woolsey Hall's 104 year old 3-story pipe organ. Could you imagine hearing Castlevania on that?!

Game Informer Magazine has three images of the Video Games Live (VGL) concert that closed the Game Developers Conference (GDC) 2007 at San Fransisco. VGL is a concert tour that features music from video games, and each concert is a treat: the music is combined with video presentations, light and laser effects, and other special effects.

Having a VGL concert at the GDC made perfect sense, and the GDC concert was a star-studded one (we earlier published a list of all the composers and artists at the GDC VGL).

VGL: a multimedia concert. Like any Video Games Live concert, the music was amazing. There was an orchestra and a 16-member choir conducted by game composer Jack Wall (Myst, Splinter Cell, Jade Empire). There was a screen that showed synchronized video footage. Audience members were brought up to play Space Invaders and Frogger on the big screen - the orchestra provided live music (complete with tempo changes!).

As usual, during the Metal Gear Solid portion of the program, an actor dressed as a guard walked onto the stage - and the infamous alert exclamation mark (!) appeared over his head - much to the amusement of the audience (the poor guard didn't notice a large box sneaking past him). (An earlier QJ.NET article on VGL concert dates has a video of a similar scene from another concert.)

Other musical highlights included "Baba Yetu" from Civilization IV, the explosive "Liberi Fatali" from Final Fantasy VIII, and the World of Warcraft suite - all three masterpieces got huge reactions from the audience.

A night of video game music artists. As reported earlier, there were also performances by LucasArts composers Peter McConnell, Michael Land, and Clint Bajakian. "VertexGuy" powered the stirring electric guitar anthems of Contra and the Halo 3 grand finale. The "Video Game Pianist" was also there to play Dig Dug and Pac-Man music on the piano.

Super Mario and Zelda composer Koji Kondo (who received a lifetime achievement award at the GDC earlier in the week) played a piano solo of music from Super Mario Bros. (the audience went wild, taking out their Nintendo DS units and mobile phones to wave them in the air as lights).

Let the world know: video games are a legitimate art form. Having the VGL grace the GDC with its presence is a statement to the industry and to industry-watchers and critics. "I think what tonight helps prove is how legitimate video games have become as an art form," said Tommy Tallarico, a game composer and the co-creator of VGL.