Video Games Live

Broward Center for the Performing Arts

March 26, 2011
Ft. Lauderdale, FL

Review and Photos by Juan Hernandez

Every year there are a few reoccurring tours and events that South Florida gets stuck with, Warped Tour, he Miami-Dade County Fair, Art Basel, and the most expensive and drug riddled of them all, Ultra.

Ultra's expensive because of all those fancy-ass lights. You should consider yourself lucky if your brain and retinas aren't fried from the three day techno fest that consists of having lasers shot at you. You better be friendly, have a high tolerance for party drugs, and enjoy being surrounded by a bunch of random smelly people on the beach.

Video by Juan Hernandez

This year, thankfully there was an alternative; it wasn't three days long, or as "fun" as some might say, but hell, it was something different—an event which throws an orchestra and video games into one grand show. It's the only other place where you'll find nerds in a herd, other than a Game Stop. I'm referring to Video Games Live, or as I code named it, Nerdtra.

Video Games Live is essentially a musical tribute to video games. Clips are shown from each influential game on three big-ass screens as songs from the game are played by a live orchestra. A few game franchises included are Sonic the Hedgehog, Halo, and Street Fighter, just to name a few. In between some of the “sessions” were parody clips along with interesting audience interactions.

The show started off very retro with a pong ball going back..... and..... forth..... back.... and..... forth.... back..... and...... forth, it got so repetitive that when the image began a transition, it took a second to realize (just like in the real game).

       The show started off very retro with a pong ball going back..... and..... forth..... back.... and..... forth.... back..... and...... forth, it got so repetitive that when the image began a transition, it took a second to realize (just like in the real game). After that kickoff we visited some of the classics including Tetris, Contra, and the old school Donkey Kong. After a brief tour of retro gaming history we arrived at the first franchise, one of the best and my personal favorite, the Metal Gear series.

       Next up was the first parody clip of the show involving classic Donky Kong being attacked by Scorpion from Mortal Kombat, which somehow ended with Princess Peach's decapitation. A funny, if not gruesome, skit for all the Princess Peach fans out there. Before another break we got to see a blindfolded pianist play the Super Mario theme.

       One of the audience interactions involved a 1v1 Frogger game that saw the first player win with only a second left while the second player broke under the epic pressure.

After an hour or so of plays and skits covering Sonic, Might and Magic, and a few others, we hit the intermission. The second half kicked off with Zelda (another one of my personal favorites) showing the evolution of the series from 8 Bit graphics to the Wii. The music for this set was especially on point and the visual presentation made quite a few people pause in awe.

One of the last participation breaks gave the lucky audience member, who won an earlier event, a chance to play a song on Guitar Hero for a prize. Not only did this guy nail Aerosmith's "Sweet Emotion" on expert while a crowd cheered him on, but it was also his birthday.

It's unique and entertaining to see how video game music has evolved maturely and proves that like movie soundtracks, it is not purely background noise. Video Games Live is an event that I hope will find its way onto our sometimes monotonous event circuit.

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