Gamers who are looking to attend the upcoming Games Convention 2008 can expect a treat as the Video Games Live Symphony Orchestra will be performing a concert to kick off the start of the event. Featured during the concert is American star pianist Martin Leung, along with conductor Jack Wall. For more details on this night of sight and sound, check out the full article.

The Game Developers Conference is gearing up not only for conferences and lectures but parties as well. We know that these game developers play hard and party even harder. General events are lined up for the whole week. Find out more on the events after the jump!

Video Games Live, the premier video game concert event, is performing at this year's Video Game Awards from Spike TV. The event, which will mark the group's television debut, will be aired on December 9 at 9:00 p.m. The group will perform some hits from their world touring event and other new material. They will also be releasing their Greatest Hits album in the future.

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).

 

The London Games Festival, a significant success last year, will be returning for a repeat performance with the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) as its primary focus this year. The event will begin October 22, 2007, reports Games Industry, and will continue for four more days to October 26, with an invite to all gamers from MMOs and PCs to consoles and handhelds.

Aside from several game-related forums which tackle legal issues and corporate opportunities, a Video Games Live concert will also be held at the Royal Albert Hall, while the Entertainment & Leisure Software Publishers Association (ELSPA) plans to discuss the perception of gaming. The Science Museum will also host a study of immersion in video games, and the London Game Career Fair will be offering aspiring game developers a chance to enter the UK game development scene.

It appears that the Europe will be celebrating more than just an Oktoberfest come late fall (or early winter) as the GameCity Interactive Entertainment Festival, or simply the GameCity Festival, will also be partially coinciding with the London Games Festival, on October 24-28, 2007, in Nottingham, England. More details on these two events, including participating companies and studios, as they come in.

 

It seems that the folks responsible for the E for All Expo have sent the folks of Siliconera a code that will allow those who use it to get tickets early and at a discount. The code for the supposedly cheaper advance tickets is: nbl56742. Below are the prices and details:

Advance ticket prices:

• Thursday/Friday = US$ 45  
  
• Saturday/Sunday = US$ 65
  
• 4-day Pass = US$ 90

Special benefits for advance registration:

• SEVEN BONUS HOURS of gameplay, including FOUR on the first day
• Exclusive E for All merchandise, only available through advance purchases
• Special E for All commemorative badge
• Special contests, "privileges" and partner offers
• Access to premium seating at Video Games Live Concert
• Opportunity to invite TWO additional friends

One must note that it is still a mystery as to what the "privileges" are, but we are hopeful that it's worth the advance registration. Doubtless, we'll find out if the E for All expo brings joy to gamers or not this coming October.

In related news, Nintendo has announced that they are going to back the event. This means that there might be a chance that Super Mario Galaxy or some other awaited Nintendo title might be showcased in the event a few months early. We're praying to the gaming gods that it's Metroid. We'd love it if the said "privileges" involved that.

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?!

 

A statement from IDG via its GamePro website, reveals several other plans IDG Entertainment has in store for their E for All expo.

Most notable is the fact that when they deem that the time is ripe, E for All will take over Hollywood. We're not kidding. Apparently, they'll rent the Hollywood sign and replace the "Y" with the "E" of the E for All "E" logo. They'll also be filling subways with posters, shrink wrapping buses, and lighting up adjacent downtown buildings.

Moreover, aside from the events/details already mentioned by QJ Blogger Chris L, there will also be Gaming Tournaments, a concert at the Nokia Theater courtesy of folks from Video Games Live, and a separate area in Kentia Hall reserved for companies that plan to sell products during the expo.

General Admission tickets for the event will go on sale on June 1st and advanced pre-sale tickets should be available one month before that. Advance pre-sale ticket holders will be allowed access to event grounds at the Los Angeles Convention Center one hour before general Admission.

Oh, and if you're parent's are a bit cautious about bringing the rest of the family to the event - to spare your little sibling's eyes from all the ehbil violence - They note that there will be ESRB ratings at each station so parents will know what array of games will be seen at a particular area. That said, don't go looking for skimpy booth babes at the "decent for kiddies" area.

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.

  

We've previously introduced to you guys the London Games Festival, we've told you what it's designed for, what it's about, the goals of the thing, and so on, but now that the event is getting closer, we think that we better start giving you guys some more details regarding the London event. Here's just some of the public events that attendees can look forward to as the First London Games Festival opens its doors to guests by October 2.

October 5 to 7, HMV Games Showcase, 12:00-6:00pm
HMV - Oxford Circus 150 Oxford Street, London Z1D 1DJ
The London Games Festival 2006 kicks off here. This stage of the event will bring together well-known figures from the world of video games throughout the week and the event will feature celebrities (gaming and real world celebrities) competing against each other in a series of high profile tournaments, with the winners crowned the kings of the gaming world.

October 2 to October 7, at HMV main stage, Oxford Street, 7:00-9:30pm
October 3, Lizard's Lair, Visit London 2 More London, Riverside, London SE1 2RR
This event is free but it requires you to pre-register. The Lizard's Lair is open to anyone who has a great idea for a video game and wants the chance to pitch it to the top people in the industry. So if you want to sell your idea to people from Eidos or other such developers, this is the place to be.

October 5, The BAFTA Video Games Awards, 6:30pm-1:00am
The Roundhouse Chalk Farm Road, London, NW1 8EH
The special thing about this event is that this is the first time that the winners of the Video Game Categories will get to sit side by side with the winners of more socially-recognized events. A definite elevation of status in the field of electronic entertainment don't you think?

October 6 to October 8, World Series of Video Games, 10:00am-10:00pm
London Trocadero 7 - 14 Coventry Street, London, W1D 7DH
Free if you've registered, otherwise a fee of £1 will be charged at the door. The event basically features professional gaming tournaments in Counter-Strike 1.6, Quake 4 and Warcraft III: Frozen Throne. Attendees of the event can compete in these tournaments or watch the world's best gamers as they battle for over £40,000 in cash and prizes.

November 25, Video Games Live, 6:00pm-12:00am
Hammersmith Apollo Queen Caroline Street, W6 9QH
The event is all about Video Games Live coming to London to provide stunning orchestral and choir renditions of some of the most memorable and popular tunes in gaming, which highlights how games have embedded itself in our art and culture. Many of the classic tunes from gaming’s past and present are featured, including themes from Sonic, Mario, Zelda, Halo, Metal Gear Solid, Final Fantasy and God of War. With over 50 different games included, it promises to be a musical night you will never forget.