VideoGames Live!

Music in video games is not merely present to accompany the on-screen action. It is there to open up a range of emotions and evoke feelings in the player. From the funky to the dark, and from the gentle to the grandiose, video game music has come a long way since the simple plinky plonky effects of the 1970's.

In today's gaming market, music can be a key aspect of a title's gameplay; rhythm-action games and the recent wave of band simulators flooding the consoles attest to this. It's an industry where composers can become household names; Mistwalker's Nobou Uemetsa, who regularly performs his work from role-playing games such as Final Fantasy and Lost Odyssey.

26 June sees the annual Video Games Live event come to the Glasgow Concert Halls. It's an orchestral celebration of video game music past and present, including such perennial favourites as Mario Bros., Sonic, Final Fantasy and Halo. This year, the Royal Scottish National Orchestra (RSNO), along with the RSNO chorus, have the honour of performing the show, which includes synchronised lighting and interactive segments played out against a giant tv screen.

Daniel Pollitt, spokesperson for the RSNO, reckons: "Orchestral music can play a huge role in creating the drama and excitement in a video game. What Video Games Live does is put the music centre stage - by performing music from some of the greatest games of the past 30 years in a concert arena. As a fan of video games I'm looking forward to it immensely. There's even a chance for some lucky individuals to play games on the huge screen while the orchestra perform in sync. Even though gaming technology has made impressive progress in recent years, I don't believe you could beat that for an interactive experience!"

Attendees are encouraged to come to the show dressed as their favourite game characters. Past shows have seen cameos from the likes of Donkey Kong and Lara Croft, and the RSNO predict some pretty mad appearances this year!

To top it all off, the show is presented and conducted by the legendary Tommy Tallarico and Jack Wall, who have composed some of the greatest modern gaming soundtrack, including those for Prince of Persia and Splinter Cell. Says Tallarico: "It's a great honour for us to be performing the very first video game concert ever in Scotland and to be playing with such a prestigious and talented orchestra, in one of the finest concert halls in Europe, which will make it even better."

It is a rare thing to see such an event reach Scotland and promises to be a night to remember. Perhaps it is most interesting to note that as the technical power of gaming increases, composers using centuries-old methods of music creation can see their work find a home in next-gen titles. A perfect hybrid of old and new, the integration of orchestral scores with high-tech gaming can open up a whole new level of creation for developers, and inject the kind of emotion into games which was previously found only in movies.

Simon Woods, Chief Executive of the RSNO, agrees: "Video Games Live is a breathtaking event both sonically and visually, and the power of the RSNO will really bring it to life. We are very pleased to bring this major production to Scotland for the first time. Symphonic music is pushing at its traditional boundaries and Video Games Live is a fascinating step on the journey, as well as being a phenomenally entertaining evening."

Most importantly, music in games can be as defining as the characters they accompany. It would be hard to find a person who played games in the 80's who couldn't recognise the music from the opening level of the original Mario Bros. We can identify these timeless scores because of the impact they have made on the industry, and as the audio quality of games keeps on improving year on year, long may it continue!