Ignophobia – Nathan Mallory's Weblog

Through some creative arranging on my vacation, I was fortunate enough to be able to attend the premiere performance of Play! A Video Game Symphony in Chicago. Here’s a rundown of how it went…

First Half
Play! A Video Game Symphony – The show began with, of course, the Play! fanfare, composed by Uematsu just for this concert series. It seemed to have some volume problems at first, but overall was much better than the rendition on their web site.
Liberi Fatali – After that was Liberi Fatali — good performance, better than the Dear Friends concert recording I heard, but still same song.
Super Mario Bros. Suite – Next up was the first major surprise of the evening, when Koji Kondo was introduced onto the stage to play a Mario piano solo. It was cute, if not of the impressive caliber of the rest of the show. Also it was from the New SMB for DS, on which Kondo supposedly did not do any of the composing. So what to make of him bouncing on stage (think Miyamoto’s silliness plus Hideo Kojima’s demeanor) with a piano ditty, I don’t know. Afterwards, the orchestra continued with a very nice SMB arrangement I had not heard anywhere previously, including the main theme, dungeon theme, the main theme from Super Mario World as well as an level theme from Super Mario 64. Has this been performed anywhere else? It certainly wasn’t the OGC4 version I was kind of fearing it might be.
Shenmue & Shenmue 2 – Next was Sedge Tree from Shenmue, probably be my least favorite of the night. Like several of the songs, this felt a bit rushed, which hurt a slow song like this more than others. The chinese Erhu that features so importantly was substituted with an oboe that just couldn’t fire the emotion quite as well.
Battlefield 1942 & Battlefield 2 – This would have been “just another song” but for the appearance of solo percussionist Ronnie Barak. He came on stage with funky black robes and an arabic-adorned hand drum and lit up the night. I can’t say how much his solo comes from the Battlefield music, but it was amazing. It was followed by an upbeat and well-performed (if unfamiliar to me) medley of songs, also accompanied by Barak.
Aerith’s Theme - sounded fine, you’ve probably heard it a million times and it was no worse this time.
Sonic the Hedgehog - I’ll have to defer to someone better acquainted with Sonic, but Arnie Roth stated it was a new arrangement by Yuzo Koshiro (despite being unable to say his name properly). The audience laughed several times as new songs came in, and I thought it was one of the more swinging numbers.
Metal Gear Solid - I’m not sure if this was the same rendition played at VGL, but it was very good, if a little fast. I’m not used to a choral presence in the MGS theme, but it was put to good use. If it had any negatives, it would be a bit of overuse of that base MGS melody.
Kingdom Hearts & Kingdom Hearts 2 - The final song before intermission was a “suite” from Kingdom Hearts, and by “suite” I mean the orchestral lead in to Hikari from KH1 plus the orchestral version of Passion / Sanctuary from KH2. I thought it was the best overall performance in the first half, if a no-frill performance of material many already have on CD.

Second Half
Angela Aki - Not listed in the program, the show returned from intermission with Angela Aki performing both Kiss Me Goodbye (in English) from FFXII and “her version” of Eyes On Me from FFVIII. Now, I don’t know where some people get off criticizing her after FF has seen Faye Wong and RIKKI, and I hear at the signing a couple days prior she was subpar, but tonight she was excellent. Opinions of KMG itself aside, she knocked it out, and she brought coherent English and real passion to EOM. Not to mention an excellent pianist and smokin’ hot!
Morrowind & Oblivion - This was a downer for some, but I’ve always been a fan of Jeremy Soule and a recent Elder Scrolls fan. This set of two pieces included multiple songs from each game and ranged from light and airy to the booming main themes.
Swing de Chocobo- Despite conductor Arnie Roth’s taking credit for the arrangement, it seemed to be identical to the More Friends concert version. It’s catchy and really gave the Chicagoland Pops Orchestra a chance to show off, but it IS just another chocobo theme.
Chrono Trigger & Chrono Cross - Here is what many, including myself, were waiting for, and for anyone curious it did not disappoint an ounce. Ronnie Barak returned to the stage, though he sat silent most of the time, as the orchestra began with Reminiscence – Feelings Not Erased. That segued rather abruptly into Time’s Scar, which they played in its entirety (with Barak tearing things up after the tempo picks up). That led into the main CT theme, Frog’s Theme, and ended on To Far Away Times. Some of the latter arrangements were very similar to the synth versions on the PSX OST, but it was easily the most emotional piece for any fan of the music, bringing melodramatic sap tears to several of our eyes. Mitsuda should so make an album out of this stuff.
World of Warcraft - Pretty close to the original versions from the game, beginning with Stormwind’s theme, then several outdoor themes, and ending with the Main Titles: Legends of Azeroth. A couple people expressed consternation at the overuse of Warcraft 3 footage on the screens throughout, but the music was spot on.
Silent Hill 2 - Akira Yameoka took the stage like a rock star with his electric guitar and snakeskin jacket for Theme of Laura. He got the crowd going with his antics, and the song was as good as a live orchestra + electric guitar combo can be. He did have a backup guitarist out of sight whose part was extremely close to his, occasionally making it look like he was pulling a Milli Vanilli on us (although when he was playing it was definitely him).
Halo - Main Theme plus a couple. Well done, and we’ve all heard the Halo theme before, but like many songs here that have already been orchestrated, the differences between tonight’s performance and the note perfect recordings stand out.
Blue Dragon - The final big surprise of the evening was a suite from Blue Dragon which, obviously, none of us had heard before. It was solid Uematsu, in a positive sense, and only lacked the emotional connection with the audience that comes from having played the game (which incidentally looked a little questionable). That said, it did not stand out as spectacular either.
Zelda Suite - Much (and vocally) anticipated, it began with the title song to Ocarina of Time, with a very nice piccolo solo. This segued into the main Zelda overworld theme, which was interrupted briefly with the town theme (I believe… will have to double check) from Link to the Past. I thought this, like the MGS theme, played things pretty safe, meaning it was imminently hummable, but nothing we haven’t heard before. Hearing the overworld theme explode from an orchestra is always stirring for a fan of game music, of course.
One-Winged Angel - Reunion Tracks version, it was good.

Final Thoughts…
The lack of a prepared encore was easily the most disappointing part of the night, and the fact that Arnie Roth returned to the stage just to play One-Winged Angel AGAIN just drove it home. It was great to hang out, drink shots, and be supreme game music nerds with people from the forum, without which it would have been a less memorable evening.
If I had come just to hear Uematsu’s music, I would have come away disappointed, only because there was so little I had not heard before. But to me, this was more a night to honor every other game composer present, and where it counted (CT, KH, SMB/Zelda), Play! absolutely delivered.
Nothing to do with the performance itself, but I’d also like to air my frustration with some of the audience at the show. It costs the same, looks the same, and in some ways sounds the same as any formal evening at the symphony, and should be attended in the same kind of dress. I can forgive people without jackets and slacks and even well-done cosplayers, but ripped t-shirts and jeans just look disrespectful. That, combined with the constant stream of cat calls whenever the conductor began to speak made us, as game music fans, look like the unsophisticated juveniles we long not to be in attending these concerts. I hate to say it, but things like that make me think maybe Video Games Live may be the more proper setting for some of these people — a night to see videogames on stage, rather than to honor the composers of their music.

Well, it’s cool and all. I’m just not jumping up and down excited.

3 different versions of FFXIII? The absurdity that they’re already announcing FFXIII before FFXII is out here? I think I just get a little tired of the way they rabidly guard their IP. At E3, all of their trailers are always behind closed doors, and you never see them online until they’re out-of-date. And the arrogance they have in treating the North American market like it’s of zero consequence to them. They seem not to care whether I get excited about their products (because I guess they presume we’ll buy them anyway), so consequently I’m a little less than excited.

I can ignore it if i’m AT E3 and can go behind closed doors, but from here, it just leaves me wondering, why care? I’d love to see those games, and if I could, even by handicam video, I might get excited. But whether it’s Square being protective or the press sites just trying to stir buzz by excising the trailers from the Square-Enix Press Conference videos, I can’t see it, so I don’t care.

IGN / Gamespy / Fileplanet are all on my shit list.

I received a subscription to Fileplanet’s download service as a gift not long ago, and I had foolishly hoped that this would give me an entry to the high resolution, up-to-the-minute E3 Expo coverage that is purportedly the reason for the whole show. Not so! Wisely realizing that these sites’ coverage of the world’s largest game expo is probably something gamers might be willing to pay for (though I much prefer shelling out cash in order to attend), in order to enjoy their content you’ll be paying another $19.95 to join their “Founders Club” and get even more exclusive access. I’m sorry, but telling your already paying customers that they need to pay even more to benefit from the basic download functions of your service is like HBO charging you more whenever the Sopranos airs.

Fortunately, other clever folks have seen an opportunity of a different sort here, and will be providing all their (superior, if you ask me) coverage at a slightly discounted price point ($0).

So we have a new videogame industry ratings scandal du jour. The Entertainment Software Ratings Board (ESRB) has officially changed its content rating of Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion for Xbox 360 and PC from Teen to Mature. At issue was that “partial nudity in the PC version of the game can be created by modders.” This would be the equivalent of the MPAA changing Star Wars from a PG-13 to an R rating two weeks after its DVD release.

It is also highly reminiscent of the high profile “Hot Coffee” scandal that got GTA: San Andreas moved from M to AO (Adults Only). Both cases dealt with content intentionally created by the developers and shipped with every copy of the game, but inaccessible to the player absent some 3rd party hackery. Setting aside the issue of whether you believe such inaccessible content should even be considered by the ESRB in its rating (I do), the Oblivion case is overreaching and sets a dangerous precedent. With Hot Coffee, the offending mini-game was intended to shock, obviously went beyond the scope of the M rating, and was most likely removed from the game for that exact reason. But as I understand it, in Oblivion, the nude texture was included because Oblivion’s clothing and armor textures/meshes would not always look correct with a bra texture going straight through it. The bra mesh would also cause clipping and it would be rather clunky to re-texture it with each piece of armor.

Hot Coffee was included because the developer negligent, cunning, or otherwise forgetful. Hot Mead (as it is being called) was a developer’s tool and had to be transformed into its offending use, whereas the former merely had to be unlocked. Under the rating standard set by the GTA re-rating, developers have to ensure none of the content they include in the game exceeds the rating the game receives. After Oblivion, they have to be sure all content and any transformation thereof is considered.

To what extent must a content maker second guess its product to avoid a public flogging by the ESRB? The once radical step of re-rating a game after its release should be used to correct developer negligence or recklessness, not to force them to waste time and money making their game less open to modding.