Village Gamer

Video Games Live: Volume I

After seeing Video Games Live on the stage in Milwaukee, I had to get this album when it was released.

The actual touring show has many of the game’s soundtracks that they play the music from for sale, but this is the first Video Games Live soundtrack that has been released of the actual orchestra and choir performing.

I got it in the mail today and I instantly popped it into my computer to start listening and I was stunned. It’s almost being right there seeing the show — maybe I think this because I’ve already seen it. Hmm… — Well, have a read of the CD’s description and go out and buy it! I have included a sample of Civilization IV at the end of this post. This song made me tear up it was so beautiful live and is by far my favorite video game song that I have ever heard.

Amazon.com says:

“2008 release, the soundtrack to the true gamer’s life! Conductor Jack Wall leads the Slovak National Symphony Orchestra and Crouch End Festival Chorus through many of the most popular video game themes and creates a glorious aural paradise for the gamer in all of us. If you are hooked on the music from video games like Sonic The Hedgehog, Myst, Final Fantasy, Warcraft, Super Mario Brothers and others, then imagine those themes as performed by an orchestra. Yes, it is like heaven without the joystick! EMI.”

Press Release – Paul Thelen, founder and chief strategy officer of Big Fish Games™, the world’s largest casual games distributor, today revealed new research that challenges the conventional thinking about audience profiles in the video game industry. The results of a recent study show gamers can no longer be classified into the traditional archetypes of core and casual fans due to the rapid diversification of the demographics, game styles, business models and platforms in the U.S. games market.

In partnership with NPD Group, Big Fish Games surveyed nearly 3,000 U.S. individuals who play games, and matched the results across demographics, game mechanics, and psychographics. The study identified 14 distinct segments of gamers within 39 genres of games. The casual market was segmented into 10 distinct groups, while four segments were identified within the traditional core market. However, the segmentation calls into question the relevancy of the terms casual and core, due to a great deal of overlap and similarity between various casual and core segments once thought to be disparate.
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