Renowned wizard Tommy Tallarico and Jack Wall are on their way to San Diego this week for Comic Con, and they’re bringing lots of their friends. The special guests for the show were just announced, including Russell Brower, Gerard Marino, Jason Hayes, and Alexander Brandon to name a few. You likely won’t see a list like this outside of Los Angeles.
To top it all off, the VGL crew will be putting the highly anticipated VGL CD up for sale here for the first time. This is definitely the show to see, as the water-front San Diego Embarcadero is really a beautiful venue. Your favorite tunes, awesome guests, and a huge convention all in the lovely city of San Diego (okay, so I’m based). Tickets are still available so go grab them before they’re gone!
Hit the jump for the official press release.
VIDEO GAMES LIVE TO PERFORM WITH THE SAN DIEGO SYMPHONY DURING OPENING NIGHT OF COMIC-CON
EVENT TO TAKE PLACE ON THE WATERFRONT AT THE CONVENTION CENTER THIS THURSDAY – PERFORMANCE TO INCLUDE SYNCHRONIZED FIREWORKS
SPECIAL GUESTS, PRIZES, NATIONAL CONTEST AND ACTIVITIES ANNOUNCED
LOS ANGELES, CA – JULY 22, 2008 — The world’s leading game concert series has once again pulled out all the stops in its groundbreaking effort to show the world how artistic and culturally significant video games have become. On Thursday, July 24th, 2008 during the opening night of Comic-Con International in San Diego, Video Games Live will be performing its award winning show with the San Diego Symphony at the Embarcadero Marina Park South.
TICKETS STILL AVAILABLE: http://www.sandiegosymphony.com/summerpops/event.php?id=7
Proudly presented globally by leading peripheral manufacturer Razer, Video Games Live is best described as utilizing the power and emotion of a symphony and choir mixed with the energy and excitement of a rock concert combined with the cutting edge visuals, technology, interactivity and fun that video games provide.
Pre-show festival to include costume contest, game competitions, gaming and product demos, raffles and top distributor and exclusive Manga partner TokyoPop which will be on hand giving away free manga & Princess Ai soundtracks as well as providing prizes during the show including a beautiful signed/framed Warcraft poster.
The Video Games Live/Sony Pictures – Starship Troopers 3: Marauder DVD “Fly Under the Radar” TEXT-TO-WIN Sweepstakes will also be launching at the event where people will have the opportunity via cell phones to enter a chance at receiving a costume article worn in the movie as well as a VIP trip to Seattle to play a video game on stage during Video Games Live while the orchestra plays along. (Official Rules: http://starship.ign.com/rules.html)
Opportunity to enter online here: http://starship.ign.com
This will be the first time the San Diego Symphony will be performing music from popular game franchises such as Mario, Zelda, Halo, Kingdom Hearts, Metal Gear Solid, Sonic, Warcraft, Castlevania, Tron and many more! World renowned piano soloist and internet sensation Martin Leung (aka “The Video Game Pianist”) will be performing select songs including a 10 song Final Fantasy arrangement for solo piano. World famous television, movie and video game voice actor Dee Baker (Halo, Metal Gear Solid, Kingdom Hears, Gears of War, Viewtiful Joe, EverQuest II, Spider-Man etc.) will also be on hand performing a new interactive segment in which he reprises his role as the Beserker from Gears of War and delivers a real time sound recreation as the game is being played on screen.
The official worldwide album release of “Video Games Live – Volume One” will also be launched during the event and available for purchase on-site.
Venue: The Embarcadero Marina Park is located in beautiful San Diego on the amazing waterfront walk. On the bay-side of the Convention Center, this outdoor, open air venue with its sweeping lawn is a popular site for outdoor concerts. It has been home to to the Symphony Summer Pops, a variety of pop-rock concerts and the San Diego Blues Festival — as well as San Diego a la Carte, a festival of restaurants.
To celebrate this landmark event, a synchronized fireworks display will be added for this show.
Post-show meet & greet to include the following game composers, directors, actors & performers.
COMPOSERS
Tommy Tallarico
(Earthworm Jim, Tony Hawk Pro Skater, Metroid Prime, Advent Rising, Aladdin, Cool Spot, Spider-Man, Time Crisis, MDK, Unreal 2 & Tournament, Blood Rayne, The Terminator, NFL Blitz, Prince of Persia, Pac-Man World, Knockout Kings, Madden Football, Twisted Metal)
Jack Wall
(Myst III, Myst IV, Mass Effect, Splinter Cell, Jade Empire)
Alexander Brandon
(Unreal, Unreal Tournament, Neverwinter Nights 2: Mask of the Betrayer, Deus Ex, Gauntlet: Seven Sorrows)
Russell Brower
(Blizzard Audio Director – World of Warcraft, Starcraft II, Diablo III)
Jason Hayes
(World Of Warcraft, Warcraft 3, Starcraft, Diablo II)
Gerard Marino
(God Of War I, II & III, The Agency, The Lost Tribe, 187: Ride Or Die, The Punisher)
Aaron Marks
(The Settlers II, Stack Attack, I, of the Enemy, ESPN MSL Extra Time, Feet of Fury. Author – “The Complete Guide to Game Audio”)
DIRECTORS
Ru Weerasuriya
(Creative/Art Director- Ready At Dawn Studios, God Of War: Chains Of Olympus, Daxter, Starcraft: Ghost, World Of Warcraft, Warcraft III: Reign Of Chaos/The Frozen Throne, Starcraft: Brood War)
Andrea Pessino
(Technical Director- Ready At Dawn Studios, God Of War: Chains Of Olympus, Daxter, World Of Warcraft, Warcraft III: Reign Of Chaos/The Frozen Throne, Diablo II)
PERFORMERS
Martin Leung
(The Video Game Pianist)
Dee Baker
(Halo 2 & 3, Final Fantasy X-2, Metal Gear Solid 2, Kingdom Hearts, Spider-Man, Marvel: Ultimate Alliance, The Darkness, Spore, Teen Titans (TV), Viewtiful Joe, EverQuest II, Doom 3, Tales of Symphonia, Arc the Lad, Avatar (TV))
