Music plays a major role in video games, defining a person’s gaming experience. And as we get older, our strings of nostalgia are tugged when we hear a familiar tune from a treasured old game. What gamer doesn’t smile upon hearing the Super Mario Bros. theme? If you listen to the Video Games Live: Level 2 CD or watch the video, you may find yourself smiling the whole time, or at least feel like firing up a game afterwards.

On February 5, 2010, PBS (Public Broadcast Service) along with Video Games Live will be recording a performance at the Lakefront Arena in New Orleans with the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra for an exclusive nationwide PBS special airing June 2010.

I had a chance talk to the CEO/Executive Producer and Host of Video Games Live, Tommy Tallarico, about this event…

Title: Video Games Live: Volume OnePrice: $16.98 ($0.99 per song download)Release Date: July 22, 2008Publisher: EMI Records Ltd. (Angel Records)Pros: An excellent collections of impressive performances. Often well-orchestrated collections and homages to game music with an honest air of respectability that even non-gamers can appreciate. The name implies there will be a Volume Two.Cons: A few segments are a bit slow and some of the instrumentation plainly mimics or masks the vocals.Overall Score: Two thumbs up; 91/100; A-; * * * * out of five.

No matter where you fall in the games as art spectrum there’s no denying that plenty of artistic efforts are put into many games’ production. Case in point is the Video Games Live tour which offers orchestral performances of video game music that would be difficult for any music snob to scoff at.

The CD (and digital download) release of Video Games Live: Volume One offers selected studio and live performances featuring the Slovak Symphony Orchestra, Crouch End Festival Chorus and various soloists as conducted by Jack Wall.

Click through for a track-by-track review…

One of Tommy Tallarico’s more successful projects, the Video Games Live concert series, is finally being pressed into a CD titled Video Games Live: Volume One. The name naturally supposes there will be at least a Volume Two, also likely to be produced under the EMI Classics label.

The tracks were recorded either live (as indicated on the track list on the full article) or at the Abbey Road Studios in London (England), where all of the songs were engineered. Performances are by the Slovak National Orchestra, The Crouch End Festival Chorus and The Video Game Pianist, Martin Leung, and were conducted by concert co-creator Jack Wall. The concert and subsequent CD will feature…

Running With Scissors recently announced that veteran music composer is its Tommy Tallarico its Person of the Year.

When Tallarico was nominated, it was no surprise that this multi-talented guru of games and music would receive such an honor.

“This is an acknowledgment on our part,” Vince Desi, CEO of Running With Scissors said in an interview with GameDaily, “of someone who has been both a dynamic force within the video game industry and a…

If your as passionate about video games as I am, you won’t want to miss Video Games Live concert when it comes to your town. Long have I waited to for the Video Games Live experience to play in a city near me on the east coast and this year I may yet get the chance.

Video Games Live has expanded its concert tour to include countries such as Taiwan, Brazil, Germany, France, England, Scotland, Mexico and China to name a few according to the most recent tour dates listed. According to VGL history, the show has been selling out performances since….