Distant Worlds: Music From Final Fantasy

The long awaited Final Fantasy concert was last night. This was the second video game concert I have been to, having gone to Video Games Live back in 2010.

Final Fantasy has always been a hallmark in video game music. You could literally take just one of the games in the FF franchise and put on an entire show. Being able to listen to an orchestra's cherry picked pieces from most of the titles in the series was a godsend.

I cut my teeth on Final Fantasy VII back in the day, so I was ecstatic that the show opened with a video of the FF7 intro. We got to watch the beginning of a game that basically changed my life while a live orchestra played the music in the background. Now I know how ultra rich people play FF games...

Another highlight of the show was the North American premiere of Final Fantasy VIII's "Eyes On Me," the first song in video game history to win an award at the Japan Gold Disc Awards.

Honestly, though, I was there to hear Aerith's Theme from FF7. I've always loved that song; even going so far as to incorporate it into a music mix for a dance class that my friend was teaching. Aerith's Theme has no words in it, yet it tells a story in a way words can't.  For the four minutes that song played, nothing else in the world mattered. It's one of the most beautiful pieces of music I've ever heard, and made the show worth the price of admission by itself.

Earlier entries in the FF series were highlighted as well, including a very humorous Chocobo Medley. I still have nightmares about the first time I ever went about breeding a gold one in FF7. Final Fantasy XI, a game I've literally spent hundreds of hours on, was also featured. I played FFXI so much back in the day that I even made rap songs about it. Seriously.

The show ended on One Winged Angel, also from FF7. You can't really have an FF concert without it. It was great hearing this again, as Video Games Live also did their version of it two years ago. While the Distant Worlds rendition of One Winged Angel was great, it didn't surpass the tremendous Video Games Live performance. VGL included guitars and a full chorus in theirs, making it just a tad better.

All in all, Distant Worlds was a great show. I really hope they make it back to Pittsburgh sometime in the future, as Video Games Live hasn't been back since 2010, and I'll have to travel to Virginia to see the Zelda concert.

Gone are the days of bleeps and boops dominating the video game music scene. VG music deserves the same respect as film scores do. Here's hoping more shows like Distant Worlds reaches the ears of the uninformed who laugh at the prospect of seeing a "video game concert."

Lokerz is Awesome.

I've been looking forward to the Playstation Vita for months. It's the first piece of gaming hardware that I'm buying on Day One (not counting the First Edition Bundle) since the Nintendo Wii. My ADHD nature seems to favor handhelds over consoles, so I think that's the direction I'm going to move in for the remainder of this gaming generation.

Like a lot of folks, I was about to get the WIFI-only version when Sony announced the perks that consumers will get with the 3G flavor at launch. Until today, I had this $300 bundle reserved on Amazon.com, with the $1 Release Date Delivery ready to go.

However, something miraculous happened today. I found out about Lockerz.com's store. I've been a member of Lockerz for a while now, mainly because a lot of people use it to post pictures on Twitter. For some reason, though, I never ventured into the other sections of the site. Today, I found out that Lockerz has a reward system called "PTZ." Basically, you answer poll questions, watch videos, upload photos, etc, to earn PTZ, which allows you to buy some products like video games, electronics, and shoes at discounted prices.

You might notice that I said video games. And I did. While it won't replace GameStop, Lockerz has a select amount of games that would pique any gamer's interest- including video game hardware. And yes, one of those hardware pieces is the 3G Playstation Vita. Right now, if you use enough PTZ to max out the discount, you can buy a Vita for the low price of $251. Yes, they charge tax...but NOT shipping. By watching some videos today, I was able to purchase a Vita 3G system WITH Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3..for a grand total of $299.58. So basically, by using this site, I got UMVC3 for FREE.

Before you ask, Lockerz is a completely legitimate site. It's been verified. And it says that the Vita will ship via USPS First Class. If you're into video games, or anything else that the Lockerz store has available, you should really be heading over there now.

I'll probably post about my Vita impressions when it comes in the mail. Also, if you have a 3DS, get Resident Evil Revelations, a Circle Pad Pro, and some headphones. You'll have a blast.

Handhelds are my gaming future, I think. Which is funny, because many speculate we are seeing the end of gaming-only mobile devices..but that's a post for another day..

The Force...in 3D


I love Star Wars. No other film franchise captures what Star Wars does. It mixes action, adventure, mystery, romance, drama, and even politics into a blender, throws in the best musical scores of all time, and has lightsabers. What more could you want?


Way back in 2005, right before Episode III: Revenge of the Sith came out, Lucasfilm was already talking about converting the Star Wars movies into 3D. Finally, seven years later, we have the first release in 3D, with the chronological Episode I: The Phantom Menace (Ep1) coming first.

I still remember seeing Ep1 for the first time back in 1999. I was only 14 then, and kept begging my mom to take me to see it. We finally saw it almost a full two months after it originally was released. Now, I had gotten into the Star Wars series back in 1997, with the release of the Special Editions. However, I didn't get to see those films in theaters, settling with just seeing them on VHS tapes. For that reason, Ep1 will forever be the first Star Wars movie I ever saw on the big screen.

Basically, it changed my life. I was a big Star Wars fan before the film, but afterwards I turned into a fanatic. I played the living hell out of Star Wars: Episode I Racer for the N64. I constantly used the Naboo Starfighter that was hidden in Rogue Squadron (N64) until well after its release. I eagerly anticipated the next two films, all culminating in me seeing Ep3 eight times.

I'm not one of those guys that has to see every movie on the big screen. In fact, there are plenty of films that I would rather watch in the comfort of my home. However, as cool as the Star Wars Blu-ray boxset was last Fall, there's nothing like seeing the galaxy far, far, away in theaters.

Last Friday at the Pittsburgh Mills Cinemark, I was 14 again. The drumroll from the 21st Century Fox fanfare rang in my head. The Lucasfilm logo panned across the screen. Finally, the Star Wars text popped out at me in 3D, followed by the opening crawl that I had long since memorized (but still read like it was the first time).

Thirteen years later. It's hard to believe. While the high points of Ep1 will always be the podrace and the final lightsaber clash (still the best one, on a technical level), the subtleties are what I appreciate about the film nowadays. I always liked how Anakin and Obi-Wan's first meeting was as casual as meeting a friend of a friend at a baseball game.

The fact that the whole thing basically got started with the Trade Federation's tax on trade routes was, in my opinion, a master stroke by George Lucas. Think that's silly? World War II was partially started by an argument over how many telegraph poles Germany owed its war debt creditors.

 I own three different copies of this film already (VHS, DVD, Blu). Sure, the 3D effect wasn't the best thing in the world, but just seeing Star Wars at the theater, with John Williams' epic music booming from the speakers, was worth every penny I paid. Plus, I got the very cool red Darth Maul 3D glasses! You damn right I kept them.

I plan on seeing Ep1 at least once more before it leaves theaters. With one of these films set to come out in 3D in each of the next six years, I'll be reliving my childhood one opening crawl at a time...