Gamers who are looking to attend the upcoming Games Convention 2008 can expect a treat as the Video Games Live Symphony Orchestra will be performing a concert to kick off the start of the event. Featured during the concert is American star pianist Martin Leung, along with conductor Jack Wall. For more details on this night of sight and sound, check out the full article.

The Game Developers Conference is gearing up not only for conferences and lectures but parties as well. We know that these game developers play hard and party even harder. General events are lined up for the whole week. Find out more on the events after the jump!

Video Games Live, the premier video game concert event, is performing at this year's Video Game Awards from Spike TV. The event, which will mark the group's television debut, will be aired on December 9 at 9:00 p.m. The group will perform some hits from their world touring event and other new material. They will also be releasing their Greatest Hits album in the future.

 

With 2007's London Games Festival arriving in two weeks' time, organizers have mapped out the game-centric celebration starting October 22 until November 2, 2007. Though the London Games Festival will also coincide with the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA), it will also return with a bigger collection of consumer-related events.

First up in the organizers' lists is the Video Games Live! concert which is set to take off at opening day. It will be followed by the British Academy Video Games Awards on October 23, coupled with a session presenting Guy Debord's Game of War as part of the London Games Fringe.
 
Dare to be Digital takes flight on October 24 - apparently also the first day of the GameCity Interactive Entertainment Festival to kick off in Nottingham. Dare to be Digital is the London Games Festival's bid to expose the next generation of game developers to PR and marketing, where budding game design students can showcase their projects for attendees to see.

The London Game Career Fair, the London Gamer Geeks Quiz Night, and the Computational Brain fill the rest of the day's events. Attendees can apply for a position in the industry, try their hand at game trivia, or take a peek into the future of game interactivity: controlling games through thought.

Modding get-together Dorkfest - Console Hacks follows on October 25 with technology demo Eyes on the Game close in tow. The two events continue to delve into technology in relation to gaming, with Dorkfest showcasing mod projects made by the craziest folks to even have held a solder gun, and Eyes on the Game presenting how games can be controlled with eye movement.

Zero Gamer and Sense of Play 07 top the closing day schedule for attendees, where participants can flex their neurons and partake in a healthy discussion of how game design is viewed - from both outside and inside the game industry. The refreshing eye-opener will also be coupled by a London Games Fringe spectacle: developer and publisher media showcase of their upcoming games.

Expect London Games Festival 2007 to sport more consumer-related events and business-to-business sessions when it starts on the 22nd.

Soundtracks designed for video games have evolved a lot since the first synthesized beep was created years ago. Indeed, music in the interactive gaming industry has gone a long way. Now you can hear entire musical scores dedicated for a single game.

EMI Classics has pushed this concept further as they, Video Games Live and IMG Artist, are planning to release an album filled with some of the best known and most popular video game music of all time.

Entitled Video Games Live: Greatest Hits - Volume One includes medleys from various well-known games such as Zelda, Mario, Halo, Warcraft, Sonic, Tron, Myst, Civilization IV and Final Fantasy. The album was compiled by Tommy Tallarico and Jack Wall, reknowned video game composers and Video Games Live co-creators. Included as well are the Slovak National Orchestra and the Crouch End Chorus and the "Video Game Pianist," Martin Leung.

The album will be released on October 19, coinciding with this year's Video Games Live event on the same day at the Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles and on October 22 at London's Royal Festival Hall, performed by the Philharmonic Orchestra.

 

Although Sega, Sony Computer Entertainment America (SCEA), Capcom, and Microsoft are still a no-go, organizers IDG World Expo confirmed that dozens of game companies are confirmed to attend the E For All (EforAll) convention coming in October. The trade show that focuses more on the consumer is set for the Hollywood limelight starting October 18 at the Los Angeles Convention Center.

Carolyn Rauch, former ESA vice president now in IDG World Expo's camp, said:

We have over 50 exhibitors, including Nintendo, Namco, THQ, Konami, EA and other major companies to be announced shortly. This is a group of companies that sold about half of all the games purchased in the U.S. last year.

Packed with events and programs dedicated to the consumer, E For All is often mistaken as the replacement of the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3). But for IDG World Expo, it's simply an avenue for consumers to relive their part of the former E3.

Rauch maintained that official announcements of attending companies would be released in the near future. She added:

Gamers should be excited because this event is all about them -- from a terrific line up of the newest games from the industry's leading publishers, to the World Series of Video Games tournament and Video Games Live concert.

People who are lucky enough to live near the Royal Festival Hall in Southbank Centre, London should take heed: Video Games Live is coming up, and Philharmonia Orchestra will perform various memorable video game music ranging from Mario, Zelda, Final Fantasy, Space Invaders, Tetris and yes, even Halo 3. The event is scheduled on October 22, 7:30 p.m.

The variety of video games to be covered, from retro-classic gaming to next-gen, will ensure that everyone who watches the event will leave the venue satisfied. We ourselves will be way over our heads with glee after hearing an orchestra play our beloved Space Invaders tune.

Those who are interested better get their tickets as soon as possible. The ticket prices (depending on the seating) range from GB£ 32.50 (US$ 65.25) to GB£ 19.50 (US$ 39.15), with additional booking fees worth GB£ 1.50 or US$ 3 (no booking fee for Southbank Centre members).

 

The London Games Festival, a significant success last year, will be returning for a repeat performance with the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) as its primary focus this year. The event will begin October 22, 2007, reports Games Industry, and will continue for four more days to October 26, with an invite to all gamers from MMOs and PCs to consoles and handhelds.

Aside from several game-related forums which tackle legal issues and corporate opportunities, a Video Games Live concert will also be held at the Royal Albert Hall, while the Entertainment & Leisure Software Publishers Association (ELSPA) plans to discuss the perception of gaming. The Science Museum will also host a study of immersion in video games, and the London Game Career Fair will be offering aspiring game developers a chance to enter the UK game development scene.

It appears that the Europe will be celebrating more than just an Oktoberfest come late fall (or early winter) as the GameCity Interactive Entertainment Festival, or simply the GameCity Festival, will also be partially coinciding with the London Games Festival, on October 24-28, 2007, in Nottingham, England. More details on these two events, including participating companies and studios, as they come in.

Here's a bit of good news for BioWare fans. According to video game news site PlayStation Universe, a BioWare community director has confirmed that the company will indeed be attending this year's E3. The company will reportedly have some "cool stuff" to show at the event, but apart from that, no other details were revealed.

There is also some speculation about a possible PS3-related announcement from BioWare. Ray Muzyka, the company's CEO, was reported to have openly stated that BioWare has something cooking for the Sony PS3 at a Video games Live concert in Edmonton, Canada, early this year.

The rumor was subsequently quashed by BioWare PR coordinator Erik Einsiedel, but both Muzyka and Greg Zeschuk have confirmed that the company is indeed working on all next-gen platforms.

If you're one to have missed several of Video Games Live! Concerts performed since their finale performance at the Game Developers Conference back in March, then fret not: Video Games Live! has recently announced their plans to release one of their stellar performances recorded in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil last year on DVD and CD. Tommy Tallarico, co-creator of Video Games Live! and a renowned videogame music composer, said:

Since we started Video Games Live over 5 years ago we've always received at least a few e-mails and letters each week asking if and when a DVD and CD would be available. We're finally proud to announce the first ever live game concert DVD and CD available in the U.S. and throughout the world.

Jack Wall, the second creator of Video Games Live!, commented, "The shows in Brazil were absolutely amazing. The crowds were unbelievable and the energy level was second to none." The Brazil performance back in November 2006 was awarded the "Special Breakthrough Achievement Award" by the 3rd Annual Gameworld Awards and was sponsored by the biggest corporations in the region.

With oil tycoon Petrobas and regionwide ISP corporation UOL, the Video Games Live! concert sparked an immense success that will drive the 2007 tour back to Rio de Janeiro this coming September. Release dates, prices and order details will be announced in August, says the official press release.

Click on Full Article to view a trailer of the DVD and CD release.