Are you familiar with Video Games Live? It"s an organization formed by Tommy Tallarico, the guy who created music for such famous games as Earthworm Jim and the Sonic franchise. The group uses a live orchestra to recreate iconic (and not-so-iconic) music from video games. We attended a concert a few years ago and, while we weren"t blown away, we found the experience to be very enjoyable with a good mix of music and crowd interaction. In addition to touring, the group has also released two studio albums and a video, the latter of which is available for free streaming via Amazon Prime"s service.
To help fund a third studio album, Tallarico has turned to Kickstarter. His 9+ minute video pitch has some entertaining moments in it as he explains what the group wants to do and the difficulties they"ve had in getting funding through traditional means. This third album looks to focus on more of the non-mainstream games, such as Chrono Trigger, Shadow of the Colossus, and Journey, but some of the classics will still be represented too. The goal is to have 15-18 tracks on the album.
Some of the rewards are pretty exciting, albeit expensive. For $2,500, the voice actor of Solid Snake from the Metal Gear series will record a 30 second message of your choosing. For $5,000, you can have lunch at Blizzard with their music composers and also receive a tour of their campus, in addition to a BBQ at Tallarico"s house! If your pockets aren"t quite that deep, the lower level tiers are very reasonable and include a lot of unique video game related rewards.
While a concert full of video game music isn"t for everyone, we think this is one of the more unique experiences out there. Combine that with Tommy"s passion for what he does, and you have the makings of a successful project.
Source: Kickstarter