The Legend of Zelda: Symphony of the Goddesses Concert Review

Concerts based on video game soundtracks have been a staple of entertainment in Japan but have only recently been gaining in popularity in the West, mainly due to the hard work of Tommy Tallarico and his Video Game Music Live concerts which have been going strong for many years.  The soundtracks to games are gaining prominence and airplay on the radio too and a wider audience is being reached. Bands like Anamanaguchi, who use old video game sound chips to help score their music, have further brought the video game sound to the mainstream and so people from all walks of life are developing a taste for video game music, in fact 3 out of the top 20 Hall of Fame tracks on Classic FMs poll last year were from video games!

This diverse audience for video game music was reflected in the Zelda concert where the audience ranged from early teens to people in their 40's and 50's. Most of the Arena was full and there were many people out in cosplays from the series. 

I was extremely excited as Zelda: Ocarina of Time is my favourite game ever and the series holds a special place in my heart. Joining me was my older brother, we had fond memories of working through Ocarina of Time and Link's Awakening in our youth.

Before the concert started there was a moments silence for Prince and then the concert began.
The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra were amazing, bringing alive Koji Kondo's scores. The music was accompanied by stunning video footage of the various games in the series on huge screens and this made for a sense of synaesthesia, a real overload for the sights and sounds.
At just over 2 hours the concert went through a lot of classic tracks but my favourites were the Zelda Title track, Dragon Roost Island, Song of Time and Gerudo Valley.


What made the night even more special wad that there were pre-recorded interviews spliced in of people involved in the Zelda franchise including Miyamoto and Aonuma. This broke up the wonderful music and gave us an insight into the thoughts and feelings of the Nintendo staffers. Overall the evening was highly enjoyable and it has made me determined to finish Twilight Princess and Skyward Sword, taking over 100 hours getting me motivated to do that the gig must have been inspirational!

Nintendo Quest Review

Nintendo Quest is a Kickstarter-funded documentary based on a simple premise; a young man, Jay, has to find all 678 original NES video games which were released in North America within 30 days. This sounds like a simple enough task right? In this day and age of the internet auction sites and online shopping it's a no-brainer, but to make it more challenging no internet or auction sites can be used and his current collection cannot be included.

This is a promising set-up, full of potential for insights into Nintendo history, a deep look at gaming and collectors and a look behind the recent surge in interest in retro gaming collection.

The documentary starts by talking heads saying things like, "It'll be a transformative experience", "He's going to go on a journey and find a lot out about himself" and so on, all set to background fast paced rock music! He's not after the holy grail, it's NES carts!

As an avid collector I love the thrill of finding carts in the wild but I would never be as hyperbolic as this documentary is. When Jay is finding the carts there is a UI (User Interface) that shows his money level and his NES cartridge count but there isn't a monetary value represented and the cost of the games isn't shared either. In some scenes I expected Westlife's 'Flying Without Wings' to be playing in the playground, all set to slomo images of the protagonist, Jay, digging through the carts.

When compared to something like 'From Bedrooms to Billions', again a documentary about gaming but this time about people making games in the 70's/ 80's, the information was interesting but well paced and not so hyperbolic, it made it a much easier viewing experience.

Nintendo Quest  fails to be insightful on what is a fascinating topic. For a documentary all about the vintage gaming scene it is fails to look at the reasons behind the scene, the cost of the hobby and even why there is a resurgence in old skool gaming. The documentary has a lot of potential but ultimately fails to deliver, being quite meandering and unfocussed.

Amiibos and the Rise of Swag

For many our possessions become extensions of the self which we use to signal to others and ourselves who we are and what our interests are. However our relationship with our stuff is in a state of flux. For many book and music collections are stored on the cloud, no longer taking up space on dusty shelves. This flux is no longer confined to mere material possessions but also to our identity, we carefully construct our online profiles; choosing the best pictures, the funniest or most profound status updates and informing everyone of how wonderful (or not) our lives are. The self has become extended into technology, with the different online services acting as a memory bank.

Now unless you have been living under a rock you have probably heard the great furore surrounding Nintendo's Amiibos. For those who have been under said rock Amiibos are the Big N's foray into 'toys-to-life' gaming accessory business that also includes Activision’s Skylanders and Disney’s Infinity. These pieces of plastic have been spectacularly popular, but the issue surrounds supply and how many of the figures were on a limited run and are fetching incredibly high prices, some figures originally cost about $12.99 but are selling on ebay for over $70. Surprisingly, or not maybe, most of the people who purchase Amiibo's are the older males, most in their 30's. Why is that? It can't all be due to resale value or collecting for the future (like Beanie Baby speculators).

What I'm looking at in this article is the demand for the Amiibos and not just the Amiibos, but the rise in just 'stuff' in gaming. Amiibos are just one aspect which has seen a rise in physical products. Many people were proclaiming the end of gaming consumables, what with the move towards a digital only future where entertainment is consumed via online services however this is patently not true. I believe that there is a reason for this rise in demand for stuff. People want to show their affiliation and affection for their hobbies, its the reason I buy physical comics, magazines and games. Also it may be due to Kickstarter and the need to own something tangible, maybe the game will be crap but at least you got a cloth map, figure or limited edition card!

I love Amiibos, its great owning an official Nintendo product but there is also an issue where scalpers, like ticket touts, have artificially led to inflated prices... the issue is exacerbated by the limited run of Amiibos. First world problems for sure but  I love the chase of finding certain Amiibos, I don't want all of them but there are definite characters I want. I keep them in a box as I am a collector but am not 'that guy' that buys multiple copies of figures I already have and then resell them at a higher price.

Living in a small apartment with my wife and child I have had to de-clutter, and I'm sure that this is true for many people, but our relationship with our possessions remains as important as ever although the nature of the relationship is changing. I'm sure we all know people who have a huge Steam library of games they have downloaded but never played, or tonnes of albums bought on iTunes which haven't been listened to, or albums purchased on vinyl even though they don't have a record player. We all dream of some halcyon future where our past-times and pleasures will be revisited and so until we can let go we will buy stuff and that's okay.

LINK- Wired Article What Nintendo Did Right And Wrong With It's Amiibo Figurines

LINK- Article Vinyl: The Return of a Format