The video game industry has been under so much scrutiny in the past few months. With the topics of violence and addiction making headlines, the general public has been bombarded with so much negativity that the video games industry is constantly being watched with a leery eye. As society and media remain controlled by those who have eschewed video games, the public perception of video games is largely met with a sense of misunderstanding. In steps a savior, a diminutive man merely in height, one who is filled with such a fiery passion for music and video games that projects into his persona. From the moment you first meet Tommy Tallarico, you are impressed with his warmth and his appreciation of your impending experience of his vision. You also see a bit of a rock star quality in Tallarico as he often appears on television and is noted for his polarizing personality.

If you are at all familiar with the G4 Network, Tallarico is a featured personality for several of the shows and events the network airs. Many people have a strong opinion of Tallarico, but you clearly notice that he isn’t fazed by what other people think and continues to do things his way. For Tallarico, Video Games Live is not just a concert featuring video game music; it is a chance for him to share his experience and vision of the video game industry with the zeal and rock star quality that he embodies. For two nights at the Morton H. Meyerson Symphony Center, Tallarico had his chance to evangelize his vision to the people of Dallas as many famous religious speakers had preceded him before in similar settings.

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Video Games Live shines a powerful spotlight on the artistic qualities of the video game industry. The "Interactive Arts", a moniker that many within the industry so desperately desire to gain a public foothold, are clearly represented both figuratively and literally, with on-stage fan-participation contests featuring "Space Invaders" and "Frogger" all accompanied on the fly by the orchestra. Throughout the evening the audience was entertained through a masterful execution of many emotionally driven scores by the Dallas Symphony Orchestra that rival the quality and complexity of modern day films. The man responsible for the luxurious performance is co-creator of Video Games Live and veteran video game composer Jack Wall of Myst III & IV and most recently Jade Empire.

One of the many aural highlights of the evening was the performance from Sony’s God of War. The impressive blend of enveloping vocals from the Dallas Symphony Choir along with the hammering of the deep bold notes from the brass section and the pounding percussions struck such an emotional response that when you close your eyes you find yourself transported into the Greek battlegrounds alongside Kratos, fighting to rid the world of Ares. While those without a frame of reference of having played any of the games, the video screen rolled a montage of footage from the actual game or, where rights issues prevent them, related film footage. This allowed those who have never seen or played the game to be able to enjoy the music without feeling lost. One of the best visual presentations was the performance of Sid Meier’s Civilization IV. Throughout the piece, cut scenes of the creation of each of the game’s "World Wonders" showed the creation of some of the world’s most well-known historical structures such as the Egyptian pyramids and Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel, along with key defining scenes of some of the world’s most famous civilizations.

While there are so many beautiful and spirited performances in the concert, none could ever surpass the technical merits of the Video Game Pianist, Martin Leung. His fluid and downright cerebral performance of a self-composed medley of music from the "Final Fantasy" games was an awe-inspiring accomplishment for someone who became famous from an Internet video of him playing the theme from Super Mario Bros. blindfolded. His abilities seem inhuman to recreate as his hands moved so fast that the in-house projector could not even keep up with him, causing the screen to blur during the the extremely high-tempo performance of music from Super Mario World.

Throughout the evening Tallarico entertained the crowd with his personality and his passion for games and the art involved in creating them. Acting as host and emcee for the concert, Tallarico guided the audience through one of the most entertaining and enlightening experiences the Meyerson Center has ever hosted. And to put his final stamp and signature on the evening, Tallarico donned an electric guitar and joined the orchestra for a rock star performance of the "Finish the Fight" Halo 3 trailer and an energy-infused encore of "One Winged Angel" from Final Fantasy VII. Such an exclamation point truly conveyed the passion for video games and music that Tallarico wishes to spread throughout the country and the world. Done with such a rock star quality that Tallarico’s personality possesses, one could not be impressed, entertained and left wanting more. For the portion of our culture who are clueless to the excitement and passion that people have for video games, Video Games Live is a magnificent ambassador for the video game industry in conveying that video games are truly interactive art. For Tallarico, that is his way to bring the art of video games to a wider audience and is his vision of the industry. Whether you agree with him or not, he continues on to the next performance, leaving a truly lasting impression, hoping that he has converted you now that you have seen his vision.

For more information and future dates for Video Games Live, please visit their website.