Music and gaming are enjoying a strong synergy in 2008 that could be witnessed nearly everywhere at the Penny Arcade Expo in Seattle 2008 this past weekend. We spent three days there collecting video, pictures, playing games and rocking out to video game music, most of which I’ll be sharing at VTOReality.com. Here I’ll try to give a brief overview of what we experienced.

I’ve attended dozens of concerts but experienced a first at PAX 2008 being able to see a couple bands perform video game songs live. The OneUps opened the Friday Night concert at PAX and were impressive. No singing but plenty of six-string bass, violin, drums and guitars.

The OneUps were so impressive that we went to see the bassist, Mustin, the next day and bought both their CDs (Volume 1 and Volume 2). 

Also signed up for their MySpace page (warning: sound onload). The only other videogame-related music I remember buying has been Buckner & Garcia’s Pac Man Fever.

Our sons entered the Guitar Hero tournament on Saturday and the youngest was eliminated in the first round. Our 17 year old son made it to the final 8 in the tournament. They also did the Soul Calibur IV tournament earlier in the day and were both eliminated in the first round.

We performed as a Rock Band both on the show floor and in the after hours Rock Band event Friday Night. Didn’t wait in line to play Guitar Hero World, but that booth was very active throughout PAX.

Also got to check out the Wii Music drums where you play with the balance board and drumming into thin air with the Wiimote and nunchuk. On the way to lunch away from PAX we stopped by Gameworks (conveniently located a block away) which had the first guitar game by Konami called GuitarFreaks and DrumFreaks (although this one was out of service).

Back to the show floor and one of the 10 spotlighted PAX games for the Xbox 360 live arcade was called AudioSurf. This games looked a little bit like the old Atari puzzler Klax and sounded like a full-on music game.

AudioSurf’s description from the PAX guide:

"Ride your music. Audiosurf is a music-adapting puzzle racer where you use your own music to create your own experience. The shape, the speed, and the mood of each ride is determined by the song you choose."

It seemed like at almost every turn at PAX there was some kind of music videogame being demoed or played. Did I mention the Sony booth where Singstar contests were happening? Or how about the Intel Booth where you could play against a ringer to win a PC version of Guitar Hero?

Music games are everywhere and I love it. Forget the RIAA missteps and DRM issues, there continues to be a huge opportunity for bands to have their music heard and purchased in the videogames area.

Did this post make you go hmm?

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