The first performance will be held in Stockholm, Sweden on December 4th 2007 and performed by the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic and Choir. During the performance, large screens will display videos and art stills to help enhance the experience.

The tour will then make its American debut in Chicago on March 1st 2008. Both concerts will be conducted by award-winning music director and conductor Arnie Roth.

“I am excited to be conducting Nobuo Uematsu’s captivating music once again and to collaborate with him in this exciting new production.” Roth said when asked about the experience. Roth has worked with the Final Fantasy catalog before during the Dear Friends tour.

Prices for the Chicago performance range from $35 to $150. However, the $150 ticket also includes a meet and greet with Nobuo Uematsu himself, a copy of the “Distant Worlds” album, and a special tour program book.

No other dates have been announced as of this article

Concert Program Not in concert order, subject to change:

• FINAL FANTASY series: Main Theme, Swing de Chocobo
• FINAL FANTASY I-III: Medley
• FINAL FANTASY III DS: Opening
• FINAL FANTASY IV: Theme of Love
• FINAL FANTASY V: Dear Friends
• FINAL FANTASY VI: Opera “Maria and Draco”
• FINAL FANTASY VII: One-Winged Angel, Opening – Bombing Mission, Aerith’s Theme
• FINAL FANTASY VIII: Liberi Fatali, Fisherman’s Horizon, Love Grows, Don’t be Afraid
• FINAL FANTASY IX: Vamo’ alla Flamenco
• FINAL FANTASY X: To Zanarkand
• FINAL FANTASY XI: Memoro de la Stono – Distant Worlds

Along with the concert premiere in Stockholm, a new album bearing the same name as the tour will be released. The music was performed by the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic and Choir and will feature much to the music from the two hour concert. There is no word yet on how much the CD will retail for.

Track Listing Run time 75min:

1. Opening – Bombing Mission (FINAL FANTASY VII)
2. Medley (FINAL FANTASY I-III)
3. Theme of Love (FINAL FANTASY IV)
4. Liberi Fatali (FINAL FANTASY VIII)
5. Aerith’s Theme (FINAL FANTASY VII)
6. Swing de Chocobo (FINAL FANTASY series)
7. Memoro de la Stono – Distant Worlds (FINAL FANTASY XI)
8. Opera “Maria and Draco” (FINAL FANTASY VI)
9. Love Grows (FINAL FANTASY VIII)
10. Don’t be Afraid (FINAL FANTASY VIII)
11. Fisherman’s Horizon (FINAL FANTASY VIII)
12. Vamo’ alla Flamenco (FINAL FANTASY IX)
13. One-Winged Angel (FINAL FANTASY VII)

I am extremely excited about this. I was never able to attend the Dear Friends or More Friends concerts, so having a new tour gives me another opportunity. I’d love to attend the Chicago one if possible and do the full Meet & Greet. Uematsu has been one of my heroes for a very long time, and even though I probably wouldn’t stand out in his mind, it would be a wonderful memory for me. If I do get an opportunity to attend, I will do a full write-up for VGMe about the experience as I know there are thousands of people out there who would love to attend but simply can’t.

The concert has brought up something that I may make into a post series in the future about my beliefs on what makes a good soundtrack. For every exceptional soundtrack I have heard, there are three or four that are mediocre or simply terrible. There are a lot of things that can make the soundtrack good or bad and so I’ll probably explore them in further detail in upcoming posts. For now though, I’ll leave you with concert-versions of Final Fantasy music to commemorate the news.

Here's a screenshot!

No matter what they are playing now, I do know that they should also be playing the games I grew up on. I know most parents want to give their kids the best, and right now that includes a 360, a Wii, maybe a PS2 or a PS3, but they should also (or instead) give them a Super Nintendo or a Sega Genesis. There are a few reasons I say this. One is obviously that young kids really don’t care about technical superiority. Sure, given the option, many kids will more than likely go for a 360 over a SNES, but a lot of that has to do with their own perception of what makes them look cool. Saying you have a 360 at school makes you a lot cooler than saying you have an SNES (unless you are in the right crowd). However, when they are at home, there is no one there to make fun of them for not playing the latest and the greatest, so why not let them enjoy games that make up for their lack of technical prowess with solid, enjoyable gameplay.

And Another!

My second point is if you are a gamer parent yourself, you probably understand the importance of “knowing your roots.” Having a good background in classic games helps to develop a gamer’s taste and style. By playing many older titles and seeing how games were developed and executed in the early days allows for a better progression in ability and understanding. It also allows for more enjoyment of modern titles when you know the evolution of the game itself. For instance, having played the original Metroid titles, I get a huge amount of enjoyment out of the Prime series because I can see the evolution with my own eyes and understand parts of the game that would be lost to those who aren’t already versed in the Metroid series.

My last point is a simple one but probably a major one for parents. It gives you and your kid something with which to connect. Sure, you play a lot of the current titles with him but wouldn’t it also be fun for him to see what you grew up playing? For every Sly Cooper or Tak they have, you have a Bubble Bobble or a Rock ‘n’ Roll Racing. Whether they end up liking the games or not isn’t the point; it builds a connection. How many people remember doing something with a parent because they used to “do it all the time” when they were a kid? The enjoyment of the task never really came from the activity itself but the feeling of a connection with the parent.

With the Wii’s Virtual Console, I can see the need for one of the older systems sitting on the entertainment center dropping (though maybe every kid needs the experience of blowing until they’re dizzy into an NES console). Many of the classics from yester-year are becoming available to the younger audience through the VC and even the handheld market. I do feel, though, that whether the games are played on an original system or on a DS doesn’t matter as long as they are being played.

The best part of this whole release though is the price; $0.00. That’s right, it’s free. The album is available on their website in both MP3 and WAV format. The mp3s are 192kbps CBR, so they sound great without being huge in file size. However, if you’re a foobar2000 user like myself, you may want to fiddle with the ID3 tags to get it displaying just right.

Overall I’m extremely impressed by the quality of the album. The tracks are all well done, with some of the songs being taken in directions I had never imagined before (like the track “Heart of Anxiety” including vocals). I recommend that everyone download the album via bittorrent if they can, or at least sample a few of the tracks. I’ve included 3 tracks from the first disc of the album, “Crisis.” Enjoy.

pixietricks & zircon – Deliverance of the Heart (Heart of Anxiety)

BigGiant Circles – Every Story Begins with a Name (Opening – Bombing Mission)

norg & SnappleMan – Full Frontal Assault (Let the Battles Begin!)

Download the full album

Now that I have gotten that off my chest, I can move on to other things. Like stories. More importantly, video game stories.

I’ve always been a big fan of a good storyline. I feel most games can benefit from a well-thought-out storyline (barring certain genres like sports that don’t really require it). It seems, though, that the tales the current games weave are becoming increasingly unoriginal. Sure, they may use different names or settings, but you can only tell the same story so many times before it becomes old.

One series that has been my beacon for good storytelling has been Final Fantasy. Since I started playing the series many years ago, I had always been enthralled with the complex tales that seemed to go on forever. Unfortunately, even Final Fantasy has been slipping in this regard. With the release of X-2 and XII, the story department has been lacking. Whether it be a completely ridiculous sequel or simply the lack of any real overlying plot, Final Fantasy has been losing ground. Instead, it has been the Indie titles that have impressed me. Games like Pyschonauts and Indigo Prophecy show that original and interesting storytelling is still available, you just have to find them. There are more mainstream titles that feature some quality storytelling, such as Bioshock, but those are becoming rare. I’m just hoping that Final Fantasy XIII will be better.

MUSIC

Kenichiro Fukui – Warning Einhänder Original Soundtrack

Norihiko Hibino – hope and courage Elvandia Story Original Soundtrack

Silicon Knights – Black Rose Eternal Darkness ~ Sanity’s Requiem Sound Track

Now that that is over, on to the music.

Yoshino Aoki – Endings and Beginnings Breath of Fire IV Original Soundtrack
Classical

Misao Senbongi, Shusaku Uchiyama – Final Battle biohazard 4 Original Soundtrack
Classical

Noriko Matsueda & Takahito Eguchi – Volt Krueger The Bouncer Original Video Game Soundtrack
Metal/Electronic

Tetsukazu Nakanishi – EXCALIBUR Ace Combat Zero The Belkan War Original Soundtrack Though the soundtrack may not be the first thought to enter your mind when you think of the Ace Combat series, it is not a thought that should be lost. The soundtrack has a Metal sound to it, which is exemplified in the names of the songs. What is more Metal than a mythical sword? The song itself is great. It’s very powerful, and joystick or no, makes you ready for battle.

Junya Nakano – Dream Cat Another Mind Original Soundtrack While the game itself may have never found its way past the Japanese shores, the soundtrack has. The music is different than a lot of soundtracks, which can be a good or bad thing, based on your own personal tastes. One track, “Dream Cat”, exemplifies the odd nature of the soundtrack. The underlying melody is there, though obscured by the almost random compositions for some of the instruments in the track. I do enjoy the song, but can see very well how it may not work for others.

Tetsuya Shibata – Feasible… Auto Modellista Original Soundtrack What can I call this other than “driving music?” The music doesn’t try to be inventive, it just tries to stir the feeling of speed and excitement out of you as you fly around turns and past other cars in this racing game. In the same way Initial D relies on the quick beats of Euro-Dance, Auto Modellista turns to the fast nature of Guitar Metal.

Shiro Hamaguchi/Shinko Ogata – Fisherman’s Horizon Final Fantasy VIII: Piano Collections Already a beautiful track from the original soundtrack, the piano rendition is wonderful. The soft, whimsical tone puts you at ease quickly. It captures of feeling of relaxing on a dock with a fishing pole and the warmth of the sun very well.

Masashi Hamauzu/Aki Kuroda – Traveling Company Final Fantasy X: Piano Collections Like Fisherman’s Horizon, this song is a soft, atmospheric track. However, instead of intending to capture of feel of fishing, its purpose is to create a peaceful enviornment inside a shop. A simple task, but Traveling Company exceeds in all categories.

Reiko Nomura – Tina Final Fantasy VI: Piano Collections This piece is nothing short of a classic. From the last Nintendo Final Fantasy until Crystal Chronicles, the music in VI was phenomenal, and this theme was no exception. It has a very epic feel to it. Though some of it is lost in the translation to solo piano, it still holds up as a wonderfully performed and composed piece.

Shiro Hamaguchi/Seiji Honda – One Winged Angel FINAL FANTASY VII: Piano Collections Another classic Final Fantasy track, this piano rendition does a great job of keeping the dark tone. The piece never lets up, and unfolds like any great epic song would. For those of you who have heard the original, you can almost hear the choir chanting “Se-phi-roth” in the background as the hammers of the piano slam against the strings with a great intensity.

All tracks originally composed by Nobuo Uematsu except “Traveling Company”, which was composed by Masashi Hamauzu.

Yasunori Mitsuda – One Who Bears Fangs at God (Xenogears) Being from one of my favorite soundtracks and favorite VGM composers of all time, this track is wonderful. The quick-tempo mixed with some creepy digital-sounding choir sets the mood well for the piece. Because of the age of the music (PSX era), it does have a very synth sound to it, but that really doesn’t detract from it at all. The melody’s tone sounds similar to his later work on Xenosaga, and is a clear example of where it began to form.

Norihiko Hibino, Cynthia Harrell – Snake Eater -abstracted camouflage- (Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater) As the original version of the theme song to Snake Eater released, I found this version to be much better (I quickly bought the single after it was released). It has more of a Bond/70’s feel to it, and creates an excellent atmosphere. You can almost see the female sillouettes dancing around as Naked Snake points his PP7 at you.

Chris Vrenna – Flying on the Wings of Steam (American McGee’s Alice) Formerly of Nine Inch Nails, Chris Vrenna was commissioned to create the soundtrack to this game, and it has become an “underground” classic, if you will. A wonderfully composed piece, this creepy composition gives a very distinct feeling of a world a couple notches off, giving the world of Wonderland a feeling that was lost in the Disney movie, and so beautifully restored through music.