Mozart... and Mario? (Week 11F, Concepts in Culture)

Play! A Video Game symphony is a concert which goes on tours all over the world featuring music from some of the top video games in the industry. The example of Play! goes to show how much the boundary between popular/high culture has blurred in today’s society thanks to an interaction with new technology. Adorno (as would most of us) no doubt would classify video games as “popular or low culture” but he also classified classical music as “high culture”. This quote is taken straight from the website of Play! “music is performed by some of the finest, world-class orchestras and choirs. All concerts take place in classy, prestigious venues” World-class orchestras and classy prestigious venues would definitely be classified as high culture by most of us and one of the most renowned composers in the gaming industry is Nobuo Uematsu. Nobuo is responsible for creating music for the legendary Final Fantasy series and if you have listened to his music you can get an appreciation for his complex pieces that he creates with world renowned orchestras. The complex musical pieces featured in most games are not the only element which hinders video games as being classified popular culture. A special characteristic of video games that are not found in other forms of “popular culture” is the interactivity of the consumer and the video game. The audience is not passive but is literally active and interacting with the product, and a re-occurring theme in the RPG including Final Fantasy which is regarded as the holy grail of video games deal with overthrowing of a corrupt government. A theme of a subordinate group over throwing the dominant group and we are actually participating in it. I think video games in general are good examples why some theorists such as MacCabe found it so difficult to have clear definition between high and popular (low) culture.

http://www.play-symphony.com/

I recommend listening to the music that is played on the home page, it's by Nobuo Uematsu. Play! was just in Toronto a couple of months ago as well, but I missed the opportunity to attend the show which I really wanted to. Tickets were very expensive and I had to work during the concert date.