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VIDEO GAMES LIVE ™ AND WIZARD WORLD PREPARE FOR AN INCREDIBLE CHICAGO PERFORMANCE

Pre-Show Festival Events to Include Costume Contest, Guitar Hero™ II and Space Invaders™ Competitions, Spectacular Prizes, and Industry Meet-and-Greet with Top Composers and Designers

Legendary Game Designers Eugene Jarvis, Ed Boon, and John Tobias Added to Star Studded Line-Up, Including Halo® Composers Marty O-Donnell and Mike Salvatori

LOS ANGELES - August 1, 2006 - Renowned video game composers Tommy Tallarico and Jack Wall are preparing for what will be a one-of-a-kind Video Games Live performance. Video Games Live™ features music from the most popular video games performed by top orchestras and choirs around the world, combining exclusive video footage and music arrangements, synchronized lighting, solo performers, electronic percussionists, and unique interactive segments to create an explosive one-of-a-kind entertainment experience. The show will take place on Saturday evening August 5th at 8pm and is being presented by Wizard World as part of their 10th Anniversary celebration in Chicago. Wizard World Conventions serve as the foremost authority on everything pop-culture, showcasing the best in comic books, anime, toys, video games, collectibles, and entertainment. Wizard World Chicago 2006 will be looking to top last years attendance record of over 65,000.

This special performance is taking place at the renowned Rosemont Theatre, located directly across the street from the Donald E. Stephens Convention Center where Wizard World will be held from August 3 - 6. Video Games Live is once again opening the doors early to present a pre-show festival from 7:00pm - 8:00pm which is FREE to all ticket holders. Promoted by Live Nation, tickets ($35 - $55) are on sale now at all Ticketmaster locations or online, or by calling (713) 224-7575.

The pre-show festival will include a competition sponsored by RedOctane featuring the yet to be released Guitar Hero™ II. A classic arcade game competition will also be held on the newly released Video Games Live Classic Arcade cabinet courtesy of DreamAuthentics. Competitions will also be held at the Video Games Live booth during the Wizard World Convention (Booth #646). Other pre-show festivities include a costume contest where audience members will come dressed as their favorite video game characters to compete for speaker systems from Logitech. Finalists will be judged on stage by the audience.
Other prizes throughout the evening include a $2,500 Ferrari laptop courtesy of AMD which will be given away on stage during the Interactive Symphony segment, starring one of the most beloved classic arcade games of all time, Frogger, celebrating its 25th anniversary this year. Two audience members will compete for 90 seconds while the orchestra plays along, changing the musical score on-the-fly depending on what the contestants are doing on screen. This unique interaction with a live symphony has only ever been attempted and performed at Video Games Live.

The audience will also be treated to a special solo performance by pianist Lee Ann Leung who will be performing her special Final Fantasy® piano arrangement consisting of over ten Final Fantasy® favorites. The post-show meet-and-greet where fans can interact with renowned game composers and designers will consist of industry luminaries who have worked on projects such as Halo, Halo 2, Halo 3, Dance Dance Revolution, God of War, Myst, Riven, Splinter Cell, Metroid Prime, Tony Hawk Pro Skater, Madden Football, Earthworm Jim, Unreal, The Sims, Zoo Tycoon, Blitz Football, and many more! Also featured in the meet-and-greet will be legendary game designer Eugene Jarvis who created and worked on such classics as Defender, Robotron, NARC, Cruis-n USA, and Smash TV. Also joining him will be industry superstars Ed Boon & John Tobias known for their creation of the Mortal Kombat series.

And speaking of industry luminaries, Video Games Live will be giving away a piece of video game history. A unique autographed program with over 30 of the most famous video game designers and composers will be given away to one lucky winner by filling out an entry card at the costume contest booth during the show. Names include creators Hideo Kojima (Metal Gear Solid), Yuji Naka (Sonic the Hedgehog), Nolan Bushnell (Pong, Atari), Toby Gard (Lara Croft, Tomb Raider), Bill Roper (Warcraft), celebrity Elijah Wood and MANY MORE!

Video Games Live features music and exclusive synchronized video from popular franchises such as: Mario™, Zelda®, Halo®, Metal Gear Solid®, Warcraft®, Myst®, Final Fantasy®, Castlevania®, Kingdom Hearts, Medal of Honor™, Sonic™, Tron, God of War™, Tomb Raider®, Advent Rising, Headhunter, Beyond Good & Evil™, Splinter Cell®, Ghost Recon™, Rainbow Six®, EverQuest® II and a special retro Classic Arcade Medley featuring over 20 games from Pong® to Donkey Kong® including such classics as Dragon's Lair, Tetris, Frogger, Gauntlet, Duck Hunt, Rastan, Space Invaders, and Outrun!

Other locations currently on sale include: Indianapolis, Toronto, and the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles. A complete list of tour dates and locations can be found here.

About Video Games Live™ (www.videogameslive.com)
Created by two industry leading video game composers Tommy Tallarico and Jack Wall, Video Games Live (produced under their company Mystical Stone Entertainment, LLC) is the front runner in the field of live game music performance. Video Games Live is an immersive concert event celebration featuring music from the biggest video games of all time. The debut performance launched on July 6th, 2005 at the world famous Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles with the LA Philharmonic with over 11,000 people in attendance making it the largest video game concert in the world.




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