What an amazing night

What an awesome night…that simply is the best way to put it. Myself and the GoNintendo gang hopped in MomBrain’s car, and made our hour and a half journey out to Dave and Busters in Philly. As the ride went on, I found myself getting more and more nervous. I am horrible with things like this. I always worry I will say the wrong thing, not know what to say, or just basically look like an idiot. With all my worrying we were parked at Dave and Busters before I knew it.

We wandered into the massive building, and kept our eyes peeled for Mr. Tallarico. He was supposed to be hanging out by the pool tables, but when we went by he was no where to be seen. We made our way to the back of the building, and checked out all the arcade games. After we did the arcade loop, we circled back around to head towards the tables one more time. As we got closer both Mom Brain and Nicky Hill spotted the man himself, and he was on a collision course right for us. I decided to put my nerves behind me, and head right for Mr. Tallarico. I put my hand out, shook his, and introduced myself and the website we were from. He seemed so happy to see us, and took us right down to the pool tables. He learned everyone else’s names, and then introduced us to Becky Young, Marketing Coordinator for the show. Soon after that, Video Games Live Co-Creator Jack Wall made his way over and introduced himself. Now that we had all the formalities out of the way, we got to be more relaxed. I expected to talk with Mr. Tallarico for about 10-15 minutes or so. I was completely wrong.

We got to stand and hang with Tommy and the gang for 4 hours…and we actually talked to them for almost all of that time. We talked about everything you can possibly think of when it comes to video games. Music, the tour, Tommy’s work, SNES/Genesis, Beyond Good & Evil, Victor Lucas, Ico, Nintendo, and so, SO much more. That doesn’t even scratch the surface of all the things we covered. The best part about the situation was that it didn’t have a stuffy business feeling. It was like we were friends, joking around, having fun, and talking about what we love…games. Mr. Tallarico, Becky, and Jack Wall were supposed to leave around 10:00 p.m., and while Jack said his goodbyes around then to head back to his hotel, Tommy and Becky stayed until after 11:30 talking with us, and the other guests. I never expected to get the chance to talk with him that much, but when it was over I didn’t want it to be.

We had the pleasure of discussing the game industry with Mr. Tallarico, and Chris Grant from Joystiq jumped into the convo too. The last 30 minutes or so of the night were spent joking about the game industry, discussing the upcoming console war, and why it is a great time for gamers. I managed to snag myself one of those Joystiq shirts that they were handing out at E3, and hopefully we will get the chance to meet up with Chris before the concert tomorrow for some MPH goodness.

Just like that, 4 hours had come and gone in what seemed like the blink of an eye. The night was so relaxed, the entire VGL team that was at Dave and Busters was so responsive, so nice, and very interested in what we had to say. A few times during our conversations, it would hit me that I was talking with Tommy Tallarico…and I just couldn’t believe it. It is so strange to follow someone’s career, see them on TV, and then get to meet them…and have them treat you like they have known you forever. I am still running off the high I got from the event, one of my favorite things that has happened from the site yet.

We want to thank Tommy Tallarico for taking the time to hang with us, the other fans, and actually treating us like old friends. I have never felt as comfortable in a situation like that ever before. We also want to thank Jack Wall for chatting with us, sorry you had to leave so early! Of course, we want to thank Becky Young for chatting/hanging with us too. Becky was under the weather, but that didn’t stop her from being there. We wish you a speedy recovery! We also have to say hey to Chris from Joystiq. Hopefully we will get the chance to meet up again tomorrow so I can get my ass handed to me in MPH. Last, and very important, we want to thank all of our readers and listeners. We would have never had the chance to attend an event such as this without your support. You make GoNintendo what it is, you help us cover the stories we get, and the interviews we do. Without you guys we wouldn’t have any of these opportunities, so we really…really thank you. We just hope that in return for your patronage, we provide you with content that you enjoy.

Tomorrow night we will be heading out to cover the show, and then we get to head backstage and hang out all over again. That will make Saturday night our picture night. Tonight was such a laid back atmosphere, we didn’t want to be rude by taking pictures, and asking for posed shots. It just wasn’t the right setting for that. While we are running around at the show tomorrow, Nicky Hill will be on top of photography once again, so expect another Flickr set, and whatever else we can manage to get our hands on! For now, you can click on the image below to check out all the info you could want on the Video Games Live tour. This summer is an amazing time of year for video game music lovers everywhere.