OUTSIDE THE XBOX INTERACTIVE CONCERT OF VIDEO GAME MUSIC GIVES AFICIONADOS A NEW WAY TO PLAY.

Byline: FRED SHUSTER

>MUSIC WRITER

Back in the '80s, when Pac-Man roamed around a maze chomping little yellow pills, he was accompanied by a jaunty electronic score of blips and bloops.

It sounded revolutionary at the time. Today's video-game music, like the elaborate score created for the just-released blockbuster "Halo 3," could make Pac-Man reconsider his diet.

Early attempts at creating a soundtrack for the vid-game experience have led to some of the most elaborate and dramatic scores in pop music.

Symphony orchestras, well-known rock soloists, choral groups, complex arrangements and the latest digital technology now play a major role in any successful video game.

With gaming deeply embedded in global pop culture, its musical side is being celebrated in the family-oriented annual concert tour "Video Games Live," which combines symphonic music, a large chorus, and synchronized video and lighting effects to bring to life some of the most beloved incidental music ever created. Having already performed to sold-out audiences around the world, the vid-game concert comes to the new Nokia Theatre on Friday.

"It can be surprising to discover some of this music has the power and emotion of a symphony orchestra, combined with the excitement of a rock concert," said Tommy Tallarico, the concert's host and co-creator, who himself has been composing for video games for nearly 20 years. "One of the biggest misconceptions is this music is just a bunch of beeps, blips and bloops. It's a very misunderstood realm."

Along with the music, Friday's concert, which filled the Hollywood Bowl in previous years, includes game highlights synchronized to sound and lighting effects, shown on a massive screen. Audience members will be invited on stage to play video games, with the action displayed on screen. The concert takes place in conjunction with the inaugural computer gaming EForAll Expo taking place across the street from the Nokia at the Los Angeles Convention Center.

"My favorite moment last year was when they did the old 'Super Mario Bros.' theme," said Dylan Banas, 13, of Studio City, who attended the 2006 concert at the Bowl, which was also his first exposure to a live orchestra. "That's a classic. The whole thing was interesting -- to hear the music live and see how it sounds. They did a great job getting the sound right and getting all the little details down."

Banas is one of scores of vid-game enthusiasts of all ages who love the concept. In July, a critic at the Washington Post raved that the music at one of two sold-out "Video Games Live" concerts at the Kennedy Center Concert Hall was "imbued with the sort of epic grandeur and emotional drama found in film scores." The 2008 edition of the tour is expected to cover some 60 dates worldwide.

It was a natural idea coming just when video gaming is poised to overtake the music industry around the world. The rise in broadband and consoles with online capabilities, wireless phones capable of downloading, and technologically advanced consoles are credited with driving the industry's growth. A recent report predicted the gaming industry will see an annual growth rate of 9.1 percent between 2007 and 2011, resulting in a $48.9 billion global video game market in 2011, up from $37.5 billion this year.

Tallarico says the most effective gaming music should be a creative fusion of dramatic arrangements, flashy video and sound effects, fascinating characters and story lines where player interactivity is essential. Even the suits agree. In 2000, the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences decided to let interactive games compete in the annual Grammy Awards.

But everyone still appreciates the innovations of the classic arcade games of the past. "Video Games Live" begins with an eight-minute tribute to that first generation of games, starting with "Pong" and ending with "Tetris," before moving on to soundtracks from blockbusters "Halo 3," "BioShock," "Medal of Honor," "Myst," "Final Fantasy" and "Tron."

Longtime game composer Jack Wall, co-creator and conductor of "Video Games Live," explains that the major difference between game scores and cues for TV and film is the way the music is utilized.

"In other media, dialogue drives the story, so you can't ever step on that," he said. "But in games, it's the action and interactivity that drives the experience. The music has to be upbeat and high-energy to mirror the action. I like to call it foreground music rather than background music. We don't have to make room for dialogue so we can just go nuts."

As more and more artists and composers sign on to create for the high-tech, money-minting genre, Tallarico confidently muses about a techie of the past.

"If Beethoven were alive today, he'd be a video game composer."

Fred Shuster [phone]

[e-mail]

VIDEO GAMES LIVE

>Where: Nokia Theatre, 777 Chick Hearn Court, Los Angeles.

>When: 8:15 p.m. Friday.

>Cost: $30 to $70. www.ticketmaster.com.

Gaming music classics

Since the days of "Pac-Man" and "Donkey Kong," gaming music has evolved from assorted blips and beeps into dramatic, orchestrated suites that pulse with rock energy. Here are some of the classics.

>"Halo"

"Tosca" in space. Brooding, mock-gothic and exotic-sounding, the often symphonic score to this chart-busting sci-fi series could give Hans Zimmer a run for his money. The long-awaited "Halo 3" was released last month and raked in $300 million worldwide within a week.

>"Final Fantasy"

Big, ominous-sounding and operatic, the score was penned by Nobuo Uematsu, perhaps the most popular game music composer of all time.

>"Tomb Raider"

Imaginative musical cues for the the blockbuster adventure franchise utilize samples, synths and even the London Symphony Orchestra.

>"Zelda"

Koji Kondo, Nintendo's in-house music maestro, created a big-scale march to score one of the most popular vid-game tunes of all time.

>"Secret of Mana"

This melancholy theme sounds both tender and frail.

>"Super Mario Bros"

Created in the mid-'80s with just four sound channels, Nintendo's simple, repeating staccato theme burrows into your brain by way of delayed sets of six rapid notes, followed by a short descending melody. It's now part of a generation's DNA.

>F.S.

CAPTION(S):

4 photos, box

Photo:

(1 -- cover -- color) VIDEO GAMES LIVE

THE MUSIC AND THE ACTION EXPLODE AT THE NOKIA THEATRE

(2 -- color) Video Games Live features symphonic music, a chorus and synchronized lighting and video, such as this from "Halo."

PHOTO BY JOHN HESSLER

(3 -- 4 -- color) no caption (video game characters)

Box:

Gaming music classics (see text)