Press Start -Symphony of Games-

Press Start -Symphony of Games- is a series of Japanese video game music concerts introduced in 2006. It was initiated by several industry professionals and is sponsored by the Japanese publishing company Enterbrain.

Inspired by the big success of earlier events, such as the Orchestral Game Music Concerts and the Symphonic Game Music Concerts, several industry professionals collaborated to create a new Japanese game concert series. In 2006, conductor Taizo Takemoto, game designer Masahiro Sakurai, scenario writer Kazushige Nojima and composers Nobuo Uematsu and Shogo Sakai formed an executive committee to develop Press Start. Hoping to distinguish the performances from foreign concerts and making it better than the other series, Uematsu preferred to select only music from Japanese games, though Press Start was always designed not to be limited to just one game series or console.

Date: September 22
Venue: Bunkamura Orchard Hall
Conductor: Taizo Takemoto
Orchestra: Tokyo City Philharmonic Orchestra

Press Start 2006 marked the first Japanese orchestral performance of music from various game series after the ten-year hiatus following the Orchestral Game Music Concert 5. The event took place one day before the Tokyo Game Show opened for the public and was presented by Rie Tanaka, with Sakurai and Uematsu joining her as commentators. Additionally, every track featured guest appearances of the respective composers telling an anecdote from the time they composed that specific soundtrack. The executive committee expressed its satisfaction with the concert afterwards and announced there were plans for another event at a bigger concert hall in 2007.

Date and venue (Yokohama): September 17, Pacifico Yokohama
Date and venue (Osaka): September 22, Umeda Arts Theater
Conductor: Taizo Takemoto
Orchestra: Press Start Gadget Orchestra and Press Start 2007 Chorus

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