Final Fantasy fandom

Hello friends!

I had quite an eventful weekend. I'm considering going to the University of Georgia for graduate school, so I spent a day in Athens to look at the campus. After, my boyfriend and I traveled to Atlanta to see Distant Worlds!

I've mentioned Distant Worlds in previous posts, but you can check out this website for more information. Distant Worlds is a multimedia concert featuring the music from Final Fantasy performed by a full symphony orchestra.

The concert made me realize the fandom associated with certain video game series, as well as geek culture in general. I saw people of all ages, races, genders and walks of life at the symphony. It amazed me that a 40-year-old professional could be as excited as a 16-year-old nerd.

I felt like I had an epiphany at the symphony. Love for a series as influential as Final Fantasy never dies. It doesn't really matter whether or not one game is better than the other. These characters, storylines and "distant" worlds have captured so many people! That's pretty awesome if you ask me!

One thing that really showed me how much dedication fans have to the series was the response to Nobuo Uematsu. Uematsu is a Japanese video game composer best known for scoring the majority of titles in the Final Fantasy series. He is an incredibly respected individual in the industry and helped put video game music on the map. Uematsu basically showed the world that this was a serious field. Now, top composers are competing to write scores for video games!*

*(See my post on Dec. 12, 2010 for more about this!)

Uematsu was in attendance at the concert, which isn't always a common occurrence, according to conductor Arnie Roth. I swear, you would have thought this guy was The Pope or President Obama by the way people reacted. The entire hall, including myself, stood up as soon as he entered the room. The applause seemed endless when he joined the chorus for an encore song.

Uematsu has helped breed so much love for games that have touched millions. Personally, I want to cry every time I hear "To Zanarkand." As a Final Fantasy fan, I feel a special connection to the long-running series that nothing else can really compare to - and I know I'm not the only one.

Here's what I'm ultimately trying to say:

I was glad to see that I can be a geek for as long as I want. It isn't something you necessarily grow out of. It's something you appreciate and incorporate into your life. I know this post was a little personal, but I felt very reflective tonight!

Until next time :)

Love,
The Girl Informer