When Video Games Live first premiered at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angelesin ’05 to an eager audience of 11,000 people, that’s when the music, video gaming, and entertainment industries took notice that this could be a lucrative trend. The brainchild of composers Tommy Tallarico and Jack Wall, at the time the concept was to create an amazing show using the soundtracks of popular videogames played by the LA Philharmonic Orchestra.

Video Games Live has clearly grown in the last couple of years. This month, they’ve announced a tour of so many sold-out shows around the country, that they’re adding an additional 25 stops, including the UK.

“Our goal of building Video Games Live as a worldwide brand is becoming a reality,” said Marc Geiger, Senior Executive Vice-President of Touring for the William-Morris Agency. “Tommy & Jack have created a very special and unique event experience that is not only a hit with gamers but also speaks to a general mainstream global audience as well.”

The shows include top orchestras, solo performers, special fx, exclusive video game footage, synchronized light shows, electronic percussionists, and interactive segments from various games. This tour features music from Mario, Zelda, Warcraft, Halo, Final Fantasy, Kingdom Hearts, Metal Gear Solid, Myst, Sonic, and Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, among others.

While the tour is of course unique, what’s important to note is that video gaming has crossed-over into other aspects of entertainment. As noted in our North American and European Youth Culture Studies, just as brands are discovering the importance of product-placement in video games, and fashion designers are discovering inspiration from subcultures such as Cosplay, so too are musicians and the industry of music seeing the power of music in video games to attract a large consumer marketplace outside of gamers themselves.

Next week, as the new version of E3 trade show featuring new releases, platforms, and ideas from the world’s top video gaming brands infiltrate Los Angeles, you can bet that Video Games Live will be a popular example of just how the industry can attract new sources of revenue within the complicated industry of entertainment.