TORONTO -- The Tokyo Olympics united athletes from around the world during the Games' opening ceremony Friday but it also united hardcore gamers as Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest theme music played as teams entered the Olympic Stadium.
The mostly spectator-free Tokyo 2020 Olympics officially got underway in Japan on Friday, as athletes from more than 200 countries marched into the Olympic Stadium, waving at empty seats while popular video game music echoed throughout the venue.
An orchestra covered a variety of melodies from popular Japanese-made video games, kicking off the crowd-less party with "Roto's Theme" from the Dragon Quest series.
The parade of countries also featured the main Final Fantasy theme as well as that game鈥檚 "Victory Fanfare," the song that plays when a player wins an encounter.
Many watching from home were quick to notice the video game music, uniting gamers via social media.
"They just opened the Tokyo Olympics with the Final Fantasy Victory theme and Dragon Quest Theme lmao Face with tears of joy this is amazing," reads a tweet.
"Gamers hearing Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest music playing during the #OpeningCeremony of the #Olympics," reads another.
"Hearing dragon quest and Final Fantasy music at the olympics sent me into a new realm.... reborn," another post reads.
"I can't believe that the Olympics is playing Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest music... this is so wild. What a world we live in," reads another post.
Some iconic video games were noticeably absent from the parade of athletes including music from the Super Mario Bros. franchise and The Legend of Zelda.
The first full day of competition kicks off Saturday and runs through to Aug. 8.
With a file from The Associated Press
