Fantastic Fest’s FANTASTIC ARCADE titles and events announced!

he following is mostly a press release, but it saved me the trouble to typing it myself and this way I don’t forget anything. I am going to Austin next week to cover Fantastic Fest for Live For Films and can’t wait to get there. Fantastic Arcade looks to be amazing and a lot of fun. I am looking forward to Jesus vs. Dinosaurs, especially. – H.Blain

FANTASTIC FEST ANNOUNCES FANTASTIC ARCADE 2011

SEPTEMBER 22-25, 2011- AUSTIN, TEXAS

More than 20 independent video games will be on display at this year’s Fantastic Arcade, the second annual showcase of independent games from the organizers of Alamo Drafthouse’s Fantastic Fest, the world’s largest genre film festival.

Taking place on September 22-25, 2011, Fantastic Arcade is presented by PlayStation®Network. As the Presenting Sponsor of the Arcade and the exclusive console partner of the event, PlayStation®Network will present special sessions and activities throughout the Arcade event.

Video game industry luminaries Brandon Boyer, Mike Plante and Eddo Stern curated the 2011 Fantastic Arcade. Panel discussions, developer talks and game tournaments will be held each day of the festival. All games and game related events in Fantastic Arcade will be free and open to the general public at Austin, TX’s Highball Lounge on South Lamar Blvd. Each day will have a happy hour at the Highball and a tournament on a different independent game.

“Fantastic Arcade is a direct bridge between the worlds of independent gaming and genre filmmaking,” said Mike Plante, Arcade Artistic Director. “Gaming and film both use genre and artistic style to tell stories and create memorable experiences that excite audiences around the world. These two mediums embody what the Fantastic Fest and Arcade are all about.”

The following eight games will be showcased during Fantastic Arcade as part of the Arcade’s main competition:

• Capsized (Alientrap) – As an intrepid space traveler, your ship has crash-landed on a mysterious alien planet. You must navigate through the perilous environment and fight off blood-thirsty creatures to save your crewmates and escape with your lives!

• Faraway (Little–Eyes)– One button travels and constellation creations in infinite procedural outer space.

• Fez (Polytron) –Gomez is a 2D man on a voyage of discovery into the mysterious 3rd dimension. Change your perspective and look at the world in a different way.
• FRACT (Phosfiend Systems) –An atmospheric adventure game set in an abstract forgotten world of analog sounds, samples and glitches.
• Jesus VS. Dinosaurs (Martin Jonasson, Petri Purho) — God travels back in time to kill all dinosaurs, they’re not in the bible and people keep digging them up to make him look bad. Darwin gets wind of this and travels back in time to stop God. They both build cars a have the ultimate chicken race in prehistory.
• Octodad (Team Octodad) — Loving husband. Caring father. Secret octopus.
• Radical Fishing (Vlambeer) — An accurate simulation of traditional fishing as gramps always described it.
• Skulls of the Shogun (Haunted Temple Studios) –Washing up on the shores of the afterlife, players meet and join forces with vibrant ghost-samurai warriors, magical animal-monks, and mustachioed samurai generals in an invigorating cocktail of 1960s flavored sorcery and strategy.

About Fantastic Arcade Fantastic Arcade fuses the world of independent film and independent gaming. We bring together artists and professionals who are telling stories and creating experiences in film, games and online entertainment simultaneously. At Fantastic Arcade, we showcase a curated selection of brand new independent games as well as a larger sampling of important groundbreaking independent games from the last couple of years. Attendees are invited to play the games as well as interact with the game developers via panels and nightly parties and happy hours. We also feature both panels with independent filmmakers side by side with game developers and intimate demo sessions by independent game developers. Lastly, we feel that video games rightfully belong side by side with shorts and feature films at Fantastic Fest. The artistic merit of these games will be honored with both audience awards and a juried competition.

About Fantastic Fest  – Fantastic Fest is the largest genre film festival in the U.S., specializing in horror, fantasy, sci-fi, action and just plain fantastic movies from all around the world. Fantastic Fest also features world, national and regional premieres of new, up-and-coming genre films and is held each year at the Alamo Drafthouse Cinema on South Lamar in Austin, Texas.

For more information, visit www.fantasticfest.com