Fantastic Fest Announces Fantastic Arcade 2011 - September 22-25, 2011- Austin, Texas

Fantastic Fest Announces Fantastic Arcade 2011 - September 22-25, 2011- Austin, Texas

National gaming event features new games and major publisher showcase

AUSTIN, Texas, Sept. 13, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- 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(R)Network. As the Presenting Sponsor of the Arcade and the exclusive console partner of the event, PlayStation(R)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, including Bit Pilot, Faraway, Super Crate Box and Vikings on Trampolines.

"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."

Special events include:

-- Developer Commentary - Hear direct from the creators as they play their
games live on the screen at the Highball. Games include Bit Pilot, Dyad,
Faraway, Fez, Jesus Vs. Dinosaurs, Lost Mars, Octodad, Owlboy, Skulls of
the Shogun, They Bleed Pixels and Vikings on Trampolines.
-- PlayStation(R)Network Opening Day Happy Hour - Join us from 5-7pm on
Thursday, September 22nd for a Happy Hour presented by PlayStation
Network. Get a taste of upcoming PlayStation Network releases, as well
as Starhawk (from Austin's Lightbox Interactive), which will be playable
in a tournament, with prizes provided by PlayStation.
-- PlayStation(R)Network Developer Panel - Game creators speak about
working in and out of the gaming industry. Panelists include Queasy
Games (Sound Shapes), thatgamecompany (Journey, Flower, flOw, Cloud),
and Q-Games (Pixel Junk), to name a few.
-- Storytelling and Development in Videogames & Film - Feature film writers
and writers of the game Starhawk will discuss storytelling and
development in videogames and crossing over with film.
-- Yearbook Nerd Photo Contest - Local contestants share their old high
school awkward photos - nerds are winners in our eyes.

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 and 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 1960 s flavored sorcery and
strategy.

In addition to the aforementioned games, Fantastic Arcade will also feature the following games throughout the four days of the festival:

-- Banker's Dozen (David Mershon) - Based on the forgotten occult writings
of a Nobel prize winning economist, Banker's Dozen is a game about time
traveling financiers.
-- Bit Pilot (Zach Gage) - A fast paced asteroid dodging game with an
innovative control scheme.
-- Deep Sea (Robin Arnott) - A creepy audio-only game where players don a
sense-depriving gas mask to face off against hidden sea monsters.
-- Dyad (][ Games) - Rather than having the traditional mechanics of break
and accelerate, you must navigate an infinite tube by interacting with
enemies for speed.
-- Hohokum (Honeyslug, Richard Hogg) - Nokia Snake meets Schindler's List.
-- Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet (Shadow Planet Productions) - Rescue your
sun and homeworld from the malevolent shadow virus in this eye-popping
animated side-scroller adventure.
-- Lost Mars (Tiger Style) - An action-gardening adventure where you
cultivate an alien ecosystem and research mysterious lifeforms.
-- Murder Dog IV: Trial of the Murder Dog (thecatamites) - Help a
horrendous dog evade proper retribution for his deeds.
-- Owlboy (D-Pad Studio) - You play Otus, a young owl who sets out on an
adventure when his village is attacked by sky pirates.
-- Salome (increpare) - Get to the exit to finish a level.
-- Superbrothers: Sword & Sworcery EP (Superbrothers Inc. + Jim Guthrie +
Capy) - Traverse a mythic little realm, use a sword to do battle, evoke
sorcery to solve mystical musical mysteries and help a wandering warrior
monk complete her woeful errand.
-- They Bleed Pixels (Spooky Squid Games Inc.) - A fast-paced, gothic
lo-fi, platforming beat 'em up that drips, gushes and flows.
-- Ute (Lea Schonfelder, Stefan Lind) - Ute has to have sex as much as she
can before getting married.

Check out Facebook and Twitter for all of the latest Fantastic Arcade news and happenings.

For the latest developments visit the Fantastic Fest Facebook & Twitter.

For press inquiries and free media registration for Fantastic Arcade please email Andrea Schneider at DefinitionPR@gmail.com.

For more details regarding Fantastic Fest, contact festival publicist Brandy Fons, at brandy@fonspr.com. For more information, visit www.fantasticfest.com.

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. In years past the festival has been home to world premieres of THERE WILL BE BLOOD, APOCALYPTO, ZOMBIELAND and RED while the guest roster has included such talent as Mel Gibson, Bill Murray, Edward Norton, Ryan Reynolds, Karl Urban, Josh Hartnett, The RZA, Dolph Lundgren, Jemaine Clement, Paul Rudd, Bill Pullman, Paul Thomas Anderson, Kevin Smith, Jon Favreau, George Romero, Darren Aronofsky and Mike Judge. Fantastic Fest also features world, national and regional premieres of new, up-and-coming genre films. The festival has launched and propelled the buzz for international genre hits like THE HUMAN CENTIPEDE, MONSTERS, TIMECRIMES and TROLLHUNTER. Fantastic Fest is held each year at the Alamo Drafthouse Cinema on South Lamar in Austin, Texas. The Alamo Drafthouse was named the best cinema in America by Entertainment Weekly and features food and drink served to your seat without any disruption of the movie experience.

During his Keynote Address at the International film Festival Summit in Las Vegas, Variety president and publisher Charlie Koones listed Fantastic Fest in a list of "10 Film Festivals We Love," a list which included industry heavy-hitters such as Cannes, Toronto and Telluride. We've also been named as one of the "25 coolest film festivals" and the "25 film festivals worth the entry fee" by Moviemaker Magazine.

Our Partners

Fantastic Arcade sponsors include Presenting Sponsor PlayStation(R) Network, Austin game developers Lightbox Interactive (Title Sponsor) and Devolver Digital (Premier Sponsor), as well as Midas Green Tech (Supporting Sponsor).

Returning Presenting Sponsors for Fantastic Fest and Arcade include Austin-based Ambhar Tequila, as well as AMD, Alienware, and FEARnet.

New Presenting Sponsors include Texas' own Shiner Beer, whose family of products will be featured throughout the festival. Joining them are Plano-based Well Go USA Entertainment, PlayStation(R) Network, and Fandango. Fandango is the exclusive video sponsor as well as ticketing partner of Fantastic Fest 2011. Daily tickets can be purchased at www.fantasticfest.com or www.fandango.com. A full list of this year's sponsors can be found at www.fantasticfest.com/sponsors

CONTACT: Andrea Schneider
PHONE: 917.769.6060
E-MAIL: definitionpr@gmail.com

SOURCE Fantastic Fest

Fantastic Fest

Web Site: http://www.fantasticfest.com

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