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Faraway crowned at Fantastic Arcade festival
Fantastic Fest took place in Austin, TX this past weekend, and as part of the festivities there, organizers set up a Fantastic Arcade, to show off some of the latest and greatest indie games to hit the scene. There were a few good iPhone and iPad games out there, and in fact one of them took top honors, as Steph Thirion's Faraway (which we're eagerly awaiting on iOS) picked up the prize for Best in Show. Vlambeer's Radical Fishing (which was recently involved in an IP clash with another game called Ninja Fishing) also grabbed an award for "Most Punished for Lack of Ninjas," and is due out on iOS at some point in the future. You'll find the full list of games that won awards at the show in the press release below. It's great to see some popular iOS titles make the grade at an event like this, and boy, if the hype for Faraway wasn't high enough already, this adds even more icing to the cake. Hopefully we'll see the game released to the public very soon. Show full PR text FANTASTIC ARCADE 2011 INDIE GAME AWARD WINNERS HONORED Best in Show Awarded to Little--Eyes' Faraway AUSTIN, TX – September 25, 2011 – 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, wrapped the four-day event tonight with the Fantastic Arcade Awards Party: Starcade. Fantastic Arcade featured eight Spotlight indie games in the juried competition, each housed in retro-arcade style cabinets and available to the general public for play. These eight titles, along with thirteen additional showcased indie games, were culled from more than 100 submissions. The following is the full list of indie games awards and winners presented: Best in Show: Faraway by Little--Eyes Audience Choice Award: Fez by Polytron Most Punished for Lack of Ninjas Award: Radical Fishing by Vlambeer The Bionic Commando Award for Grappling Hook Excellence Award: Capsized by AlienTrap The "You got 2D in my 3D, or maybe 3D in my 2D" Award: Fez by Polytron The Mandlebrot Award: Fract by Phosfiend Systems The Most Recent Use of Japanese Tradition by Westerners Award: Skulls of the Shogun by Haunted Temple Studios The Implied Cephalopod Intercourse Award: Octodad by Team Octodad The Teach the Controversy Award: Jesus vs. Dinosaurs by Martin Jonasson, Petri Purho "Fantastic Arcade fuses the world of genre film with the burgeoning indie game community," said Mike Plante, Arcade Artistic Director. "Each Fantastic Arcade Spotlight game proved to be compelling, fun, accessible and a blast to play. In fact, the audience reached new record levels of thumb blisters!" Video game industry luminaries Brandon Boyer, Mike Plante and Eddo Stern curated the 2011 Fantastic Arcade. Panel discussions, developer talks and game tournaments were held each day of the festival at The Highball in Austin, Texas.
Fantastic Arcade to keep Austin weird on September 22
If you're fortunate enough to live within (or near!) the borders of Austin, Texas, you should clear your schedule for next weekend. Fantastic Arcade will take over The Highball from Thursday, September 22 to Sunday, September 25. The event will play host to 21 indie games, such as the psychedelic Dyad, the audio-only panic game, Deep Sea, the heartwarmingly bizarre Octodad, the perspective-shifting Fez, and the utterly magical Owlboy. There's also a Starhawk gameplay demonstration from fellow Austin-based studio Lightbox Interactive, and a panel hosted by a whole bevy of PSN developers. Check out Juegos Rancheros for the full lineup, trailers and a schedule of events for the weekend.
Austin's Fantastic Arcade lives up to its name
You wouldn't expect to walk into an arcade and find a cabinet dedicated to Every Day the Same Dream, Molleindustria's browser game about white-collar malaise. If you happen to be in Austin, TX this weekend, you can experience this particular anomaly for yourself, along with refurbished arcade machines housing Monaco, Nidhogg, Norrland, Enviro-Bear 2000 and more. These unique machines are just part of the Fantastic Arcade event within the Fantastic Fest film festival -- an event that also includes panel discussions, tournaments, and demos of Microsoft's upcoming XBLA Game Feast titles. We snapped some pictures of the handcrafted indie arcade for those of you who couldn't be there. Find them in our Fantastic gallery.%Gallery-103291%
Garriott's Portalarium going the social media route
Our friends at Joystiq tipped us off to the latest endeavor for MMO legend Richard Garriott (and no, it doesn't involve the intrepid developer orbiting the earth). While speaking at the Austin, Texas-based Fantastic Arcade event, Lord British dropped a few hints regarding the social media stylings that his latest company (and game), Portalarium, will feature. "You play it by clicking on a link, nothing to pay for up front, no real installation and only if you decide you really want to play it will we decide how to eventually charge you money for it," Garriott enthused. While we're not quite as excited as we would be if he'd announced an updated Ultima Online project, Portalarium bears watching, if only to see whether Garriott can still walk the walk. "Since everybody else is doing Flash and Java games, I can kick their ass pretty easy," he told attendees.
Richard Garriott's next game goes 'back to my roots,' but in social media
Portalarium founder, Ultima creator and no-foolin' spaceman Richard Garriott delivered the keynote at Fantastic Fest's inaugural Fantastic Arcade event in Austin today. After giving the assembled audience his personal history, he offered a hint about where he plans to go with Portalarium (which is evidently both a company and game name). Displaying a slide about going "back to my roots," Garriott said his company planned to make "AAA games, meaning the games we find compelling to create and play, but distributed through social media." Why that medium? "The power is in that you don't have to make a decision to buy it, you play it by clicking on a link, nothing to pay for up front, no real installation and only if you decide you really want to play it will we decide how to eventually charge you money for it." Later, in response to an audience question, he explained his strategy a bit further. "Since everybody else is doing Flash and Java games, I can kick their ass pretty easy."
Microsoft showing off upcoming XBLA games during Fantastic Fest
Fantastic Fest, an annual, week-long film festival held in Austin, Texas, has broadened its scope this year to include a few high-profile downloadable titles. Attendees can visit the Fantastic Arcade to check out some upcoming games coming from the festival's sponsor, Microsoft Game Studios -- titles including Comic Jumper, A World of Keflings, Hydrophobia and Super Meat Boy. The Fantastic Arcade opens its doors on Thursday, September 23. If you live in the Austin area and want to catch an early glimpse of some of these games, you can check out a schedule of demos and showtimes on the event's official site.
