We are proud to announce our new independent games festival, Fantastic Arcade, which will run concurrent with the first four days of Fantastic Fest, September 23-26, 2010. Designed as a games spin-off event from the main film festival, Fantastic Arcade will feature fresh, cutting-edge games designed by independent game developers.

The Highball ballroom will be transformed into an old-school arcade featuring games the likes of which never existed in any Aladdin’s Castle back in the day. The Fantastic Arcade curators have selected some of the most fascinating new independent games and retrofitted them into vintage arcade consoles set to free-play for the duration of the event. We feel that video games rightfully belong side by side with shorts and feature films at Fantastic Fest, and the artistic merit of these games will be honored with both audience awards and a juried competition.

Other Fantastic Arcade highlights include a live game demos by their authors on the big screens at Alamo Drafthouse on South Lamar, a machinima film competition judged by Red Vs. Blue creator Burnie Burns, video game art installations featuring work by Cory Arcangel, live chiptune music performances, games showcases and demos from major game publishers, game design guest speakers, screenings of popular games culture films, a Starcade game-show competition, a light saber dance party and more! Among other topics, the panels will explore the crossover and differences between the visual story-telling mediums of the film and game worlds.

Fantastic Arcade is scheduled for September 23-26 with events at the Highball and Alamo South Lamar. We will also be hosting events as a build-up to Fantastic Arcade at the Ritz, Alamo South Lamar and Republic Square Park.

2010 FANTASTIC ARCADE BADGES AND SINGLE DAY TICKETS SINGLE DAY PASS – $20 Access to all Fantastic Arcade films, panels, parties, happy hour and game demos for a single day. Purchase a single day pass here.

SINGLE DAY GAME DEMO PASS – $10 Access to the game demos and arcade only for a single day. Purchase a single day demo pass here.

2010 V.I.P. BADGES – $60 Access to all Fantastic Arcade films, panels, parties, happy hour and game demos for all four days, September 23-26, plus a limited edition Fantastic Arcade T-shirt. Purchase a V.I.P. badge here.

Daily Hours

11 am to 6 pm – Arcade open for game play and tournaments 6 pm to 7:30 pm – Fantastic Arcade happy hour and tournament finals 8 pm to 11 pm – Fantastic Arcade VIP Party All ages from 11 am to 6 pm; 18 and over from 6 pm to 11 pm.

NOTE – 2010 Fantastic FEST VIP, Film, 2nd Half and Daytime Badges get access to the Fantastic Arcade game demos, arcade and happy hour for all four days, however Fantastic ARCADE badgeholders get priority admission over Fantastic Fest badgeholders to all ARCADE events. $20 and $60 pass holders get priority admission to the advance screenings of Fantastic Arcade films prior to the festival.