Game On Austin

In case you missed the banner likely hovering above this very blog post, the Chronicle and ScreenBurn at SXSW are hosting a gaming event (Thusday, Oct. 15) to bring developers and gamers together. The two main ingredients are beer (for those of age) and video games, but there are enough components to spice up the recipe. Did I mention it's free?

'Cause it's true. It's totally free. Except for the beer. Sorry, we have to make this worthwhile for the Mohawk in some way. There will be extremely special beer specials, because nothing goes better with high-tech equipment than copious amounts of alcohol.

Lest you think that SXSW and the Chronicle just clicked our Wonder Twins rings together and, poof, a gaming event appeared, we had loads of help.

The International Game Developers Association have our backs despite the fact that they are still hungover from the Game Developers Conference only a few weeks gone. They're sort of the fairy godparents of gaming in Austin and always good to have in your corner.

AMODA is supplying some ambiance (in an event sure to be lousy with ambiance) with gaming-themed projections on the big outdoor screen only to break for a musical performance from the appropriately named Mysterious-H.

Kings of the old-school, Game Over Videogames, will supply the Ataris and Nintendos for the retro lounge upstairs. I'll likely be there playing the Journey Atari game. Go ahead and challenge me.

If you're looking to play something more up-to-date, there's a Rock Band "tournament" on the inside stage. We use quotation marks because after a few drinks we question how valid the results will be. Don't blame us when the judge passes out in his or her own vomit; we warned you. We only say that because a rep from the New Movement improv school will likely be emceeing the tourney. I guess passing out can be considered slapstick.

Just for walking through the door you could win such fabulous prizes as a 2010 SXSW Interactive registration, a 2010 SXSW Music wristband, and other stuff you didn't earn.

But the main reason to come are the slew of local gaming developers setting up stations to show Austin what goes on behind closed doors.

Axelo shows off their new BAT controller for PC gamers. A mouse just doesn't cut it sometimes.

If you're more into the iPhone or smartphone gaming world (a world expanding rather quickly), Super Happy Fun Fun shows off its latest apps and downloadable games to keep you entertained on the go.

Twisted Pixel has a a string of good releases with The Maw and Splosion Man for download on the Xbox Live. We hope they'll have those to test out but also pray they'll bring the trailer for the future title Comic Jumper: The Adventures of Captain Smiley.

Still riding high on their release of Ghostbusters for the Wii, Red Fly Studios will hopefully have a working version of their upcoming cooking simulator based on the Food Network show Cook or be Cooked.

Challenge Games specializes in Web titles for people who like the idea of World of Warcraft but don't have time to whittle their lives away in such large increments. Games like their most recent release, Duels, offers short bursts of fun that you can accumulate to get the massive feeling of accomplishment usually exclusive to bigger games.

Another local creator of web-based games, Tandem Games, shows their stuff, likely including their recent release BumbleTales.

Winner of best local studio name, Perfect Dork, is pimping its upcoming game, Box Macabre, that sounds and looks perfect for Halloween gaming. Still waiting on a release date for that one though.

Cryptic Allusion is the wildcard. This group of independent developers could pull anything out of their back pockets. Let's hope it's a video game.

Coming in second for wildcardness is Monkey Trap Games who will bring Foreclosure Bailout, their future release. We're not entirely sure what this game is about but we doubt MTG will be handing out free money. We just hope they bring Dave the Furry with them.

Just to keep you guessing, the folks from Scare for a Cure will be running around in costumes and handing out tickets to their haunted house.

Phew! Sounds like a butt-ton of fun don't it? Did me using the word "butt-ton" just ruin it for you? Hope not. See you there.