EARLY WARNING: NEXT JUEGOS EVENT WILL BE DECEMBER 10TH
Hey all — just a quick update that because of a charity event happening at the Highball on the first Sunday of December, we’ve moved the next JUEGOS RANCHEROS meetup to take place on SATURDAY, DECEMBER 10th.
More details and time-slot information will be coming soon, but mark your calendars now! We think this one’s going to be pretty rad.
A FISTFUL OF INDIES: NOVEMBER 2011
After a brief Fantastic Arcade hiatus, we’re returning once again to our regular Fistful of Indies series — with the latest selection of indie games both local and global worth paying attention to released over the prior month — and this time we’ve again put together a list that rings in at several hundred games, presented at our sixth event.
Fully annotated for your pleasure, for the convenience of both event-goers and — hopefully — the wider world of indie game enthusiasts, here’s the list for November 2011:
FANTASTIC ARCADE PRESENTS JUEGOS RANCHEROS: STARHAWK GOES INDIE EDITION
What’s so indie about the highly-anticipated PlayStation 3 shooter STARHAWK? Find out this Sunday, November 6th, at 4PM at our sixth edition of JUEGOS RANCHEROS at the Highball, as the team designing the game at our own Austin-local LightBox Interactive show off their personal side-projects, and explain how working on abstract indie games ends up influencing big-budget AAA designs.
[ RSVP FOR THIS EVENT AND INVITE YOUR FRIENDS ON FACEBOOK BY CLICKING HERE! ]
In attendance at this month’s JUEGOS RANCHEROS will be STARHAWK lead designer Josh Sutphin with his games FAIL-DEADLY and CORTEX, designer Matthew Gallant with his one-button underwater battler PAX BRITANNICA, and designer Trent Polack with his collection of abstract indie games including IN THE WIND, ASPLODE! and BROKEN.
In addition to simply showing off their work, the team will touch on the development of STARHAWK, specifically how indie development and philosophies themselves can be integrated into a bigger commercial design, and the importance of drawing design influences from a wider variety of media and experiences, followed by public play of all the games brought to the show!
There will also be cake.
Everything will be kicking off Sunday, November 6th, promptly at 4PM at The Highball, 1142 S Lamar Blvd, Austin, TX 78704! Come hang out, enjoy the Highball’s Happy Hour drink specials, and say hello to the people changing the way you think about games!
[*PS: Hey everyone! As usual, bring your 3DS again! We’re doing awesome with these StreetPasses!]
JUEGOS RANCHEROS NAMED AUSTIN CHRONICLE’S BEST OF AUSTIN 2011
For a name that I did not at all intend to actually catch on, it seems it’s not only just here to stay, but winning Major Awards: our own Austin Chronicle has just given JUEGOS RANCHEROS its prestigious & highly coveted ‘Best Video-Game Collective Name’ award in its annual Best of Austin issue!
Oh yeah, the group itself is pretty cool, too. Founded by the poster boys of the local indie gaming scene, Brandon Boyer, Adam Saltsman, and Wiley Wiggins, the group has monthly open meetings at the HighBall bringing game developers from Austin and elsewhere around the globe to share their visions and expertise. Don’t expect a tech-laden wonkfest though; Juegos welcomes and accommodates anyone and everyone who wants to see (and often play) the cutting edge of interactive arts. The schmoozing is top-notch, but, more importantly, the gabbing and flesh-pressing is getting results such as the under-construction Texatron indie video-gaming cabinet. Expect that chunk of solid awesome to be staring back at Austin very soon.
You’ve got until Thursday to get the issue itself, if you’d like to clip the article (page 46) & send it to your mom to have her hang it from the fridge. Thanks to the Chronicle for putting us in such amazing company!
JUEGOS RANCHEROS will be returning to the Highball after a post-Fantastic-Arcade hiatus Sunday, November 6th at 4:30pm. Mark your calendars now!
FANTASTIC FEST ANNOUNCES FANTASTIC ARCADE 2011
Hey everybody — finally it can be told! Our friends over at Alamo Drafthouse have just announced the full lineup for this year’s Fantastic Arcade — the sister games festival presented as part of their yearly week-long genre film blowout Fantastic Fest. And it’s in just two weeks! And it’s free and open to the general public, every day!
Not only are there going to be a ton of good games on display at the Highball — there are going to be a ton of good indies in town hanging out, showing stuff off and in general carousing pretty heavily from Thursday, September 22nd through Sunday, September 25th!
Block those days off on your calendar now, and come spend the whole weekend at the Highball — events open a bit after noon and continue on until well past midnight!
Below the fold is the full press Fantastic Fest press release, and I’ve added videos of each of the games that’ll be shown throughout the fest!
A FISTFUL OF INDIES: SEPTEMBER 2011
Returning once again to our regular Fistful of Indies series — with the latest selection of indie games both local and global worth paying attention to released over the prior month — this time we’ve put together a list with over six hundred games, presented at our fifth event.
Fully annotated for your pleasure, for the convenience of both event-goers and — hopefully — the wider world of indie game enthusiasts, here’s the list for September 2011:
