In Austin, Texas there is an amazing film festival called Fantastic Fest! We didn't go to that. Lil' Gossamer and I headed over to it's videogame offspring known as Fantastic Arcade. We even spoiled ourselves by getting the $60 VIP pass! We regret that decision.

Fantastic Arcade is brand new and still in it's experimental phase. That may have been the main reason why it was so hard to get information on the shows over at the Alamo Drafthouse. We even had to go through an hour-long shuffle act with the volunteers, all who were trying to figure out if we needed a ticket or not to get into the shows. One minute we did, the next we didn't, and then we did after all! The volunteers for the most part were nice. Sadly, we kept dealing with the rude ones who were beyond not helpful. We even missed a panel because we were given bad information.

Over at The Highball, things were different. We made lots of friends like Tien!



Vintage arcade games mixed with unreleased games! There was a private area for badge holders to compete in game tournaments, play some independent games, and kill some zombies. At night, we enjoyed dance parties until closing. It was all so amazing... the first day. By the final day, we've played all the games, beat a few (we totally kicked Shredders butt in the Ninja Turtle game), and already slayed a lifetime worth of zombies.



The $60 we spent were not worth it. If we do go back to Fantastic Arcade, we'll just get a day pass or one of the other cheaper options. Don't get us wrong, we did enjoy ourselves. There was just a lot that could have been improved on. Fantastic Arcade is still growing and we look forward to see what future events have to offer!

Best Stuff We Saw or Played
- Super Meat Boy
- Canabalt
- Alamo Drafthouse campaign map in Left 4 Dead
- Red VS Blue Season 8
- Machinarium