South by Southwest ScreenBurn Arcade

SXSW 2012 INTERACTIVE

• Interactive Introduction

  All the info you need to follow our SXSW coverage, a list of the SXSW 2012 Interactive campuses, and how to Aurasma-fy our cover.

• Don't Click Us, We'll Click You

  How the Internet started searching us

  BY JAMES RENOVITCH

• Black Like Who?

  Baratunde Thurston lightens up the conversation on race, technology, and social change

  BY CINDY WIDNER

• Man or Machine? Circle Option C.

  Digital pioneer Amber Case on cyborg anthropology

  BY JON LEBKOWSKY

• Ex-Punk Author, DIY or Die Forever

  Test-driving the newest iBooks Author app (bumps ahead)

  BY JESSE SUBLETT

• The Sound of Secrets

  Bluebrain live-scores your true confessions

  BY JAMES RENOVITCH

• The (Re-)Rise of Start-Up Culture

  Are we closing in on a sustainable model?

  BY RICHARD WHITTAKER

• Unpicked: The Underachiever's Rejected Panel Proposals

  The Underachiever's Rejected Panel Proposals

  BY JOSH ROSENBLATT

• Where No Man Has Gone Before

  What Jeffrey Zeldman thinks about Jeffrey Zeldman's induction into the SXSW Interactive Hall of Fame

  BY WAYNE ALAN BRENNER

• The End of the Double Rainbow

  Does it take a pot of gold now to go viral?

  BY DAN SOLOMON

• About Time for a New Pair of Genes

  Better SXSW through DNA modification

  BY WAYNE ALAN BRENNER

• Tumblr Today, the Tate Tomorrow

  Does the rise of social media mean more art or just more noise?

  BY ASHLEY MORENO

• A Patchwork Planet

  How blogging became the (very lucrative) 21st century quilting bee

  BY MELANIE HAUPT

• South by Southwest ScreenBurn Arcade

  Holy crap! It's free! OMG! Parking!

  BY JAMES RENOVITCH

If you didn't splurge on that Interactive badge this year, that doesn't mean you have to live vicariously through the copious blogs and tweets about the event sprinkled over the Internet – at least not for the gaming portion of the Festival. The free and public ScreenBurn Arcade, relocated this year from the Austin Convention Center to the Palmer Events Center (900 Barton Springs Rd.), runs March 9-11 and has booths, gaming stations, and events. Even more appealing is the ample parking in the attached garage. No more riding around Downtown with game-hungry kids in the car while you try to not kill SXSW pedestrians.

See the full schedule of events at www.sxswscreenburn.com, but here are a few highlights:

Gaming's academic sister Jane McGonigal will be at her booth now and again giving out a limited number of her latest book, Reality Is Broken, and sharing her secrets on making your life SuperBetter. We're not sure what that entails exactly, but McGonigal's a SXSW veteran, so we trust her.

Bring the aspiring game designer in the brood to the E-Line Media booth and start making your own video game on the spot. Play games made by local kids if you need help getting inspired. Recommended for kids between the ages of 7 and 15; no registration required.

BioWare will be showing off its locally developed release Star Wars: The Old Republic, and LightBox Interactive will discuss Starhawk, a strategy-oriented space Western being released for the PlayStation3 this year.

For those of you not as interested in playing as you are in watching the professionals at play, look out for tournaments pitting the nation's best against one another. The brand-new Street Fighter X Tekken as well as the slightly older if a bit wiser StarCraft II will both be played to perfection to see who comes out on top.

Come dressed as your favorite video-game character and vie for the title of best costume in the cosplay competition. The event takes place on the last day of the arcade, but contestants must sign up on either of the previous days.