Austin’s Gamer Weekend Featuring the Brick Fest Live Lego Fan Experience, Classic Game Fest, EnterpriseHack Hackathon and the Pong to Pokémon Exhibit

July 27, 2017 Nina Pena Entertainment, Events, News, Technology

It’s going to be a big weekend for gamers in Austin or gamers visiting the city. Though this weekend is not officially called “Austin Gamer Weekend” it truly feels like it is.  Recently Austin was named the 3rd best city for gamers and this weekend’s epic lineup of gaming events proves it!

Here is what is going on all around Austin this weekend gaming wise:

Brick Fest Live LEGO® Fan Experience

The Brick Fest Live LEGO® Fan Experience is filled with hands-on attractions and activities engineered to inspire, educate, and entertain. I have never heard of the Brick Fest before but the chance dive into over A MILLION LEGO® bricks sounds mind blowing and exciting!

Attraction Include:

  • The Glow Zone: A dark, mysterious world of intricate and elaborate LEGO® creations you’ll see in a new light!
  • Brick Fest Derby: Build and race your custom built LEGO® derby car down one of our 35-foot long tracks!
  • Collaborative Building Activities: Contribute to Guinness World-Record Sized mystery floor mosaic.
  • Inspiration Stations: Add to mind-blowing, life-sized LEGO® builds and make them your own with more LEGO® than you’ve ever seen.
  • Video Game Arena: Have a favorite LEGO® video game? Come challenge your family or make new friends in the Brick Fest Gaming Arena playing your favorite LEGO® title head-to-head.
  • Mini Golf: A miniature golf course built to inspire! Take your game to the next level on the Brick-Links.
  • Brick Fest Theater Trivia & Entertainment: Win prizes at LEGO® trivia and learn more about how many ways you can use LEGO®!
  • Mosaics: Using a colorful variety of 1×1 LEGO® bricks, create your own mosaic tile and be part of the show!
  • Shopping: Find new, vintage, rare, and custom LEGO sets and merchandise from one of the many merchants in attendance.

The Brick Fest Live is at the Austin Convention Center and is on Saturday the 29th and Sunday the 30th. To purchase tickets click here or for more information about Brick Fest click here.

CLASSIC GAME FEST

The CLASSIC GAME FEST will be celebrating their 10th anniversary this year.  The CLASSIC GAME FEST includes more than 119 Vendors and covers over 70,000sf of exhibit and vendor space.

The CLASSIC GAME FEST consists of the below:

  • Retro game tournaments
  • Freeplay Arcade & Pinball games
  • Classic Video Game Museum
  • Cash 4 Games trade in station
  • Retro Game Repairs
  • Costume Contests
  • Fan Groups
  • Special Guests
  • 20 LIVE video game cover bands – If you are attending check out TekForce‘s performance during the event.

The Classic Game Fest will take place at Parmer event’s center near downtown Austin. I recently did an article with all the information about the CLASSIC GAME FEST, to view that article click here. To purchase tickets or for more information click here.

Pong to Pokémon Exhibit at Bullock Museum Opening

The Bullock Museum will be opening Pong to Pokémon: The Evolution of Electronic Gaming exhibit in the Rotunda Gallery for one month. Visitors will be able to play classic video games for free and view dozens of rare artifacts.

Below is a list of the Playable Classic Video Games.

  • Text-based adventures for early home computers
    • Oregon Trail
    • ZORK I
  • Arcade console classics through support of Arcades4Home
    • Centipede
    • Ms. Pac-Man
  • Home game consoles and handhelds from the 1970s and 1980s
    • Tetris
    • Super Mario Bros.
    • Madden 95
    • Sonic the Hedgehog 2
    • Atari 2600, Nintendo NES, and Sega Genesis classic console re-releases
  • Modern home games using advanced controllers, mobile devices, and home comuters and offering personalized gameplay and outlets for user creativity
    • Guitar Hero
    • Wii Sports
    • Angry Birds
    • Minecraft

To read my article with full details about the exhibit click here. For more information or to buy tickets to Bullock Museum about the exhibit click here.

EnterpriseHack Hackathon

Austin-based tech aficionados will have a chance to test their expertise and knowledge at Expedition Hackathons, hosted by technology strategy firm Blue Compass, and taking place in Austin on July 29th-July 30th at Gather – Lamar. Local programmers, tech gurus, engineers, specialists, college students, developers, and more, are being encouraged to register and participate in the Hackathon challenge, with a Grand Prize of $5,000.

This year’s hackathon challenge will focus on creating an engaging visualization of what the future of conflict prevention will look like. Participants must be prepared and will be judged on articulating how technology will advance from the current state to the future, and will include factors such as how technology can bridge the gap between peace and conflict.

To read my article with full details of the hackathon click here. For more information on the ExpeditionHacks Hackathon click here.

As you can see gamers will have a big weekend in Austin. I am attempting to attend and cover them all live. To see where I am at throughout the weekend plus watch live coverage of said events follow me at @nrpena and @hitechchic.

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Source: Lego, EnterpriseHack, Bullock Museum, Classic Game Fest

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