The second annual Fantastic Arcade, an independent gaming convention from Alamo Drafthouse’s Fantastic Fest and PlayStation Network, proved to be another success this year.

Fantastic Arcade kicked off at The HighBall on Sept. 22 with games and geeks galore. The floors  were flooded with gamers and developers playing and discussing independent video games.

Games were supported on many gaming systems: PlayStation and PlayStation Move, Alienware computers, classic arcade machines and  even a few games for the iPad, targeting the growing tablet and mobile gaming market.

The arcade played host to gamers of all types – serious, casual and the in-between. For the serious gamers and those who just appreciate a well-made game, “Starhawk” looked promising with clean graphics and an intriguing storyline.

The successor to the 2007 PlayStation 3 game “Warhawk,” “Starhawk” is a third-person shooter action/adventure with landscapes reminiscent of “Fallout: New Vegas” and a plot seemingly straight out of Joss Whedon’s “Firefly.” “Starhawk” was developed by the Austin-based gaming company, Lightbox.

Fantastic Arcade also catered to those who enjoy the simple enjoyment of a classic arcade or 8-bit game. Many gamers swarmed around the arcade machines to school each other in a game of fishing in the fittingly named “Radical Fishing.”

The premise of the game is to pick the most extreme weapon to catch and kill the most fish. Gameplay in “Radical Fishing” is easy to figure out as it barely involves any gameplay at all – it’s as simple as holding down a button the entire extent of the game. In fact, the greatest difficulty a gamer will have is choosing their weapon of mass destruction.

Another game featured in the arcade and in the Fantastic Arcade tournaments was “Jesus vs. Dinosaurs.” Although not as straightforward as “Radical Fishing,” “Jesus vs. Dinosaurs” is entertaining whether or not the gamer knows what he or she is doing.

In the game, two players compete as God and Darwin to build a car with the most wheels in a limited amount of time. The cars are accordingly made out of Jesus and dinosaur parts akin to Tetris blocks.

St. Edward’s University’s own junior Kat McCullough won the “Jesus vs. Dinosaur” tournament at the arcade, despite never having played the game before that day.

“It felt, no pun intended, fantastic [to win], ” McCullough said. “I think the hosts of the game loved that a girl in a dress was able to beat all the boys in something that many consider a male-dominated area.”

Fantastic Arcade ended in an award ceremony on Sept. 25 where winners took home unusual awards such as Tim League’s (founder of Alamo Drafthouse) own Nintendo Power Glove and a trophy made out of Legos. Best in show of the Fantastic Arcade Spotlight was awarded to “Faraway” while the audience choice went to “Fez.”