Despite being the centerpiece of SXSW Interactive's game-focused ScreenBurn Festival, the ScreenBurn Arcade has yet to achieve the expansive grandeur of other conventions' expo floors. The entire floor was enclosed within less than half of the Austin Convention Center's convention space. Most of the real estate in there was taken up by just a few exhibitors. The Championship Gaming Series held a draft at ScreenBurn, and had a large, flashy area of their own on one side of the floor, with constant bouts of Dead or Alive 4, Forza 2 and other games taking place.

Wizards of the Coast had one of the largest installations directly in the middle of the floor, with space to play board, card, and miniature games -- as well as, of course, space to buy said games. The relative size of the booth actually made it seem more important, and almost drove me to buy some Magic cards or something.

Many of the booths were playing popular released games -- GameTap, of course, had a selection of classics, and Guitar Hero III and Rock Band were mainstays. The only booth I could find that was demonstrating any pre-release games was Gamecock, who brought the demos of Pirates Vs. Ninjas Dodgeball, Hail to the Chimp, Insecticide, and Legendary from EIEIO, as well as Dementium.

The most popular booth in the Arcade was not really game-related: Austin Laser Art offered laser etching of cellphones and other items, and had conventiongoers waiting over an hour for the chance to burn their expensive stuff.

ScreenBurn is just in its second year, and we're certain that the festival and the Arcade will continue to grow in size and popularity. This year, however, it was a great place to play some Rock Band and lose at Dead or Alive 4.

The transition between video game and film is typically no different than one of those trap-laden corridors Ubisoft's princely protagonist dashes through on a regular basis. Though we yearn to say otherwise, Disney's Prince of Persia: Sands of Time film hasn't shown to be particularly adept at running the gauntlet. Coupling mega producer Jerry Bruckheimer's involvement with director Mike Newell's promise (of having his assistant play through the game) leads us to believe that the crew has fallen into the very first pit and succumbed to one of those spinning blade thingies.

Still, we'd best give them a chance to finish shooting in Morocco this June, which Variety notes will have a positive effect on the North African film business. Scenes for the Jeffrey Nachmanoff- and Jordan Mechner-written project will also be filmed at the UK's Pinewood Shepperton studios. Cross your fingers and hope for something more than a literal explosion of bullet-time sword fights, churlish chariot chases and liberal lingering on Farah's faucets.

While still gunning for a Halloween 2008 release, the developers of Dead Space managed to take some time off and bond through various culinary activities. In addition to a hot wings eating contest, executive producer Glen Schofield told MTV Multiplayer's Stephen Totilo about a cake-baking contest the dev team held. Pictured above is the winner, Ishi-s'more-a, based on the Ishimura (pictured right). MTV will have (less) important details about the actual game later this week; check out the article for another tantalizing (and deathly) pastry.

In a recent article about Imagination is the Only Escape, an under-development edutainment title about the Holocaust, the New York Times' headline writer apparently didn't read the story before slapping at the top: No Game About Nazis for Nintendo.

Turns out the actual quote from Nintendo was something far more inert: "At this time, there are no plans for this game to be released for any Nintendo platforms in North America." Which in industry speak simply means "wait and see."

GI.biz's follow up with Imagination's publisher, Alten8, reveals the game is in its "early stages" and wasn't blocked by Nintendo. A spokesperson for the Anti-Defamation League even said the group welcomed the use of new technology to educate. Although this isn't our favorite NYT error about gaming in recent memory, not channeling FOX News when writing headlines is always a good start.

[Via GamePolitics]

Read -- NY Times: No game about Nazis for Nintendo
Read -- Alten8 disputes reports of Nintendo blocking DS release

The students of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology are once again showing off their gamer cred with an on-campus prank (or "hack," as those princely nerds like to call it). This time, it's in honor of the release of Smash Bros. Brawl, a modest little Wii title that you may or may not have heard of. The "hackers" hung items and symbols from the game in Lobby 7 of their campus on launch day, including a Pokéball, crate, and Mario's cap.

We have to admit that we're a bit disappointed with the simplicity of this gaming prank. Hanging little trinkets is nothing compared to arming and helmeting a statue to resemble Master Chief. While we appreciate the thought, this prank would seem tame at a community college, much less one of the most competitive schools in America. Of course, we're willing to forgive and forget, if MIT's student body can manage to come up with something a little better. You raised the bar yourselves, ladies and gentlemen. Now here's your chance to meet it.

Following up on their quest to decide the greatest horse in video game history, the guys and gals of MTV Multiplayer have recently announced the greatest video game dog. And the winner is Parappa, the adorable two-dimensional hip-hop legend, and star of Parappa the Rapper.

Runner-ups include the ubiquitous zombie dogs from the Resident Evil series, the annoying dog that mocks us with his laughter from Duck Hunt, Amaterasu from Okami, and K.K. Slider from Animal Crossing (though presumably the in-game incarnate, and not that creepy real-life version). We're looking forward to seeing which animal MTV sees fit to vote on next. We're hoping for frog, a category clearly dominated by Fred from Blaster Master.

We're going to be honest and admit that we still don't get the Max Payne movie project. It's been five years since the last game in the series, and the brand power in the mass market has to be hovering around nil. We weren't even sure we believed it last month when we heard that filming was to start this month. That was, until we received this pic of Mark Wahlberg on the set of the film.

To us he looks ... well, like Mark Wahlberg in a dark jacket. But since Max's face has looked completely different in both of his games, we don't know exactly what we expected. But if you're in the Toronto area, you may be able to help us get a better idea of how things are coming along. One of our readers sent in a list of shooting locales and times where you might be able to catch a glimpse, we've put it right after the jump. You know where to send it if you find anything juicy.

[Via Eurogamer]

In this panel, a group of Austin-based game developers set out to discuss the unique Austin game development community, moderated by journalist (and Joystiq contributor) N. Evan Van Zelfden. In the course of the discussion, a bit of neuropsychology and hilarious anti-MMO (and pro-MMO) vitriol also came out, along with a lot of reminiscence.

According to Junction Point's Warren Spector and NCSoft's Dallas Snell, the Austin game development scene, as well as its current MMO focus, have their origins in, uh, Origin. The Ultima developer moved in Austin in 1986 from New Hampshire, and many companies spun off from ex-Origin personnel. Spector was hired at the company after time spent teaching at UT and working at Steve Jackson Games, and then a stint in Wisconsin at TSR. Snell was at Origin during the 1986 move.

If you were like us, you obsessively pored over every installment in Gametrailers' Final Fantasy Retrospective. Mixing one part nostalgia and one part detailed biography, it was one of our favorite (and one of GT's most viewed) online video series ever. You can understand our elation, then, when we heard they would be doing another retrospective on yet another major facet of geek culture -- the Star Wars Retrospective.

Based on the trailer above, we assume it will follow the same format as their first retrospective, chronologically detailing the history of all ninety-some video games that take place in the Star Wars universe -- from the good, to the bad, to the ... well, you know. The first chapter of the ten-part series drops this Saturday -- to help pass the time, why don't you tell us about your favorite midichlorian-infused LucasArts adventure?

Augmenting their usual Internet-based strategy of giving people free games to lure them into a subscription service, GameTap treated SXSW attendees to a party at Austin's Parkside restaurant Saturday night. Along with the laptops set up for free play of a selection of classics, partygoers were treated to fancy hors d'oeuvres (ceviche, croquettes, uh, tiny hamburgers), drinks, and excellent DJ-provided music. Also, projected logos that only shone directly into my eyes a couple of times.

It should be noted that these pictures were taken soon after the beginning of the party. It was already picking up as I left. There were still plenty of people in Parkside enjoying the crowd, the food, the beer, and the Metal Slug. If more parties had Metal Slug stations, well, I'd go to parties.

What's better for attracting people to your booth than a fake guitar? Apparently nothing! Walking around SXSW's ScreenBurn Arcade, I began to notice that I was seeing a lot of Guitar Hero III and Rock Band setups. The guitars and drums are a lot showier than most game controllers, and are thus a lot better at getting attention than other games. I understood the power of these two games.

But that doesn't mean I didn't find it a little weird that groups who had basically nothing to do with Guitar Hero III or Rock Band were featuring it at their booths. I was also amused by the number of booths that featured guitar games, compared to the total number of booths in the ScreenBurn Arcade. It almost seemed like these two games outnumbered not-music games.

We direct your attention to the heartbreaking tale of Shacknews editor Christopher Faylor (pictured above). With his head still spinning from the breathtaking sights and sounds of the Game Developers Conference, he received a call from Lionhead Studios rep Judith Warner to set up an interview with the elusive Peter Molyneux. With frenzied excitement, he scribbled down the stipulations for the exclusive meeting -- he'd have to avoid all mention of Black and White 2, bring a $50 - $100 souvenir, and, of course, come wearing a pink shirt.

If Faylor weren't so blinded by raw exuberance, he probably would have realized he was on the receiving end of a vicious Punk'ding, courtesy of fellow Shacknewser, Nick Breckon, whose malevolent design can be witnessed in its entirety on Shacknews' recording of the pre-interview phone call. As bad as we feel for the undoubtedly crushed Faylor, we can guarantee you will find no purer source of ROFLs any time soon. At least, not until Faylor's equally sinister retribution.

I didn't actually need to hear anything to get the story here. The interview crew were wearing shirts featuring the title question (which I really thought would show up in the picture, but just trust me), and they cornered this Spartan from the 405th Infantry Division. What does green mean to you, guy dressed like the Master Chief?

I felt very lucky to witness this convergence. Such a perfect meeting is like a lol-ar eclipse.

In a touching tribute to Dungeons & Dragons creator Gary Gygax, a handful of webcomics took it upon themselves to remember the visionary. Here are some of our favorites (note: not involved in voting process):

• Penny Arcade
• XKCD
• Dueling Analogs
• Order of the Stick
• Achewood
  

And now for something completely different, our picks for the week's other best game-related webcomics. Be sure to vote for your favorite!

• Overstaffed (Awkward Zombie)
• Communications Degree (VG Cats)
• This is How I Roll (2P Start)
• Our Crucial Pamphlet (Penny Arcade)
• The Treachery of Base Building (Truck Bearing Kibble)
• Without You I'm Incomplete (Exploding Dog)
• A Few More Games I'm Glad Were Never Made (Dueling Analogs)
• Soylent Smash (GamerPALs)