Geeks are Sexy at SXSW: Day 1 [Gallery]

The annual film, music and interactive festival kicked off in Austin yesterday, taking over most of downtown and the surrounding areas. One of the big draws this year is the Gaming Expo. Indie developers were out in force, showcasing some fun, sometimes educational, and some fully immersive video games for fans to take a crack at. One of the big draws is Nintendo, who teamed up with Shell and Pennzoil, to create a real life Mario Kart track. Players can race each other, gain power ups and even dodge some (RFID tagged) turtle shells for the gold cup.

If you’re heading out to the festival today, some tracks to take note of. The premiere of the Veronica Mars film will be happening on Saturday, March 8 at 3:00pm CT at the Paramount Theater. The Gaming Expo will be open til 8:00pm on Saturday, and 8:00pm on Sunday. And the inaugural SXSW Gaming Awards will take place Saturday night at 7:00pm in the Long Events Center. And remember, you don’t need a badge to get into the gaming events!

SXSW runs until March 16. The Gaming Expo is this weekend only, and ends Sunday, March 9.

Photos courtesy of MLZ Studios.