President Obama came to Capitol Hill on Tuesday, in the first of three planned visits to court lawmakers on a cluster of issues, from gun control legislation to a so-called grand bargain on tax reform and entitlement spending cuts. He spoke with Senate Democrats. Melissa Block talks to Ailsa Chang.

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From NPR News, this is ALL THINGS CONSIDERED. I'm Audie Cornish.

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And I'm Melissa Block.

There's a new element at this year's South by Southwest Festival in Austin - a gaming expo. Austin is a good place for it. The city has strong ties to the video game industry and its home to an estimated 7,000 independent game developers.

Reporter Noah Nelson, of Turnstyle News and Youth Radio, went in search of the indie gaming scene.

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When the smoke goes up, you'll know what's going down. That's the tag line for the website popealarm.com.

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It's just one of the many high-tech options out there for all of you on the edge of your seats, waiting for the first wisp of white smoke.

BLOCK: And if a website isn't immediate enough for you, there are a handful of new apps.

CORNISH: Pope2You, New Pope, iConclave.

On Tuesday, 115 cardinals convened, celebrated mass and then entered the Sistine Chapel for the first day of closed door deliberations on who should be the next pope.

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One big question for the conclave is whether the cardinals will choose a pope from outside of Europe, and Brazil is one country that gets mentioned. It's home to more than one in 10 of the world's Catholics. It was the first country that Pope Benedict visited outside of Europe when he was elected, and a Brazilian cardinal is among those mentioned as possible contenders to be the next pope.

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Like the famous cherry blossoms forecast to bloom in a few weeks, this time of year is also marked by the arrival of competing, partisan federal budget proposals that political foes immediately declare dead-on-arrival, though not so dead that they can't be used as campaign fodder.

Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) got the process underway Tuesday by introducing the House Republican budget for the coming fiscal year, DOA because it has no chance of getting through the Democratic Senate or to be signed by President Obama.