"We nearly doubled our exhibition hall and added another 80,000 square feet of content overall, so the show is going to be pretty amazing this year," says Penny Arcade's Robert Khoo. "You should come. I think you would like it."

I've a feeling he could be right. This year's show takes place August 29th through the 31st in sunny Seattle Washington. Hit the jump for a full list of exhibitors. Be prepared to scroll.

PENNY ARCADE REVEALS PAX 2008 EXHIBITORS AND FIRST PROGRAMMING DETAILS

Headliners include Microsoft, Sony, Nintendo, EA, Activision and Ubisoft

SEATTLE - June 26, 2008 - The organizers of the fifth annual Penny Arcade Expo (PAX) today announced key details of the upcoming gaming festival, to be held Aug. 29-31, 2008 at the Washington State Trade and Convention Center in Seattle.

This year's exhibit floor will offer PAX attendees hands-on time with highly anticipated games and products from more exhibitors than ever, including Microsoft, Sony, Nintendo, EA, Activision and Ubisoft (see below for a complete exhibitor list). In addition to seeing a massive number of pre-release games on its show floor, attendees can expect a bevy of panels, the Omegathon gaming competition, tournaments, and more. First details of PAX 2008 programming include:

- The ECTO-1, of Ghostbusters fame, will be on display for all three days of PAX

- The PAX 10 independent games showcase, to thrill and delight you

- Two nights of music that will almost certainly change your life

"We nearly doubled our exhibition hall and added another 80,000 square feet of content overall, so the show is going to be pretty amazing this year," says Penny Arcade's Robert Khoo. "You should come. I think you would like it."

Complete List of PAX 2008 Exhibitors:

- 1up.com
- 2K Games
- Activision
- Antec, Inc.
- Astro Gaming
-The Behemoth
- Bethesda
- Bioware
- Blizzard
- Brawndo
- Bungie
- CCP/Whitewolf
- CDV
- clubNAMCO.com
- Cogswell Polytechnical College
- Cryptic Studios
- D3P
- Destineer
- Dolby
- EA Mythic
- ECA (Entertainment Consumer's Association)
- Electronic Arts
- Fantasy Flight Games
- Flying Frog Productions
- Flying Lab Software
- Foundation 9 Entertainment
- Game Publishers Association
- Gamecock
- GameTrailers
- Garage Games
- Guildhall at SMU
- Harmonix
- Hothead Games
- Hudson
- Indiecade
- Intel
- ITT Tech
- Klei Entertainment
- Media-blasters NYC
- Mega64
- Meteor Games
- Microsoft XNA
- Microsoft
- Midway
- Namco Bandai
- NCsoft
- Nintendo
- Nokia
- Patriot Memory
- Pegasus Publishing
- Pink Godzilla
- Plantronics
- Privateer Press
- Razer
- Rockstar
- Roosterteeth.com
- Sierra/Vivendi
- Sony
- SouthPeak Games
- Stardock
- Sumo Lounge
- Telltale
- THQ
- Tinderbox Entertainment
- Tritton Technologies
- Turbine
- Ubisoft
- Udon Entertainment / Oni Press
- Upper Deck
- Vivox
- Wizards of the Coast
- Zenimax

[Pic]

Musically, Xbox 360 Fanboy reports that MC Frontalot, FreezePop, the MiniBosses, and Jonathan Coulton will all perform in some capacity at this year's PAX. Hopefully, they'll do a number on Texan financial development programs!

'Pimp supreme' Ken Levine to keynote PAX [X3F]

E3 is not the boon to publishers that it once was, says Penny Arcade's director of business development Robert Khoo, who as the organizer of the PAX fan expo clearly has an interest, to say the least, in how things turn out.

"The reason that E3 imploded in recent years was because the publishers felt that it turned into this sort of pissing contest between them... where they were trying to figure out who could one-up each other," Khoo said. "They all thought to themselves that it just wasn't worth it."

The controversial decision to re-format last year's E3 into a smaller, more toned-down event was what Khoo calls "a self-correcting measure by the members of the ESA," in an effort to address its constituency better.

"I would imagine that that show is still trying to look out for what the publishers want - that's the whole goal of that trade association, which is to deliver the needs and try to figure out what their members actually want."

Neither Khoo nor Penny Arcade are ESA members, so he couldn't speak to whether the association is acting optimally to assure its members' best interests. "The real question is whether a show like E3 is something publishers want," Khoo said. "I guess Activision, Sierra, Blizzard, Vivendi feel that is not the case."

Earlier today we reported that several companies skipping E3 blamed their departure on "business issues," which analyst Michael Pachter pinned on poor timing for the July event, inconvenient to those companies' fiscal calendars and overlapping with times during which they must observe a "quiet period" and avoid communicating with investors.

"That blackout period is definitely interesting," Khoo said. "We don't really deal with that at all, just given the timing of our show, because its smack dab in the middle of the quarter. I'm sure that is a genuine concern, but since the third quarter ends at the end of September, it doesn't affect us at all."

According to Khoo, the years where publishers knew what to expect from E3 appear to be over, and that's hurting the event and potentially the ESA by association. After last year's "transitional period," quite a bit looks still to be up in the air, he said.

"It's in flux, and since publishers have that level of uncertainty, that is an unattractive trait to have going into a fairly large investment not knowing what you're going to get out of it."

Several industry sources expressed the same opinion as analyst Pachter: that Gallagher's lack of involvement in the industry not only results in poor planning and poor communication regarding E3, but may weaken the ESA's power to serve the video game industry in the long run.

When prior president Doug Lowenstein gave his final, impassioned speech at DICE 07, he vented his frustration at developers and publishers who refuse to defend their creative work when it's controversial, saying, "Don't duck and cover when the shit hits the fan."

But that's largely what Gallagher did when the association failed to publicly defend Mass Effect during the infamous Fox News "SeXbox" controversy. In an interview with GameDaily, he promised to "support the thrust of the industry activities and the reaction of the video gaming community," but refrained from taking any public position on behalf of the ESA.

However, plenty of the major publishers, including Capcom, Take-Two and EA, continue to support both E3 and the ESA. "It seems that at least four very large members are on the floor and doing press conferences, and it seems like a fifth unaligned company is doing a large event contiguous to that," said EA's Jeff Brown, VP of corporate communications. "That means that there's going to be no problem getting a crowd into LA for E3 this summer."

For the first time in several weeks, Take-Two is in agreement with EA on something: "As a member company, Take-Two Interactive supports the Entertainment Software Association, its leadership and its efforts on behalf of the industry," said CEO Ben Feder. "Mike Gallagher has done an outstanding job as president of the ESA and we look forward to participating in the E3 Media and Business Summit this July."

"No plans to drop out, no issue with Mike, no comment," Capcom said, when asked for their thoughts on the usefulness of the ESA and the fate of the event.

Atlus USA is one of the companies declining to participate in this year's E3, but spokesman Aram Jabbari stopped short of placing the blame on the ESA. "The nature of the show changed when they changed it from a consumer show to an invite-only press show," he said. "A lot of things have changed, but our participation doesn't have to do so much with the changes... we just chose not to exhibit this year and we do wish the ESA and all the exhibiting companies the best of luck."

NCsoft said its refusal to attend E3 was related to a timing issue with their internal development schedule and not with any conflicts about E3, but PR manager Mike Crouch declined to comment on potential issues concerning the state of the ESA. "One of the primary functions of the ESA is to manage E3," Crouch said. "And we still believe in E3, and we would have gone this year had the timing worked out for us. In that regard, we don't have anything negative to say about the usefulness of ESA."

"We would have definitely found E3 useful had it fit into our schedule this year. The judgment would be the ESA serves its purpose as far as we're concerned, as far as E3."

They are looking for ten independent developers that are interested in seeing their games viewed by attendees, media and publishers at the Expo. A panel of 50 industry experts, including Penny Arcade's own Gabe and Tycho, will be selecting the ten submissions that they consider to be the best based on gameplay and "fun factor." Of the ten, one will be chosen "Audience Choice Award" by attendees.

Check out the details at the link below.

Brown Paper Tickets

I got a chance to check out an early build of the Penny Arcade Game when I was at PAX last year and really enjoyed it. The character customization was fun and the use of the old school turn based gameplay was a clever throwback to many of the games I loved as a kid. Now we have some new gameplay videos featuring a new comic book style interface at the bottom which replaces the more steampunk style one that I saw. Truth be told, I liked the old version of the interface more, but this one looks seviceable and certainly blends well with the cut scenes of the game which are also done in the same comic book style. I look forward to the game's release especially since it is one of a very few interesting titles that I can play on my Mac without having to switch to my Windows partition. Make the jump for two more clips.

The show will take place from Aug. 29 through Aug. 31 with attendance expected in the "forty-seven million bajillion" range, slightly up from the 37,000 that made it to this year's fourth annual show. Exhibitor packets are available now and attendee registration is expected to open up in January.

I really missed not going this year. I decided, instead, to hit up Leipzig with Mike and Mark and then get really really drunk and sing Hungry Like the Wolf on stage in front of one German guy. Next year I'll either be repeating that or maybe I'll kick off a cross-country caravan of readers and PAX attendees to Washington State. Haven't decided yet. If only I could buy high quality German beer at PAX, then I would be set.

Penny Arcade Expo 2008 Dates Announced

PAX 2007 Attendance Makes PAX the Largest Game Festival in North America

Seattle, Wash. - Oct. 26, 2007 - Penny Arcade today announced that the 5th annual Penny Arcade Expo (PAX) dates will be August 29th, 30th and 31st of 2008 with exhibitor packets available now and attendee registration opening in January. This past August 37,000 gamers filled the Washington State Convention and Trade Center in Seattle, Wash. for the 4th annual Penny Arcade Expo (PAX) game festival.

In his PAX 2007 keynote address, noted actor, writer and geek icon Wil Wheaton challenged stereotypical notions of the antisocial nature of gaming, recounting stories of enjoying arcade games as a child with his brother, and sharing the gaming experience with his children. The theme of gaming as social interaction echoed throughout the three-day show, in panel discussions like "The Social Component in Gaming Today" as well as in free-play rooms filled with gamers competing against each other face-to-face, and in the popularity of "party" games like Rock Band and SingStar in the exhibition hall.

"PAX has always been about community," said Robert Khoo of Penny Arcade, "and I think that was really reflected in the overall vibe of the show. PAX celebrates what it means to be a gamer, and walking onto the show floor gives you this sense of kinship ... it just feels right."

Now the largest game festival in North America, PAX 2007 featured an enormous selection of panels, tournaments, concerts and other activities centered around game culture. This year's PAX was the first held at the Washington State Convention and Trade Center, a move prompted by the dramatic increase in attendance. Thus far, the festival's attendance has doubled each year: There were 4,500 attendees in 2004, 9,500 in 2005, 19,300 in 2006, and 37,000 for 2007. Attendance for the 2008 event is expected to reach forty-seven million bajillion people.

About Penny Arcade Expo
Penny Arcade Expo (PAX) is a three-day celebration of games and gamer culture. The festival includes an exhibition floor filled with playable builds of upcoming tabletop, console, and computer games; a conference program of game-industry speakers on gaming topics; music concerts; freeplay areas; industry parties; game tournaments and more. Since its inception in 2004 the show has doubled in size each year, with 4,500 attendees in 2004, 9,500 in 2005, 19,300 in 2006, and 37,000 in 2007. For more information visit www.pennyarcadeexpo.com.

About Penny Arcade
Equal parts online comic and commentary, Penny Arcade (http://www.penny-arcade.com) covers videogames in a way that is genuine, insightful and respected by the gaming community. What started as a hobby for Jerry "Tycho" Holkins and Mike "Gabe" Krahulik has, over 8 years grown into an online phenomenon that serves 55 million page views a month to millions of readers worldwide. In addition to the comic strip and PAX, Penny Arcade also manages Child's Play (www.childsplaycharity.org), a gamer-driven charity for children that spans the globe.

"We are thrilled with the attendance, and we are pleased that we delivered the event we aimed for, which was a celebration that truly was for the entire game community," offered CEO Mary Dolaher.

18,000 turnout for inaugural E for All [GamesIndustry.biz]

But I'll be honest with you- since PAX started I've seen my fair share of consumer shows come and go (take IGNLive for instance). It's super hard to run one of these things, and I'd be surprised if E For All lasts longer than this year.

See that? He didn't once use the phrase 'complete fucking disaster'. Not even a hastily simulated jerking off motion. The man is all class. The interview explores the IDG folks' unwillingness to work with PAX on a compromise of some sort, with Khoo explaining that any reported attempts by IDG to contact Penny Arcade downright never happened, with promised phone calls never coming to fruition.

FiringSquad: IDG's CEO stated in an interview a couple of weeks ago that she planned to chat with PAX organizers within the next week to try to resolve the conflict with the 2008 dates. Has PAX organizers heard anything from her at all since that statement was made?

Robert Khoo: This is where I tell you she is a liar.

Yeah, I'm going to have to go with clueless as well.

Penny Arcade Expo Organisers On E For All Expo 2008 [FiringSquad]

Mr. Pulsar (pictured, above) arrived at PAX this year wanting to compete in the Guitar Hero II Tourneys and with the help of a new found friend ended up taking first place in the GH II team competition. In an amazing feat he turned around the next day and took home first place in the GH II singles tourney as well. Using the prize points he had won in the tournaments, he then purchased a Wii which he took around the conference and had various internet gaming celebs sign. Signers included VG Cats' Scott Ramsoomair and the masters of PAX themselves, Gabe and Tycho. Once the Wii was autographed to the teeth, he promptly donated it to Child's Play, Penny Arcade's charity for hospitalized children, to be auctioned off.

It really gives me renewed faith in the gaming populace to hear stories like this and I hope that other gamers will read this story and be inspired to similar acts. A tip of the hat to you, Mr. Pulsar, you are truly a Guitar Hero in more ways than one.

Late Friday evening at the convention, event coordinator Amber was called down to the convention center lobby to help a couple of volunteers with an unruly guest who was giving them a hard time. The drunk, surly man had been badgering the workers for awhile, but that all stopped once Amber showed up. Then he poured on the charm. Apparently he had just spent the evening drinking with Incubus, which of course women find incredibly sexy. In fact, screw flirting anymore...he knew he had her. Unfortunately his offer of a movie, drinks and really bad drunk old guy sex were shot down. As a last ditch attempt to save face, he whipped out his business card.

Ed Fleming, Executive Director, VGXPO.

He pointed at it and slurred "this is where it's at baby."

Oh wait, this is the real world. The drunk was sent packing, only to have his badge taken away the next day once he had sobered up.

Well he was at PAX to generate buzz for VGXPO, and well...mission accomplished! It is stories like this one that keep me from drinking at industry related functions unless there is alcohol present. A strict rule, but I'm just that disciplined.

Stories From PAX [Penny Arcade]

How do you follow up a weekend full of gaming competitions and fun? Why with a completely kick ass game-off with one of the most highly anticipated games of the year of course!

The Omegathon is a Penny Arcade tradition dating back millions of years and while normally competitors would go head to head with olde school games, this year Gabe and Tycho had something new up their collective sleeve, Halo 3. As you can imagine when it was announced, the crowd went crazy apeshit bonkers and it was a few minutes before I could actually hear anything again, even now my ears are still ringing. Also on hand for the festivities were nerdcore favorites The Minibosses who entertained the rapturous crowd with their version of the Halo 3 theme before the final showdown.

Contestants Accelon and MNC Dover jumped into the action with great aplomb and before long they were fragging each other left and right over two heretofore unseen maps loaded with even more heretofore unseen weapons. The crowd, of course, could barely contain themselves and with the amount of people crowded into the room it was a bit difficult to see what was going on save for the giant screens hanging over head.

The battle was fought hard with both players performing admirably, but in the end Accelon prevailed, taking down his opponent with a deadly blow from his Plasma Sword. His reward for all this hard work was a trip for two to TGS and a fat $5000. Gabe and Tycho then took the stage, presenting each of the warriors with their own samurai swords (Hatori Hanso no doubt) before sitting down themselves for their own fight to the death. (That would be an in-game fight to the death, not a real one. Sorry to disappoint.) The big winner this time was Gabe, pwning Tycho five to two and sending the crowd into deafening applause heard the world over.

And thus ended PAX. The crowd streamed out of the auditorium and scurried back to their hotels, swag and purchases in hand to pack their bags and head to the airport with the satisfaction of a conference that was not only fun and friendly, but distinctly well played.

Now I'm certainly not saying the Army had no right to be there, they paid their money for a booth just like everyone else, but I do find it a bit disturbing seeing such things at a gaming convention. Especially with all the talk about violence in video games and how it influences young people. As gamers we strive to quash that myth and yet here is the Army showing up promoting a game that is basically just a tool to try and get people to sign up for the military. Our government wants to bash violent games and then turn around and use them to lure kids into an actual war? Seems more than a bit hypocritical on their part.

What are your feelings on this? Personally, it scares the crap out of me.

Seriously. Event organizers, spread this stuff out so we can actually cover it all without dying. This is getting RIDICULOUS.
GC Asia Info [Games Industry]

Turns out it wasn't actually an audition as the finalists had already been chosen and were going to be appearing on a panel that very afternoon. The girls had been put through their paces all weekend, competing in various game competitions culminating in the aforementioned panel. Here, the finalists were grilled with questions from the audience so that everyone could get to know a little bit more about them. Once it was over, audience members were allowed to vote for their favorite, but the stringent process doesn't end there, oh no. Now the current Dolls must make some hard decisions about who amongst these lovely ladies will be admitted into their super glamorous gaming sorority. I'm on the edge of my seat in anticipation of the announced winner as I'm sure you must be too! Who will it be? Only time will tell...

Frag Doll Finalists [Frag Dolls]

One odd phenomenon I did notice was the prevalence of kilts among many of the male members of the convention, especially the workers who were all sporting PAX t-shirts reading "Enforcer" on the back. I stopped the guy here at the left and snapped a picture and he kindly filled me in on the details concerning this odd but popular practice. Apparently, this sort of thing is quite common amongst Table Top Gamers in particular and the company that makes them, Utilikilts, is based right here in Seattle. Of course, I had to ask the inevitable question. "Are you going commando under there?" (you can always count on me to go for the tough questions) His reply, "No, I really don't think that's necessary." Ah Table Top Gamers, such strange customs you have...

First of all let me just say that the game has everything you would expect and want from a Penny Arcade game. A terrific art style, fun gameplay and hilarious dialog. You kick off the game with a great character customization screen. You can play a male or female character and for a comic style game, you get a surprising amount of variety in facial features, clothes and body types. One great mechanic has your character checking him or herself out whenever you change outfits. The amount of work that goes into the customization is pretty amazing seeing as not only do you see your character in 3D for the game scenes, but he/she is rendered live in 2d as well for the comic book cut scenes.

After the comic panel style intro featuring your customized character, you join up with Gabe and Tycho to solve the mystery of the giant marauding robot that opens the game by tromping it's way through your yard. Once your team is together you can use their various powers (individually and together) to plow your way through such iconic enemies as hobos, clowns mimes and even barber shop quartets. Just as in real life, Gabe's powers rely solely on fisticuffs and up close combat while Tycho (whos moves are the most powerful in the game) takes care of the ranged combat with a tommy gun and his trusty book (reading is power!). Your player character is the melee weapon fighter, starting off with a rake and eventually upgrading to other weapons along the way. Battles are turned based with timed initiatives and each special move requires a "mini game" to complete such as mashing the space bar repeatedly or doing timed moves with the directional arrows. Team combo moves can be done with two or three characters relying on a meter system to let you know when your power up is ready for use.

Watching the game really made me reminisce about the old point and click Lucas Arts games, on which PAA is heavily based. Engaging in dialog with NPCs will give you a variety of choices in answers, many resulting in additional razor sharp commentary by Gabe and Tycho. It should be noted that there are no voiceovers in the game and all conversation is done through comic style word balloons with dialog that had me laughing aloud a lot.

The game is set to be released simultaneously on MAC, PC and Linux with the XBLA version coming soon after. Despite the doubts that many people had concerning the game after the first trailer was shown, I think I can confidently say that gamers will be more than pleased when the first episode is finally released later this year. And in case you were wondering, there will be teabagging, but I'm not going to tell you where. That, you will have to discover for yourself.

From the PAX floor, GameVideos bring us a gameplay clip from the upcoming Kane & Lynch. Sorry fellows, I don't think there are any panty shots in this one. But there are guns. Lots and lots of guns.

Make the jump to check out the seedy (and surprisingly not stinky) underbelly...

The game was a blast and sharing it with my fellow friends and bloggers made it an extra amazing experience. This will definitely be a title that will quickly become a party classic, bringing drunken wanna be rockers together in the comfort of their living rooms regardless of talent. Just add a fog machine and you're a star, baby.

Apparently, the gleeful pair let loose with what may go down in history as one of the biggest let downs in surprise history, the introduction on director Uwe Boll. Luckily, the folks at Joystiq were on hand to catch every painful moment from his arrival on stage to massive booing and jeers to the crowd leaving in droves like rats from a sinking ship. Even more fun awaited in this half hour journey into hell including a hideous bit of his upcoming Postal movie and a gal who just couldn't help herself from telling Uwe how she really felt about it. Watch and cringe in terror if you dare.

They are also running a contest at the show to find a name to be used for a character in the game and PAX goers were encouraged to submit their real names for possible inclusion. I went ahead and submitted mine so perhaps I'll be lucky and my ridiculous sounding name will be chosen. I mean I know it's no Florian Eckhardt, but then, what is.

Penny Arcade Adventures: On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness Website [Hothead Games]

Accompanied by my friend Chris Furniss, I made my way into the Seattle Convention Center which I was assured was much larger than last year's venue. I was impressed that they had managed to take over four floors of the building and filled them with gaming rooms of all kinds. Board games, card games, dice games and of course computer and video games.

Giant Sumo chairs filled the sides of the hallways and exhausted gamers were plopped down, resting, eating or playing with their DSs. There were even dedicated lounging areas devoted to different assortments of friendly handheld gaming competitions and freeplay. The top floor was dominated by a massive LAN room and the exhibit hall featuring booths by all the major companies and sporting a rather impressive amount of swag.

It seems a sort of a cross between Comic Con and E3 but with a much more relaxed atmosphere. An air of casualness seemed to permeate the whole affair with everyone genuinely having a stress free good time. Something tells me tomorrow will be a slightly different story given the shows history of a growing crowd and the obvious popularity of Saturday conventions. But so far so good. I'm keeping my fingers crossed for a full but relaxing day tomorrow. They are opening the place an hour early for the press so hopefully I'll be able to haul my carcass down there for a round of Rock Band before the teeming crowds arrive. Wish me luck...

If there's one thing Wil Wheaton knows how to do, it's get a reaction from a crowd. Whether he's inciting the ire of millions as Wesley Crusher on Star Trek or kicking off PAX 07 with his keynote speech, he never fails to make an impression. He makes his way onto the stage with dramatic musical accompaniment, citing the above line to an adoring crowd. After railing through every gamer cliche' that one could imagine and dropping a few f-bombs along the way, he begins recounting his days as a young nerd playing video games in the local arcade. He compares his generation's love of the old arcade to this generations attachment to World of Warcraft and Xbox Live. These, he says, are the arcades of today. The crowd is in the palm of his hand as he moves on from arcade classics to home consoles, hitting every classic title along the way and filling everyone's heads with nostalgic memories of the golden age of gaming.

Moving on to the present, Wheaton ruminates on the Wii and how it brought his love of gaming back to the fore. He sees the Wii and games like Guitar Hero as social tools and new ways of bringing families together. He knows that making sure what his kids play and experience in games is his responsibility and no one else's, finally giving a another big fuck you to Mr. Thompson and his ilk, whipping the crowd into a frenzy once again.

His speech is equal parts love letter to geekdom and a call for gamers to rise up in force and show the world that we can and will be taken seriously. The rapturous audience is duly impressed and indeed rise to the occasion and their feet, sending Wheaton off with a well deserved standing ovation.

America's Army PAX Booth to Feature Xbox 360 Hands-On Exclusive and Virtual Army Experience

West Point, NY (August 21, 2007) - The U.S. Army announced today that it will feature a number of interactive America's Army game experiences at this week's Penny Arcade Expo (August 24-26 at the Washington State Convention & Trade Center in Seattle). Located in booth #358, the U.S. Army will showcase the first hands-on demo of the upcoming America's Army: True Soldiers game which will be available exclusively on the Xbox 360. The Army's booth will also feature a version of its Virtual Army Experience and an America's Army PC LAN. SGT Tommy Rieman, a member of the America's Army Real Heroes Program and America's Army: True Soldiers development consultant, will talk to PAX attendees about the heroic actions for which he was awarded the Silver Star and his role in ensuring the authenticity of America's Army branded products. Select booth visitors may receive an autographed action figure featuring America's Army Real Heroes.

The following attractions will be at the America's Army booth:

America's Army: True Soldiers - Players will immerse themselves in the true Infantry experience of a modern Soldier as they advance through their careers and take on roles such as a Rifleman, Grenadier, Automatic Rifleman and Sniper. The America's Army: True Soldiers game accurately portrays the core values that guide Soldiers in the U.S. Army, by specifically incorporating gameplay based on mission accomplishment, teamwork, leadership, rules of engagement, and respect for life and property. America's Army: True Soldiers features extensive multiplayer missions for play on Xbox LIVE™. Co-developed by Red Storm Entertainment and the U.S. Army, the game will be released by Ubisoft this fall.

Virtual Army Experience (VAE) - This hands-on immersive exhibit delivers a high-tech, team-based, action-packed experience where the players must employ teamwork, leadership and high-tech equipment as they take part in a virtual high-value target extraction mission. In this version of the VAE (vae.americasarmy.com) players are armed with weapons fitted with lasers and recoil systems while they take part in the mission from positions on a HMMWV.

Real Heroes Program - SGT Tommy Rieman will be present at the booth to talk about his experiences with the America's Army program. SGT Rieman is a subject matter expert for the America's Army PC and console games and is one of the America's Army Real Heroes. The Real Heroes program tells the compelling stories of Soldiers who have distinguished themselves in combat and earned citations for bravery and valor. Soldiers' likenesses and biographies are utilized in the America's Army game and website, as well as in a line of action figures that will be available at ToysRUs in September. SGT Rieman will be autographing action figures at the show.

America's Army LAN - Gamers will be able to play and take home the latest version of the America's Army game.

If you're planning on attending this year's Penny Arcade Expo, you should probably hop on over to the site to check out the full schedule they just posted for the event that's kicking off later this month at the Washington State Convention and Trade Center.

The three day event has more than 22,000 people registered, tons of companies showing and some really interesting panels set up. The PAX guys are particularly psyched about the "Between a Rock and a Hard Place: The Love Hate Relationship between Devs and Pubs."

The panel will pit Seamus Blackley, currently of CAA; Lindsay Gupton of Amaze Entertainment (Crash of the Titans) and John Williamson of Zombie Studios (America's Army) in a steel cage match to the death... OK, I made that up, but they will be there to talk harshly at each other.

Rooster Teeth Productions will also be on hand to talk machinima and the show's keynote will be uber geek Wil Wheaton, writer, actor, guy-who-played Wesley Crusher on Star Trek: The Next Generation.

Shhhhhhhedule [PAX]

The deadline to pre-register for the increasingly mammoth Penny Arcade Expo hits July 31, so if you're planning on going now would be a good time to go hit that.

This year the show will be at the Washington State Trade and Convention Center, giving PAX triple the amount of space to hang about it bean bags and bat giant balls into the air. BALL!

Wil "I make my living off a long-dead spin off of a long-dead TV show" Wheaton will be the keynote speaker, and despite that somewhat awkward nickname, I think he's got the pop-culture muscle to deliver quite a kick-off. The show will also feature games from more than 50 exhibitors (including a chance to get hands on with Rock Band which makes the whole trip worthwhile), the annual three-day Omegathon gaming competition, plenty of live Nerdcore rock, panels and an attempt at setting the Guinness Book of World record for the most massive multiplayer offline game...

Oh and those two Penny Arcade guys will be there too. Jump=press release.

Penny Arcade Expo [PAX]

Seattle, Wash. - July 25, 2007 Penny Arcade today sent out an urgent reminder to those intending to be at the Penny Arcade Expo (PAX) next month, with Tuesday, July 31st being the last chance to pre-register for the game festival. Numbers for 2007 are already approaching the total attendance for last year, making the move to the larger venue an absolute must. The Washington State Trade and Convention Center in downtown Seattle represents a space triple the size of PAX 2006, and on August 24th - 26th it's anticipated to be packed to the brim.

"For three days next month Seattle turns into the epicenter of our culture. Picture 30,000 gamers completely immersed in our community and our pastime," said Robert Khoo of Penny Arcade. "I'm not sure if there's any experience out there quite like it."

The PAX keynote address by geek icon Wil Wheaton is just the tip of the iceberg, with all kinds of gaming related craziness planned including a Guinness Book of World record attempt for the most massive multiplayer offline game, the three-day Omegathon gaming competition that goes from Round One of Jenga all the way to a trip for two to the Tokyo Game Show, nerdcore concerts, industry parties, and sneak peeks at up and coming games from more than 50 exhibitors such as Sony, Microsoft, Nintendo, Garage Games, Namco Bandai, Rockstar Games, Sierra, Telltale, Ubisoft, Wizards of the Coast, Hothead Games and many more.

About Penny Arcade Expo
Penny Arcade Expo (PAX) is a three-day celebration of games and gamer culture. The festival includes an exhibition floor filled with playable builds of upcoming tabletop, console, and computer games; a conference program of game-industry speakers on gaming topic; music concerts; freeplay areas; industry parties; game tournaments and more. Since its inception in 2004 the show has doubled in size each year, with 4,500 attendees in 2004, 9,500 in 2005, and 19,300 in 2006. For more information visit www.pennyarcadeexpo.com.

Flipping through the latest issue of Wired Magazine, the Martha Stewart edition, I noticed that E3 made the Wired-Expired list... but not in a good way.

The info box lists E3 as Expired, Comicon as Tired and PAX as Wired. Wired has spoken: E3 is dead, long live PAX... not really, but it has to be a bit disheartening for the ESA to see Wired putting a bullet in the head of their baby.

For those who have just lost hours and hours practicing your Pac-Man, take solace knowing Pac-Man is a timeless classic and your time was well spent and at least you weren't practicing Jenga Wii.
Omegathon News [pennyarcade]

This means that poor PAX attendees will have to be satisfied with the fifty-three exhibitors who got in under the wire. Fifty-three. That's a good bit more than the castrated E3 has this year. Of course you get the odd non-video gaming related company like ITT Tech, Upper Deck (WoW Cards don't count) and 1up.com, but for the most part it's just going to be wall to wall interactive entertainment companies, all looking to impress you. Makes you all warm and fuzzy inside. Hit up the jump for the full list. Should be one hell of a show! Michael Fahey

Penny Arcade Expo '07 Triples Amount of Game Exhibits

Headliners include Nintendo, Microsoft, Sony and Ubisoft

Seattle, Washington - June 27, 2007 Penny Arcade today announced that exhibit space is sold out for its upcoming Penny Arcade Expo (PAX) gaming culture festival, officially tripling the size of exhibit space from previous years. The 4th annual event, which moved to the Washington State Convention & Trade Center in downtown Seattle this year in order to accommodate interest from both exhibitors and a rapidly growing number of attendees, is slated to take place August 24th-26th.

"We thought that by tripling the available exhibitor space, we'd have enough room for everybody. I guess we were wrong." said Penny Arcade's director of sales, Mike Fehlauer. "We do our best to throw a kickass party for the gamer community, and so we're grateful-and relieved-that the response has been so positive. Exhibitors and attendees alike have decided that PAX is the show to attend; it's the only place where you'll find tabletop, console, and PC gamers and exhibitors-plus concerts, tournaments, panels, and freeplay-under the same roof, with no BS."

On the exhibit floor, PAX '07 attendees can expect to try their hands at yet-to-be-released games and products from exhibitors including Nintendo, Microsoft, Sony, Ubisoft, Electronic Arts/Mythic, Harmonix, Foundation 9, Sierra/Vivendi Universal, Wizards of the Coast, NCSoft, Sabertooth Games, D3 Publishing, Telltale Games, the Behemoth, Namco-Bandai, Upper Deck, Wizkids, Atari, ArenaNet, Hothead Games, America's Army and Rockstar. (See below for a complete list of exhibitors this year) In addition to showing a multitude of pre-release games on its show floor, PAX offers attendees a host of game-related conference sessions, parties, concerts, tournaments and more!
Game publishers and developers interested in attending PAX 2008 should contact Mike Fehlauer at mikef@penny-arcade.com.

Complete List of Exhibitors for PAX 2007
1up.com
America's Army
ArenaNet
Astro Gaming
Atari
The Behemoth
The Bungie Store!
CCP/Whitewolf
D3 Publishing
DeVry University
Digipen
Dolby
EA Mythic
The ECA
Fantasy Flight Games
Flying Lab Software
Foundation 9 Entertainment
Gamecock Media Group
GameTap
GameTrailers.com
Garage Games
Gas Powered Games
Green Ronin Publishing
The Guildhall
Harmonix
ITT Tech
Konami
Longbow Digital Arts
Metanet Software
Microsoft
Namco Bandai
Nintendo of America
Nvidia
Octopi
Paizo Publishing
Pink Godzilla
Privateer Press
Rockstar Games
Sabertooth Games
Sierra/Vivendi Games
Sony Computer Entertainment of America
Strategy Computers
Sumo Lounge
Tablestar Games
Technomancer Press
Telltale Games
Tenacious Games
Turbine
Ubisoft
UDON Entertainment
Upper Deck Entertainment
Wizards of the Coast
Wizkids

The name of the game is, of course, public internet humiliation. Send Sony your filmed rendition of one of three classic PaRappa jams and, if you're selected, wait for the community to pass judgement on your rapping skills. You rappin' good? Then maybe you'll win some sweet PaRappa goodies, like a beanie, PSP skins, or a copy of the PSP version.

The best of the best goes to Seattle for PAX. Oh, and that t-shirt? The first 100 entrants get one, so start rappin'. Michael McWhertor

Chop Chop Master Onion's Rap Showdown [PlayStation.com]

The shirt will be up for grabs at various unnamed online events and at this summer's social gatherings Wizard World, ComiCon, LollaPalooza, and PAX. It's designed to help promote the upcoming remake release of the original PaRappa the Rapper for the PSP shipping in mid-July.

Now how should I go about acquiring one...? Michael McWhertor

PaRappa the Rapper and Paul Frank Co-Designed Tee [PlayStation.com]