Valve today announced that Left 4 Dead will be playable on the PC by the public at the upcoming Leipzig Games Convention, Festival du Jeu Video and PC Gamer Showdown. Better still, the Xbox 360 version will be unveiled at Penny Arcade Expo where it will also be playable. I'm told Valve will have two 4-person games set up at their booth. If I were you I'd head straight to Valve when the PAX doors open to try and avoid lines.

I'm already pretty jazzed about the PC version, so I can't wait to see how the game has translated over to the Xbox 360 version. It's a pretty sweet surprise that the worldwide debut of the console game will be at a public event.

August 12, 2008 - Valve, creators of best-selling game franchises (such as Half-Life and Counter-Strike) and leading technologies (such as Steam and Source), today announced a series of live demonstrations of Left 4 Dead at upcoming industry events the world over.
Left 4 Dead is the new survival co-op action game from Valve that blends the social entertainment experience of multiplayer games such as Counter-Strike and Team Fortress with the dramatic, narrative experience made popular in single player action game classics such as the Half-Life series of games.

The PC version of the game will be playable by the press and public at a series of upcoming events including Leipzig Games Convention, (Germany), Festival du Jeu Video (France), and PC Gamer Showdown (UK). The worldwide debut of the Xbox 360 version will be at the upcoming Penny Arcade Expo (PAX) in Seattle, WA. Members of the development team will be on hand at each event to provide information and give away some Left 4 Dead memorabilia.

"The shared experience of Left 4 Dead is unlike that of any other action game," said Gabe Newell, president and co-founder of Valve. "That's what we've experienced playing the game, and from showing the game to the press and our partners. It sounds cliché, but in many ways you have to play this one to truly appreciate what we're attempting. So, to give gamers a chance to sample this new type of experience first hand, we're taking Left 4 Dead on the road."

Left 4 Dead is due for release on the PC and Xbox 360 this November, and earned numerous awards at this year's Electronic Entertainment Expo in Los Angeles, CA, including 1up.com, Gamespot.com and Maximum PC's Best PC Game, as well as Best Multiplayer Game from Kotaku, IGN, G4TV, the official E3 Judges, and more.

For more information, please visit www.l4d.com

Some of the highlights I noticed, from my quick perusal, includes:

Ken Levine's keynote
EndWar, Prince of Persia, Far Cry 2, Fallout 3, Dawn of War, This is Vegas, Dragon Age and Spore presentations
The Growing Role of Women in the Industry
Game Criticism and Old Game Journalism
The Art of the Dungeon Master
History of Harmonix
Family Feud PAX Edition
The Wil Wheaton Panel
GamerDad's Gaming With Children

Of course you've also got live music, movie screenings, the tourneys and a chance to see Tycho and Gabe create a strip live. Sounds like a fun time. Who's planning on going?

The PAX 2008 Schedule [PAX]

Schedule:

Round 1: Peggle
PC Area - Friday, 3:30 PM

Round 2: Boom Blox
Serpent Theatre - Friday, 8:00 PM

Round 3: Pictionary
Serpent Theatre - Saturday, 11:30 AM

Round 4: Rock Band
Main Theatre - Saturday, 8:30 PM

Round 5: Jenga
Serpent Theatre - Sunday, 1:00 PM

Final Round: ???
Main Theatre - 4:30 PM

The Omeganauts

Kent Byers

Noah Callaway

Chrissa Casono

Thomas Chan

Gregory Clarkson

Jordan Comar

Tim Corver

Jennifer Dittrich

Andy Drake

Steve Edwardo

Michael Friedman

Benjamin Gray (2007 Runner Up!)

Rae Hughes

Brian Jo

Blaine Kahle

Ryan Knight

Christopher Trevino

Jo Urbansky

Erica Waters

Jason Young

Omegathon! [Penny Arcade]

World’s Top Gamer “Fatal1ty” will not be at the Penny Arcade Expo (PAX)

PAX is proud to announce that they will not be welcoming E-sportsman Johnathan “Fatal1ty” Wendel to the event.

“There is no one else in the video game industry quite like Fatal1ty and we’re thrilled that he won't be attending our show” said Gabe, Chief Executive Officer of the Penny Arcade Expo, the greatest video game festival in the universe. “Seriously, if he even tries to come we'll kick him out.”

Fantastic news! Hey, I wonder if Gabe and Tycho will let me submit a list of other people who won't be welcome at PAX... let's see...

Penny Arcade

It looks like nearly 80 companies will be showing at this year's show. The list ranges from such heavy weights as Bethesda, Electronic Arts, Sony, Nintendo, Activision, Ubisoft and Microsoft to developers like Rockstar, Bungie and Turbine.

Is it just me or does this look like a much more impressive show floor than E3? Of course, the big difference is that I can't imagine there will be any major publisher or developer announcements coming out of PAX. That doesn't mean we won't get a chance to go hands on with a lot of games and perhaps even needle some news out of the reps on hand.

Either way, looks like it's going to be a really good show this time around.