Penny Arcade has released a schedule of activities for this year's Penny Arcade Expo (PAX). If you're planning to go to the event, we recommend checking it out so you can plan out your own schedule in advance.

IDG Entertainment is sending word that instead of August, this year's E for All Expo has been moved to October. This news should serve as a relief for those worried the the event may conflict with PAX's own schedule for 2008.

Details are in the full article. Just click the "read more" link below.

It's never too early to reserve a place in the next Penny Arcade Expo (PAX). It was announced today that the event will be accepting registrations as early as January 2008. The last PAX had 37,000 gamers roaming its floor. Tickets were sold out so early registration may be a good idea.

PAX 2008 will be held on August 29 to 31 and attendance is expected to double again. "Again" because attendance has been doubling ever since the first PAX. The attendance grew so large that the last event was held in the Washington State Convention and Trade Center in Seattle just to fit everyone in.

Next year's PAX will mark the expo's fifth year and will continue the tradition of game exhibitions, conference programs (about games of course), concerts, tournaments, freeplay gaming and general fun times for everyone and all in the gaming community.

This may be one of the hard evidences of Nintendo DS's immense popularity among the handheld market: Almost every handheld gamer in Penny Arcade Expo 2007 (PAX 2007) had a DS, but there was nary a PSP in sight. Well, almost. A Wired reporter eventually found a lone PSP owner, and that's after he spent some time searching for one.

Most of the handheld gamers present in PAX 2007 were found lounging on enormous beanbags on the hallways, entertaining themselves with multiplayer DS games and Pictochat.

The Sony PSP and Nintendo DS are both very good and competitive handhelds, but it is rather a bit disconcerting to find out that Sony's multi-media handheld wasn't at all present in PAX 2007, given the fact that the place was packed and full to the brim with gamers. Or maybe they were just protective of their PSPs like that?

More PAX 2007 updates to come!

Namco Bandai's coming to Penny Arcade Expo 2007, and it's bringing a gigaton of games along with it for some good old hands on gaming. For those of you attending PAX 2007 which starts tomorrow in Seattle, you can find Namco Bandai at booth 616.

Perhaps the biggest highlight to grace their booth this year is the photorealistic Ace Combat 6: Fires of Liberation for the Xbox 360. Namco is setting the game loose for competitive and cooperative fighting on Xbox Live with multiplayer supporting up to 16 players so be ready to set the skies on fire.

Another highlight although in a completely different genre is Beautiful Katamari (also for the 360), whose multiplayer supports up to 4 players. Another game that would probably have you rolling to Namco's booth is Dynasty Warriors: Gundam that mixes the world of Gundam with the hack and slash gameplay of Dynasty Warriors.
   
Other games the games publisher will be showcasing are Eternal Sonata, Tales of World: Radiant Mythology, Culdcept SAGA, .hack®//G.U. Vol. 3: Redemption, Naruto: Ultimate Ninja Heroes, Naruto: Uzumaki Chronicles 2, Time Crisis 4, Warhammer Battle March and collections of classic Namco Bandai games for the Wii and Nintendo DS in Namco Museum DS and Namco Museum REMIX.

Penny Arcade has just announced that the entire floorspace for the Penny Arcade Expo (PAX) 2007 has sold out, despite the organizers' addition of more floorspace for people to roam and for companies to use.

In fact, this year's PAX has three times the game exhibition space, a fold up from their previously announced doubling.

"We thought that by tripling the available exhibitor space, we'd have enough room for everybody. I guess we were wrong," said Mike Fehlauer, Penny Arcade's director of sales. He thanks the exhibitors and attendees for their responses for the event - something he calls a "kickass party for the gamer community".

And along with this, Penny Arcade has also given a complete list of the companies who've signed up for exhibition. Starting August 24, expect the likes of Microsoft, Sony, Ubisoft, Electronic Arts/Mythic, Harmonix, Foundation 9, Sierra/Vivendi, Wizards of the Coast, NCSoft, Sabertooth Games, D3 Publisher, Telltale Games, Behemoth, Namco-Bandai, Upper Deck, Wizkids, Atari, ArenaNet, Hothead Games, America's Army and Rockstar Games - among others - to tickle your fancy at the Washington State Convention & Trade Center, in downtown Seattle, Washington.

Click on Full Article to view the complete list of exhibitors registered for PAX 2007.

Penny Arcade's Jerry "Tycho" Holkins has finally responded to Jack Thompson's statements regarding the canned PAX debate in which the outspoken lawyer was supposed to participate.

Thompson declined to show up for the debate due to Penny Arcade not wanting him to say anything about it to the media. In a recent interview by video game news site 1UP, Tycho revealed that the whole debate was a last-minute addition to PAX.

"PAX is almost entirely laid out by now, schedule-wise, but we've got wiggle room here and there," said Tycho. "We thought we could put some of this wiggle room to use in the form of a debate panel."

The moderator for the debate was supposed to be the administrator of GamePolitics.com. No opponent had been decided on yet, but within twenty-four hours, the PAX team had already communicated with Thompson.

As for the reason why Penny Arcade didn't want Thompson talking about the debate, here's Tycho's explanation:

Before any other concern, it is our deep desire that no person be trampled to death at PAX. Given the human density of last year's show, it seemed as though a Jack Thompson panel would create some dicey situations from a safety perspective.

We asked that Jack not discuss the event for these reasons. When he began to do so, publicly, with all major gaming news organizations, we determined that even an explosive, exciting debate wasn't worth trying to work with him.

Tycho also took the opportunity to respond to Thompson's statements regarding the situation:

I think he is lumping us in with his other opponents, some of whom are almost certainly imaginary. I'm not aware of any machinations that are currently ongoing.

As for the sale of "adult materials," by which I assume he means games rated M by the ESRB, we currently think that the best bet is retail enforcement and parent education. As parents ourselves, his assertion is scurrilous and insulting.

For those who have been keeping up, Jack Thompson has declined to show up for a debate in the Penny Arcade Expo (PAX). You know why? Because he wasn't allowed to send out a press release or say anything about it. Kotaku got hold of this info and released some pretty interesting facts about it.

Still, you have to wonder why the guys at PAX were keeping Thompson's appearance a secret. PAX said that they did this for both Mr. Thompson's security and to avoid what would've been hordes of people rushing over to see the debate.

Penny Arcade was hoping to get a knowledgeable opponent for JT to debate with, such as Entertainment Consumer Association (ECA) president Hal Halpin or Jason Della Rocca who many know to be the executive director of the International Game Developers Association (IGDA).

Mr. Thompson's response to the entire issue seems to be typical of his usual responses. Be sure to read the full letter before you make any judgments on the situation.

... I would be delighted to do the [debate], but Penny-Arcade's position that this must be kept "under wraps" and that I cannot tell the media and others about the event is both absurd and troubling.

For Penny-Arcade to take the position that there must be a news blackout on this strikes me and others as hypocritical to the max. You guys are the ones who think that even adult entertainment materials should be marketed and sold to children because of "freedom of expression," and yet I am not allowed to tell media and others of this debate?  Come on, how transparently double-standard-bound in your machinations can you all be?

If you want me to come to Seattle and address 6000 hostile people as to why the United States is the only backward nation in the world when it comes to the distribution of adult video games to children, then I will be happy to do it.  But your position that only Penny-Arcade gets to tell the world about this event and in the way that only you all get to decide is patently ridiculous. 

Man up and realize what the First Amendment is really all about, Robert and I'll be happy to celebrate it with all my "admirers" in Seattle, including Gabe.

I've been in far more hostile environs than what you offer. You all need to grow a pair of what a kid can cut off in Manhunt 2.

More informations makes itself known for the Penny Arcade Expo (PAX) for this year, as we disclose details for the event's Omegathon competition, keynote speaker, and headliner band.

For the pre-registrants of Penny Arcade's upcoming PAX 2007 event, we imagine one thing you'll be looking forward to (or dread) is the Omegathon event. This yearly PAX event pits 20 randomly chosen "Omeganauts" from the pre-registered crowd in multiple bouts of tabletop, videogame and computer game matches, culminating in a final match conducted onstage in front of PAX's thousands of (expected) attendees.

This year's Omegathon grand price is a trip for two to the Tokyo Game Show (September 22 to 23), plus US$ 5,000 in travel money. Not exactly a new truck, but given the price of gas these days, we like it.

On the matter of PAX's keynote speaker, the organizers have managed to pick up Wil Wheaton - trekkies will remember him as Wesley Crusher from Star Trek: The Next Generation. Outside his acting role, Wheaton has also authored two books: Dancing Barefoot, and Just a Geek.

As for tunes, PAX 2007 is expected to dance to the tunes of The Minibosses - gamers will this band for its rock revisions of  the music of classic titles  like Mega Man, Metroid, and Castlevania. Other musical guests expected to make it to the event are The OneUps, MC Frontalot, Jonathan Coulton, Freezepop, The Neskimos and Optimus Rhyme.

This year's PAX will be held from Aug. 24 to 26, at the Washington State Trade and Convention Center in Seattle. Ticket prices for both pre-registration and on-site registration should be available at Penny Arcade's PAX site (read link).

Just a little reminder to all you PAX-goers out there who happened to "have a life" and forgot all about the registration: early-birds must sign up for a three-day pass on or before Saturday, March 31, 2007 before they hike the registration fee back to US$ 45, while those who register at the event itself will have to pay US$ 30 per ticket per day. So it's better to have saved some bucks to ensure you've got a great deal for a wicked time at the 2007 Penny Arcade Expo.

The three day affair will begin at August 24, and should be situated down at the Washington State Trade and Convention Center in Seattle, Washington. That's over 200,000 square feet of leg room! Just about enough space for gaming related tournaments, concerts, contests, booth demonstrations of coming games and a swimming pool. To qualify for the Omegathon tourneys, you've got to be a pre-registrant.

Straight from a press release, Penny Arcade claims that tickets are selling twice as fast than last year (which had over 20,000 gamers attend), so you'd better use four hands for typing and two for mousing around at the Penny Arcade Expo site. And nerds can bob their heads to the music from The OneUps, MC Frontalot, Jonathan Coulton, Freezepop, The Neskimos and Optimus Rhyme.

Remember, every type of gamer is invited, even if you just rap on tables and play musical beat games. So even if you can't relate to the more than 50 companies slated to appear on the floor at PAX 2007, you're still welcome, unless you've come to balk at Penny Arcade like one soul we-could-probably-name-but-we-aren't-going-to.

Expect Microsoft, Sony, Ubisoft, Electronic Arts/Mythic, Sabertooth Games, Telltale Games, the Behemoth, Namco-Bandai, Upper Deck, Wizkids, ArenaNet, Harmonix, and Rockstar Games to show up. And if you miss out on the March 31 deadline, make sure you do pre-register from April 1 to August 1, or else Tyco and Gabe will draw silly caricatures of you and make weird faces...and deny you access to the three-day long Omegathon tournament!