The previously-announced Penny Arcade Expo Australia will be coming to Melbourne in 2013 and 2014 with the support of the Victorian government.
The news was announced today by Victorian Minister for Innovation, Services and Small Business Louise Asher and Penny Arcade president Robert Khoo. Next year's PAX Australia will be held at the Melbourne Showgrounds from 19-21 July.
The Victorian government will be helping to promote PAX in Melbourne via sponsorship and integration though a number of their gaming culture exhibitions and presentations.
Asher said that attracting PAX Australia to Melbourne would "deliver significant economic benefits" to the state in addition to interstate and international visitors.
"The decision to choose Melbourne to hold PAX Australia represents a fantastic opportunity to highlight Victoria's creative capabilities on a global scale," she said. "This is a great opportunity to showcase the gaming culture in Australia to the rest of the world, while promoting the talented game developers and creative studios to an international audience."
Khoo said the decision to bring PAX to Australia was made following the "overwhelming" response from the Australian Penny Arcade community.
"Melbourne has a long history of supporting the gaming scene, through showcasing cultural game exhibits to supporting world renowned game developers," Khoo said. "Holding PAX Australia in Melbourne is the perfect fit for our show."
According to organisers, PAX Australia will combine an international program with local content and community events, including international guests, speakers, musicians, developers, and Australian industry representatives.
Currently, PAX events are held on both coasts of the United States: PAX Prime in Seattle, Washington, and PAX East in Boston, Massachusetts.
PAX Australia ticket registration is now open via the PAX Australia website.
Discussion
Why are all you idiots saying that half the games that will be played at PAX will banned in Australia? It's only been a very small handful the past 10 years.
Nice.
Sweet. I can't even afford trips to Seattle or Boston, but this? This is just the cherry on top. :)
This is cruel to Australians. Let's show them first hand all the games they won't be able to play because they'll be banned.
Count me in the festivities yo! :)
Will Gamespot show this 'Live'?
at least it's their version of 'live'
PAX AUS 2013 will be the most talked about PAX! mark my words.
For those of you who think people here are exaggerating the issue of Video game censorship in Australia, look it up in wikipedia. You can face up to 10 Years in jail (a sex offender gets less) if you are caught selling violent games (e.g gta ) and if you are caught trying to import it for your personal use (from the US for example), you can face fines up to $110,000, yes its that bad.
I live in Melbourne, i'm glad PAX is coming to Australia we definitely need gaming expos here. However its important not to forget Australia's extreme policies on banning games with the slightest hint of violence, which was a purely political move aimed at conservatives that had no support whatsoever. This policy has affected the local industry and created a blackmarket culture for games. The censorship continues and gets worse every year, with more and more parents jumping the bandwagon, i hope these issues are addressed as an open dialogue in PAX by industry expert.
"Melbourne has a long history of supporting the gaming scene, through showcasing cultural game exhibits to supporting world renowned game developers," Yeah. Considering Australia bans half the games that come out, I'm sure Melbourne has many contributions to the gaming scene aside from refusing to sell several games in the first place. What the hell are these people thinking?
Remember to leave your "naughty" games at home.
Hurray for Down Under Gaming scene. :P
Gets there"Sorry, all video games that have the slightest bit of violence such as Minecraft are banned." "But you are still able to enjoy Australia's BEST like Toy Story for Kinect. " :D
But there arn't any games in austrailia. Thought they were all banned?
Censored Fest, Also known as the "the games that you will never play in this country"
3 day pass already paid for. This is amazing for Melbourne!
Wow I live right near the showgrounds. anyone need a spare room?
Yay about time Australia started this kind of thing. I hope to see a lot more in the future.
I might have to fly down from Brisbane for this.
cant wait for this show, good to see melb getting 2 years of love. the Victorian government is good at promoting overseas
hmmm EB Expo or PAX or both next year...
I want to go to there...
Damn...not in Sydney =(
If we're lucky, the creators of Penny Arcade will be kidnapped by dingos.
but gaming in australia is too decent
@Ground_Zero Because "everything Melbourne has done for gaming" is a load of crap. The only connection between games and Australia that anyone can think of is Australia banning games.
@Lazy_Marine yeah $110,000 if you import like 60 copies of a game into Australia... you don't get fined that much for 1 copy.
@Taasi23
Hellz yeah, 3 day pass is looking very tempting
@ElfShotTheFood The dingo ate her baby.
@Ground_Zero @Lazy_Marine I like how this guy's response is "yeah it's $110K if you import like 60 games" and completely ignores that sex offenders get less of a sentence than some mean video games.
@rann89 @Lazy_Marine ... I was pointing out that the $110k fine for 1 game was wrong.
If you like to elaborate on the sex offender thing then please do.