PAX 2008 ushers in top publishers

Penny Arcade Expo again expands, with Sony, Microsoft, Nintendo, EA, Activision, and more slated to exhibit at the open-to-the-public event.

The Penny Arcade Expo may have begun as a pet project put on by the creators of a webcomic, but recent years have established the event as one of the premier gaming conventions in the world. Last year, the open-to-the-public gaming exhibition packed in a crowd 39,000-strong to the Washington State Convention and Trade Center in Seattle, and featured such top-tier exhibitors as Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo.

This year, PAX organizers have once again doubled their exhibition hall, and today released a full list of exhibitors set to display their wares at the event. More than 70 companies will head to the WSCTC for this year's PAX, fronted by all three first-party publishers, as well as third-party giants EA, Activision, Ubisoft, and Take-Two. As the convention caters to more than just the video gaming industry, a number of geek-culture staples, including Wizards of the Coast and Pink Godzilla, will have a presence at the show.

In addition to getting a prerelease look at a number of upcoming games, PAX attendees will be entertained by industry panels, tournaments, concerts, and the Omegathon gaming competition. With Sierra Entertainment gearing up Ghostbuster: The Video Game for release later this year, PAX organizers also said the ECTO-1 cruiser would be on display.

PAX 2008 will run August 29 to 31 at the Washington State Convention and Trade Center. More information about the event can be found on the expo's official Web site.

A complete lineup of exhibitors is listed below.

- 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 Consumers 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

37 Comments

  • Trigun1

    Posted Jun 30, 2008 12:11 pm PT

    I may have to drive up to Seattle this summer...

  • tophat666

    Posted Jun 30, 2008 11:12 am PT

    Add NooBTooB to the list of people going.

  • Rect_Pola

    Posted Jun 30, 2008 5:50 am PT

    Ouch. E3 is just not doing it for these guys.

  • LindBergh2007

    Posted Jun 29, 2008 11:11 pm PT

    Where is Sega?

  • Jd1680a

    Posted Jun 28, 2008 9:26 am PT

    One reason E3 is losing steam is because of PAX ability to get 39,000 people in attendance and equal amount of media coverage.

  • cheerios3d

    Posted Jun 27, 2008 11:13 pm PT

    Great news especially for those who live in Seattle plus its open to the public, damn really wish I could be there.

  • combatsoldier

    Posted Jun 27, 2008 4:44 pm PT

    Man I would love to be there. Send me send me. I would fly my family out there they would love it to. Im to busy with real life things like remodeling our home. Man I would really love to be there though.

  • aygol

    Posted Jun 27, 2008 2:06 pm PT

    I wish I could go there, but I can't. Penny Arcade and PAX are the best.

  • lamprey263

    Posted Jun 27, 2008 1:19 pm PT

    I can't wait. I basically live just a short walk away.

  • Tauntulas

    Posted Jun 27, 2008 1:05 pm PT

    Good thing i already ordered my tickets ; )

  • CageFury

    Posted Jun 27, 2008 12:06 pm PT

    E what?

  • XanderZane

    Posted Jun 27, 2008 10:33 am PT

    PAX looks like it's going to be the NEW E3. There seems like more companies are going to PAX, then the E3. I would go if I didn't have so many other trips this year. I might do this next year though instead of the E3. *************************************************
    Lord_Artix Everyone says that this will be the new E3, but I was under the impression TGS had that title...
    ----------------------------------------------------
    Hhhmm.. no. How many Americans are going to fly to Tokyo for that public show when PAX is so much closer and everyone there will actually speak English. lol!! The Leipzig & TGS is for European and Asia gamers, while the E3 and PAX is for American and Canadian gamers. It's that simple.

  • thenephariouson

    Posted Jun 27, 2008 10:25 am PT

    Sounds great, and its open to the public! brilliant!!

  • ashuncc2

    Posted Jun 27, 2008 9:38 am PT

    Looking forward to PAX!

  • ADJ209

    Posted Jun 27, 2008 9:22 am PT

    Gamecock?
    Not to be perverted or anything, but what the hell..?

  • sonic_xa

    Posted Jun 27, 2008 8:35 am PT

    wheres sega

  • Timstuff

    Posted Jun 27, 2008 8:20 am PT

    Watch, as a once grassroots gaming expo slowly evolves into what E3 was supposed to be.

  • kos1085

    Posted Jun 27, 2008 7:52 am PT

    So does that mean we have to wait till the end of August for a lot of new third party games to be announced.....awwww maaan.

  • Sagacious_Tien

    Posted Jun 27, 2008 7:28 am PT

    I wanna go!

  • Lord_Artix

    Posted Jun 27, 2008 5:16 am PT

    Everyone says that this will be the new E3, but I was under the impression TGS had that title...

  • Mauller

    Posted Jun 27, 2008 4:01 am PT

    Like I've said elsewhere, PAX is the new E3.

  • FrankenLife

    Posted Jun 27, 2008 1:23 am PT

    This just one of the many reasons I live in Seattle. I love PAX

  • dulun19

    Posted Jun 27, 2008 1:10 am PT

    open to the public?? sound good..

  • N-Flamez

    Posted Jun 27, 2008 1:06 am PT

    Wheres the Sega?

  • BewilderedRonin

    Posted Jun 27, 2008 12:41 am PT

    I hear ya, MjolnirMaster51. It would be great for something like this on the East Coast. I'm really glad that PAX has done so well. That lineup looks awesome! I wonder what Bioware and NCsoft will be showing... *crosses fingers for Dragon Age and Guild Wars 2 news*

  • ScionofEntropy

    Posted Jun 26, 2008 10:57 pm PT

    I'm definitely going to have to go to one, eventually... Curse my living at the opposite end of the nation!

  • tophat666

    Posted Jun 26, 2008 9:39 pm PT

    im so glad im going.

  • Adam_the_Nerd

    Posted Jun 26, 2008 8:37 pm PT

    Could this be the next E3? It sounds BIG, LOUD, and most importantly FUN, like the old E3

  • riderkid

    Posted Jun 26, 2008 8:35 pm PT

    maybe instead of a stadium or a con hall they should rent a town for the next PAX

  • MjolnirMaster51

    Posted Jun 26, 2008 7:56 pm PT

    I hope they announce something about Penny Arcade Adventures Episode 2. I'd love to see anything they have to show for that game, and the fact that Brawndo is in the lineup is just plain awesome. I just wish they could hold a convention or something like this on the east coast. I'm sick of not being able to go to any of these crazily wonderful events.

  • OmegaHunter9

    Posted Jun 26, 2008 6:39 pm PT

    I think we're gunna need a bigger stadium.

  • Zoomer30

    Posted Jun 26, 2008 6:20 pm PT

    E3 is dead and has been for years, this is the "new E3". Call it "The Game Show FOR Gamers"

  • vaejas

    Posted Jun 26, 2008 6:17 pm PT

    @Ussop: "Going to be" the new E3? Might I ask what would you suggest is the "reigning" E3? I think this year's PAX will break all the conceptions about what a convention must be.

  • panteral3

    Posted Jun 26, 2008 6:17 pm PT

    Go Penny Arcade! Now, can we PLEASE make the comics FUNNY again?

    PLEASE?!?

    Oh, and drop the damn monocled cat, the stupid cardboard samurai, and the craptacular Juice ^*^*^#() - you can do better than that (we believe in you).

  • LordAndrew

    Posted Jun 26, 2008 6:05 pm PT

    That's a lot of big names.

  • Ussop

    Posted Jun 26, 2008 5:57 pm PT

    It seems that PAX is going to be the new E3

  • Shadow_Fire41

    Posted Jun 26, 2008 5:56 pm PT

    holy hell

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