PAX 2008 ushers in top publishers

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