Ron Gilbert to provide PAX 2009 keynote

by: Chuck - posted: 6/30/2009 4:04:00 PM

Ron Gilbert has been chosen to provide the keynote at this year's Penny Arcade Expo.  For those of you who don't know who Ron is he is one of the creative minds behind some of the great Lucasarts adventure games (including Maniac Mansion and the first two entries in the Monkey Island series) and is currently the creative director of Hothead Games (who did the first Penny Arcade adventure game).  Previous keynote speakers have included THE Wil Wheaton and Ken Levine.

Personally it's a great choice as Ron is one funnier guys in the industry and I think he'll provide some good laughs as well as a few good stories. 

PAX 2009 KEYNOTE SPEAKER REVEALED



Look Behind You, a Three-Headed Monkey!



SEATTLE - June 29, 2009 - PAX 2009 organizers humbly announced today that industry legend Ron Gilbert will grace the stage as keynote speaker at the sixth annual gaming festival to be held Sept. 4-6 at the Washington State Convention and Trade Center.



Legendary storyteller, game designer, programmer and producer Ron Gilbert has created countless classic video games, including the seminal LucasArts works Maniac Mansion and first two installments in the Monkey Island adventure series. His more than 20-year career in the games industry encompasses co-founding three game studios, creating the famous SCUMM scripting language and being inducted into the Computer Game Hall of Fame. He is currently creative director at independent development studio Hothead Games in Vancouver, Canada.



"This is an unbelievable moment for us," commented Penny Arcade's Robert Khoo. "I wasted an entire family vacation one year trying to figure out how to win that stupid spitting competition." Gilbert joins an illustrious group of past PAX keynote speakers, including noted geek icon Wil Wheaton and innovative game designer Ken Levine.



In addition to the highly anticipated keynote address, numerous panels and game demonstrations, Omegathon and The PAX 10 independent games showcase, PAX 2009 will offer attendees an unparalleled musical experience with performances from Freezepop, Jonathan Coulton, MC Frontalot, Paul and Storm, Anamanaguchi and Metroid Metal. As if all of this weren't enough, PAX organizers further confirmed that this year's Exhibition Hall is down to its final availability. Prospective exhibitors interested in securing these last coveted booth spaces can write to paxsales@paxsite.com for more information.






About PAX: PAX is a three-day celebration of games and gamer culture. The festival includes an exhibition floor filled with playable builds of upcoming tabletop, console and computer games; a conference program of game industry speakers; music concerts; freeplay areas; industry parties; game tournaments and more. Since its inception in 2004, the show has doubled in size year over year, growing from 4,500 attendees to 58,500 in 2008, making it the largest gaming festival in North America. For more information, visit www.paxsite.com.





About Penny Arcade: Equal parts online comic and commentary, Penny Arcade (www.penny-arcade.com) keeps its finger on the pulse of the gaming industry, prompting conversation and controversy alike from community members and industry experts. What started as a hobby in 1998 for Jerry "Tycho" Holkins and Mike "Gabe" Krahulik has grown into an online phenomenon serving over 70 million page views a month to millions of readers worldwide. In addition to the comic strip and PAX (www.paxsite.com), Penny Arcade has expanded its reach to include a growing line of merchandise, a video game and management of Child's Play (www.childsplaycharity.org), a gamer-driven charity for children that spans the globe.