The Penny Arcade Expo started from humble beginnings and morphed into a large extravaganza (PAX)

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But what exactly is PAX? For starters, Penny Arcade is a highly popularized webcomic about video games from the perspective of both fans and critics, created by Jerry Holkins and Mike Krahulik. The two of them realized that there should be a convention dedicated solely to the idea of video games, and so they made one. 

From the official description on the PAX website:

In 2004, the folks at Penny Arcade decided they wanted a show exclusively for gaming. Sure, comics, anime, and other nerd hobbies were cool, and those activities all had their own shows… so what about games? From that idea spawned a small 4,500 person event in Bellevue, Washington, focused on the culture and community that is gaming.

Since then, the show hasn’t looked back. Doubling in size each year until venue capacities were reached, in 2010 the show expanded into Boston for PAX East, drawing tens of thousands of attendees in the inaugural year. The shows in Seattle and Boston represent the two largest gaming events in North America!

And so, while E3 may still be the most well known Electronics Expo for gamers to get their information, PAX tends to have the high ground with the latest updates. From HD remixes (Kingdom Hearts 1.5, Final Fantasy X and X-2, and Capcom’s Duck Tales) to mainstream new title releases (The Last of Us, Beyond Two Souls, and Halo 4's new maps) PAX is where details truly emerge.

CHECK OUT: IGN's PAX Event Coverage

Some surprising information is that Bioware (the team behind Mass Effect and Dragon Age) are going to be working on a completely new fictional universe along with releasing general statistics on most player campaigns for Mass Effect 3, Blizzard released a new free-to-play digital card game set in the lore of Warcraft, aptly known as Heartstone: Heroes of Warcraft, and the reveal of the fourth installment of the Saints Row series.

And that’s just a taste of the many announcements that took place at PAX. 

The official website can be found here.

Reach Tech Editor Eric Parra here.