Geek vs Life

Every year the creative geniuses at Penny Arcade throw a three day festival of gaming goodness in the Seattle Washington area from August 24-26 2007. Whether it be console gaming, PC gaming or tabletop gaming, PAX (Penny Arcade Expo), has got something for you. If you’re a gamer and live in the Pacific NW, you definitely should be there. People from all over the country and beyond will be making the trek to the Emerald City for this years event which promises to be even bigger because E3 decided to shut its doors to the fans and made it an insider party. For shame.

There will be tournaments, free-play areas, panel discussions (Wil Wheaton from Star Trek TNG!), nerdcore concerts (Minibosses!)& an exhibition hall filled with booths from all the major gaming companies (Microsoft, Playstation, Nintendo, Ubisoft, Wizards of the Coast, NCSoft, Rockstar Games, etc…). Fans from past years have accumulated swag that rival the riches of Ali Baba’s cave (see GVL’s party bags from last year’s event).

But the event that draws the most attention every year is the competition of champions, The Omegathon. The contest pits twenty contestants in various games with different levels of difficulty. This year’s competition will have 6 rounds with the last game remaining a secret to avoid preparation advantages. The first five rounds will consist of the following:

Friday August 24, 2007
Round 1: Pac-Man (4 p.m.)

Saturday August 25, 2007
Round 2: Calling All Cars (1:30 p.m.)
Round 3: Quake III (4:30 p.m.)
Round 4: Karaoke Revolution (8:00 p.m.)

Sunday August 26, 2007
Round 5: Puzzle Quest (1:30 p.m.)
Round 6: TBA (4:30 p.m.)

Bur who is competing and what’s at stake? This year’s Omegaprize, will consist of a trip for two to the Tokyo Game Show (flights, hotels, etc) and $5,000 in spending cash! Here are this year’s 20 Omeganauts:

-David Davis aka Davertron, 25 (Johnson, Vermont) (Also last years runner-up)
-Brittany Marie Aubert aka baubert, 20 (Bellevue, Washington)
-Max Battle III aka MT Max, 23 (Kalispell, Montana)
-Tony Baugh aka Tony_B, 21 (Salt Lake City, Utah)
-Michael D. Berard aka jdarksun, 27 (Reston, Virginia)
-Ben Gray aka MNC Dover, 31 (Savannah, Georgia)
-Cynthia Anne Hookway aka CynderCyn, 24 (Marshall, Michigan)
-Edward Jones aka SabreCat, 24 (Madison, Wisconsin)
-Corey Lowenberg aka Rex, 25 (New Orleans, Louisiana)
-Brian Lusky aka the Reverend, 26 (Erie, Pennsylvania)
-Ariel Matthews aka bluecanary, 28 (Atlanta, Georgia)
-David Palay aka LordThanda, 21 (Ann Arbor, Michigan)
-Jimbo Matthew Pate aka Riggz13, 23 (Jacksonville, Arkansas)
-Steve Radabaugh aka Majin23x, 28 (Thermopolis, Wyoming)
-Carlito Reyes aka itojetto, 25 (Minneapolis, Minnesota)
-Vanessa Sierra aka Vane518, 22 (Miami, Florida)
-Tristan Stanley aka LogicLB, 25 (Des Moines, Iowa)
-Chelsea Stark aka chelseabot, 23 (Austin, Texas)
-Matthew Stone aka CR20XX, 25 (St. Louis, Missouri)
-Josh Wetzel aka Wetzelcoatl, 20 (Moscow, Idaho)
-Ryan Zack aka Accalon, 22 (Bend, Oregon)