Ron Gilbert to keynote PAX 2009
PAX 2009 organizers have announced that Ron Gilbert will provide the keynote during the sixth annual festival September 4-6 in Washington state.
"This is an unbelievable moment for us," said Penny Arcade's Robert Khoo. "I wasted an entire family vacation one year trying to figure out how to win that stupid spitting competition [in Monkey Island]."
The Computer Hall of Fame inductee has created Maniac Mansion, the first two installments in the Monkey Island series, has a career spanning over 20 years in the industry, has founding three gaming studios, and created the SCUMM scripting language.
Currently, Gilbert is creative director at Hothead Games.
Press release through the break.
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.