For those not in the loop, Penny Arcade is a satirical webcomic poking fun at the games industry dating back in 1998, created by Jerry Holkins and Mike Krahulik. This venture into comedy, producer-bashing, and all-out weirdness is so big, it spawned three huge gaming conventions, called the Penny Arcade Expo in the last three years. And I had the distinct pleasure of checking out the fourth one, entitled PAX ‘07.

Was it fun? Hell yes! Here are a few pics from the Flickr account of one of Penny Arcade’s confidante named Kiko (all pictures below and above are copyrighted of Kiko unless otherwise stated).

For way more awesome photo coverage and nerd-heaven goodness, visit his account here. Oodles of Rock Band shots, pirate lasses, and free ramen dead ahead! Of course, I manage to snag just a few here and there. Not the best, but with a visitor’s pass, I had to manage.

The Handheld Lounge. Nice if you can’t afford a hotel.

Hail Big Daddy, Protector of 11-year old bug-eyed, pale-skinned girls

Tim, of the World’s Smallest Dungeon at the Technomancer Press’ booth. Great tabletop stuff abound!

Seriously, isn’t the man burning inside?

Apparently, someone forgot to told him that Blizzcon ended weeks ago.

The 1up Yours crew, getting hyped up for their first ever 1up Yours Live Podcast, featuring Bungie PR guy Luke Smith (Second from right). Manage to hang out with another 1up/EGM writer Jenn Frank and a bunch of other writers later for a nice dinner-and-game turf combo.

And finally, a man wearing the Destructoid logo on his head. Fun crew.

All in all, PAX 07 is what E3 of a few month’s past wasn’t : fun and full of heart. Seeing gamers congregating in unison and just having a ball is what Mike & Jerry made possible.

Technorati : PAX, e3 sucks, game convention, games, penny arcade