PAX South is gearing up right now to take over San Antonio, Texas, this weekend, and it promises to be the first in another series of successful shows for the Penny Arcade crew. The PAX gaming festival began as a celebration of games and gamer culture in Seattle, WA and has since grown to four consumer shows and a developer event annually. The annual conventions include an expo 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, an independent games showcase, game tournaments and more. Since its inception in 2004, the show has experienced skyrocketing attendance, with tens of thousands of attendees at all four events.

The PAX South show looks like another good opportunity for game marketers to not only show their best games to attendees, but also to get some insights into the gaming enthusiasts in the region and what they are looking forward to playing this year. The region is home to plenty of gamers, as well as strong developer communities in the nearby Austin area and other parts of Texas. Check out the website at www.paxsite.com for more information.

The [a]listdaily spoke with Robert Khoo, president of Penny Arcade, to get some insights on the upcoming event.

Why did you choose San Antonio as the next place for expanding PAX?

There are a lot of factors that go into a city choice, logistically (hotel room capacities, infrastructure, airports, etc), but once those hurdles are cleared it really comes down to the vibe of the city. Truth be told, after a nearly three year search for a good central location, I flew into San Antonio for a site tour not thinking much of it, but in a few hours I was in l love with the place. The uniqueness of the city, the Riverwalk, the gaming culture in San Antonio and the surrounding cities — I knew we found our spot.

The exhibit floor from a previous PAX show

What are some of the exciting things at PAX South that attendees can look forward to?

I think having one roof in which to celebrate just the culture of gaming is a really amazing thing to be a part of. Everyone has their passion, right But how often to tens of thousands of like-minded individuals get to gather in one spot to participate and cheer on the thing they love the most It’s really a special feeling. But specifically, we’ve got panels, concerts, YouTuber autograph sessions, a giant exhibition hall, freeplay, tournaments, and more, all focused on PC, Console and Tabletop gaming.

What is the size of the audience you expect for PAX South, both in attendance and those seeing it online or through social media?

Although we don’t really track “numbers” these days, it’ll be comparable to our other shows in terms of size and crowds. I will say something important to note is that we only have a limited number of Friday and Sunday badges left, so if you planned on showing up onsite to buy tickets, follow @official_pax on twitter to make sure they’re still available.

What are some of the games that people will get an advance look at during PAX South?

I think one of the best parts to PAX is our push to highlight independent creators. So right along with some of the bigger names like Nintendo, Alienware, and Gearbox are a ton of smaller 1 to 2 person teams working on innovative and unique titles that you just wouldn’t find elsewhere. We also dedicated our show competition to tabletop games only, meaning we selected from a pool of entrants the best and brightest for those creating analog titles. So be sure to check out the PAX South Tabletop Indie Showcase on the floor as well!

What eSports are going to be at PAX South, and how big a draw do you expect them to be?

eSports aren’t huge at any of our PAXes, so if you see them at the show, it’ll be a smaller presence. We try to keep a good balance to all the different parts of the game community and culture.