Newsbriefs: Hominid Trophies, PAX Keynote, Lighthouse & dtp

Author: by Staff

[UPDATED: 9:00am PST] Today's regularly updated newsbriefs include news of Alien Hominid developers The Behemoth awarding top XBLA Hominid players with trophies, Wil Wheaton keynoting the Penny Arcade Expo, and Lighthouse Interactive and dtp Entertainment expanding their publishing deal. - Independent console developer The Behemoth has announced that it has shipped the first set of exclusive handmade trophies awarded to the top players of Alien Hominid HD over Xbox Live Arcade. The trophies are being mailed out to players who have attained the top position for a combined total of three weeks on the Alien Hominid HD online leaderboards. The trophies are customized individually for each player, with their Gamertag, high score and date etched into the trophy's base. In addition, those players who are honored will also be featured in the Behemoth Hall of Fame, a section feature on the company's website. The construction process of the trophies can be followed online, while information on the competition, along with a complete rule set, is available on the game's official website. - The creators of popular web comic Penny Arcade have announced additional details on their fourth Penny-Arcade Expo (PAX) gaming culture festival, to take place at the Washington State Trade and Convention Center from August 24th-26th of this year, with a potential 200,000 square feet of floorspace for the event. Giving the keynote for the event will be writer and actor Wil Wheaton, best recognized for his role as Wesley Crusher on Star Trek: The Next Generation. Event organizers have also revealed the grand prize for the Omegathon IV, the annual three-day gaming tournament in which contestants must test their gaming skills in a range of games undisclosed before the event. This year, the winner will win a trip for two to the Tokyo Game Show, along with $5,000 in spending cash. The 2007 Tokyo Game Show will be held Sept. 22-23 at the Makuhari Messe convention complex just outside Tokyo. The three day event will include over 50 companies exhibiting various games and technologies, and will also play host to a number of video game-related musical guests, headlined by The Minibosses, known for their instrumental rock covers of video game music. - PC games Publisher Lighthouse Interactive and German video game publisher dtp entertainment have announced that the companies have expanded their cooperation. dtp will distribute Lighthouse Interactive's realtime strategy game SunAge in Germany, Austria and Switzerland in Q3 2007. In addition, this month dtp will also distribute the adventure game Delaware St. John Vol. 3. In April, dtp distributed the action game WarPath in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. “We have a very successful 3rd party distribution co-operation with Lighthouse Interactive. We are happy to expand this co-operation”, says Christopher Kellner, international sales director, dtp entertainment.