The playful PAX videogame conference has kicked off on Friday, Aug. 31, in Seattle's Paramount Theater. To everyone's delight, Mike "Gabe" Krahulik and Jerry "Tycho" Holkins, the creators of the Penny Arcade comic and site, greeted the conference attendees by calling for a collective knuckle-cracking from the audience.

Krahulik and Holkins started the Penny Arcade Expo back in 2004, aiming to give gamers an enjoyable convention of their own. Eventually the event has become so popular and big that in 2010 they started holding a PAX East event in Boston. Moreover, demand for tickets to this year's Pax Prime was so high that they sold out in less than 24 hours.

Now, PAX is going international for the first time. On Friday, Krahulik and Holkins announced they will be hosting a Penny Arcade Expo in Australia as well, starting next year. Meanwhile, the PAX Prime in Seattle will extend from a three-day event to a four-day convention, running from Friday to Monday, also starting next year. While E3 may be the commercial engine fueling the videogame industry, PAX gained such immense popularity because it focuses on gamers themselves, and on bringing them together to have fun.

With their dedication to the videogame culture and their comic-strip alter-egos, Krahulik and Holkins have drawn a loyal following in the gaming community, with fans eagerly awaiting the convention, each time in higher numbers.

The comic duo took audience questions in an entertaining fashion, but in 90 minutes they managed to address just a few thousand of the estimated 70,000 PAX fans expected to attend this weekend at the Washington State Convention Center. They answered a range of questions, some more random than others, with all answers equally entertaining.

"PAX is the thing I look forward to the most because it's home to me," said Stephen Toulouse, a dedicated gamer and former director of policy enforcement at Xbox Live, as cited by NBCNews. "You are my people."

"The heart of PAX is about bringing people together to play games," said Amanda Wan, who joined the PAX event dressed as "League of Legends" character Riven. Wan has been coming to PAX for six years, and reckons the event has gotten "far more epic," but it has not lost its flavor. "They've stayed true to the purpose of bringing gamers together."