PAX Prime 2013 Schedule is Out, and SonyRumors Will Be There! Oh, and Naughty Dog, PS4, and Others Too

If you’re like me, you can’t wait for that first time you play a game you’ve been waiting for forever. Whether it’s a downloaded demo or at a friend’s house or tearing the seal off the jewel case at midnight of launch, that first experience is memorable. For an estimated 50,000 people, this year’s PAX Prime in Seattle, WA will be the first time they’ll get a chance to see and play the PlayStation 4. The Penny Arcade Expo takes place August 30 through September 2–Labor Day Weekend for our U.S. readers–and the SonyRumors team will be on the ground at the show to let you know all about the latest happenings.

Among the notable panels being presented at PAX is a postmortem on Naughty Dog’s The Last of Us by game director Bruce Straley and creative director/writer Neil Druckmann. “Pitching The Last of Us” will take place in the Pegasus Theater on Friday at 2:30pm; here are the details of what will be presented:

Join Creative Director Neil Druckmann and Game Director Bruce Straley as they tell you how they successfully pitched Naughty Dog and PlayStation to develop and publish The Last of Us. From this pitch, Neil and Bruce convinced a bunch of folks to go off on their own to explore game ideas, build a whole separate team inside a formerly one-team only studio, and develop Naughty Dog’s first Mature rated title – all leading to a release this year amidst eventual critical and commercial success. But really, Neil and Bruce will pull back the curtain to show you their original pitch for The Last of Us… and giving everyone at this panel a look at how close or far the final game ended up from the original pitch.

If you aren’t able to make it to PAX this year, Straley and Druckmann recently conducted an AMA on reddit where they go into details on all sorts of things related to the creation, development, and reaction to The Last of Us. Be warned, spoilers abound!

For more on the goings-on of PAX, what panels there are to look forward to, and when you can attend and/or hear about them, check out the official schedule at Penny Arcade’s website.

Look for lots of coverage from PAX Prime this year from SonyRumors; Amanda Drake, Sam Castañón, and myself will be there to bring you all the latest news and previews, so tweet at us about what is important to you, the SonyRumors reader. We’ll do our best to bring you the content you crave!