Game news: Hardcore gamers flock to Seattle (AP)

Real news from the virtual world:

• GIVE PAX A CHANCE: What do you get when you invite about 45,000 hardcore gamers to Seattle for the weekend (besides entirely new mixtures of body odor that are probably illegal under the Geneva Conventions)? You get the Penny Arcade Expo, the fan festival that's exploded in popularity since it began in 2004, when just 3,000 people attended.

With more than 70 exhibitors, dozens of tournaments and panel discussions, and performances by "nerdcore" rockers like the OneUps and the Minibosses, you'd think there'd be plenty for everyone. But PAX seems to be going through growing pains, and game bloggers carped about hideous line for just about everything.

PAX founders Jerry Holkins and Mike Krahulik (creators of the "Penny Arcade" Web comic) seem to realize that their baby has grown too big for one state, so the guys are starting an East Coast version, starting in 2010 in Boston.

"Frankly, it should be global," said Holkins.

Still, if you elbowed your way through the masses at this year's Expo, you would have gotten to hear "BioShock" creator Ken Levine's musings on growing up nerdy. ("When my parents rolled my character, they didn't get any 18s," he said — a wonderful joke that only a dungeon master could love.) You could have gotten some early hands-on time with the eagerly awaited "Fallout 3," and perhaps even have scored a nifty apocalypse survivor's guide from publisher Bethesda Softworks. And you could have watched in awe as a guy named "Joey Gecko" won the Omegathon — the ultimate tournament in video, computer and tabletop games — with his masterful performance at "Vs. Excitebike," a 1987 Nintendo game that was never released in the United States.

PAX may have grown too big too fast, but for the dedicated fan, it's still nerd-vana.

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_MUCH MUSIC: While Activision's "Guitar Hero World Tour" drew big crowds at last weekend's gathering, its primary competitor, MTV Games' "Rock Band 2," did more to cater to the Penny Arcade Expo crowd. MTV announced that three of the beloved nerdcore bands that performed at PAX — Jonathan Coulton, MC Frontalot and The Darkest of the Hillside Thickets — will all have tunes available for download this week for the original "Rock Band." The company will donate all proceeds from sales of the tracks to Child's Play, Penny Arcade's charity.

That announcement came on the heels of the news, first reported by Entertainment Weekly, that "Rock Band" developer Harmonix has six more full albums coming to the game's library over the next few months. The lineup includes classic albums by the Foo Fighters, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Jane's Addiction and Megadeth as well as a No Doubt greatest hits package — pretty much something for everybody.

The news out of the "Guitar Hero" camp is more likely to make fans cringe. Brett Ratner, the director of "Rush Hour" and "X-Men: The Last Stand," told MTV News that he really wants to make a "Guitar Hero" movie. "It could be about a kid from a small town who dreams of being a rock star and he wins the 'Guitar Hero' competition," said Ratner. Fortunately, Activision hasn't expressed any interest in such a project ... yet.

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_ROCKIN' THE PARADISE: An unlikely competitor has emerged in the ongoing Armageddon to determine rhythm game supremacy. It's called "Guitar Praise," and it's a rock 'n roll game for Christian parents who were freaked out by the prominence of Satan in last year's "Guitar Hero III."

"Grab the guitar and play along with top Christian bands!" says the press release from publisher Digital Praise (which is also behind a "Dance Dance Revolution" knockoff called "Dance Praise"). "You'll soon be rockin' with the best while praising the Lord!"

"The best" in this case means such stalwart Christian rock acts as Relient K, Newsboys and dc Talk. The $100 package, for PC and Mac only, will come with its own guitar and more than 50 songs. No "Sympathy for the Devil" here.

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_NEW IN STORES: Electronic Arts' "Mercenaries 2: World in Flames" lays waste to Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 consoles everywhere. ... Microsoft's candy-filled critters return in "Viva Pinata: Trouble in Paradise" (for the 360). ... unleashes the cartoony slugfest "FaceBreaker" (360, PS3).