The 2008 Penny Arcade Expo officially opened its doors to throngs of gaming and geek-culture enthusiasts today in Seattle, Washington. According to showrunners Mike Krahulik and Jerry Holkins--creators of the irreverent webcomic that gave birth to the event--this year's open-to-the-public gaming exhibition is poised to smash the previous year's record attendance mark of 39,000, if preregistration numbers are any indication.

　　Aware that the gaming show has struck a chord with the gaming community, the Penny Arcade duo announced earlier this month that a sister show would be launching for East Coast audiences beginning in 2010. Providing additional details on that event as part of an interview today, Krahulik and Holkins have confirmed for GameSpot that the East Coast show is being planned for Boston, Massachusetts.

　　As previously reported, Penny Arcade has enlisted the help of Reed Exhibitions (the team behind the New York Comic-Con) to handle the logistics of the new show. At the time of its announcement, Holkins stressed that he and Krahulik will still run the show, as well as "determine all the panels, choose where it takes place, select the bands, pretty much everything."

　　For more from the convention, check out GameSpot's complete coverage of Penny Arcade Expo 2008.