Round Up: PAX, Depp In Pirates Game, Kuma\War

Today's round-up includes news of Microsoft and Nintendo delivering keynotes at August's Penny Arcade Expo, Johnny Depp providing voice to Pirates of the Caribbean: The Legend of Jack Sparrow, and Kuma Reality Games' recreation of the al-Zarqawi takedown, as well as the latest GameSetWatch posts, product news, Serious Games Source news, and Gamasutra job postings. - Popular webcomic Penny Arcade announced that exhibit space is now sold out for its upcoming Penny Arcade Expo (PAX) event, which is slated to take place in Washington state from August 25-27. In addition, former Microsoft employee and current WildTangent CEO and co-founder Alex St. John will deliver a keynote entitled “The Prehistory of Xbox” at the event. His speech will address the legends and anecdotal stories of the evolution of the Xbox platform. Likewise, Nintendo will deliver a keynote at the event as well, however the company has not released any information concerning its contents yet. - Bethesda Softworks confirmed that actor Johnny Depp will provide the voice for Captain Jack Sparrow in the upcoming video game Pirates of the Caribbean: The Legend of Jack Sparrow. The game is set to be released alongside the upcoming film Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest on June 27 for the PlayStation 2 and PC. "We are thrilled to have Johnny Depp working on this project," says Todd Vaughn, executive producer of Pirates of the Caribbean: The Legend of Jack Sparrow. "We couldn't imagine a better way to capture the spirit of the character than to have Depp lend his voice to Captain Jack Sparrow. It truly adds to an already rich gameplay experience." - Kuma Reality Games has announced the latest episode in its long-running Kuma\War, a PC downloadable military action title which takes its content from current events. The new mission covers the events that led to the recent death of al Qaeda leader Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. Mission 75, "The Death of Zarqawi," allows players to take on the role of one of the soldiers who waited outside of the terrorist safe house, and call in an air strike before rushing the installation to try to take him alive. Noted Keith Halper, CEO of Kuma Reality Games to the Chicago Tribune, "When the Zarqawi event took place, there was no way we could just not report on it. It's one of the key events in the war so far." - The latest updates on Gamasutra sister weblog GameSetWatch include news of a new competition to win Metal Gear Saga: Volume 1 on DVD, a look back at Tail Concerto, and the rejection of a virtual soccer management star for a real life job. - Also updated today: Serious Games Source news on serious games from the perspective of Australia, plus Gamasutra product news on the release of Unity 1.5, and the latest Gamasutra job postings, featuring openings from Sony Computer Entertainment America, THQ, THQ Studio Australia, Turbine, and Volition.