element14 and Ben Heck Celebrate Gamer Culture at Penny Arcade Expo Prime 2011

SEATTLE, Aug. 24, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Modding guru and host of element14's popular online TV series, "The Ben Heck Show," Benjamin J. Heckendorn, a.k.a. Ben Heck, will take his passions for modding and gaming to the sold-out Penny Arcade Expo Prime show, where he will participate in a gamer panel discussion, appear at Microsoft's® 10th anniversary celebration of the wildly popular Halo game series, and film for an upcoming episode.

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"The diverse offerings at PAX are enough to draw any gaming fan to the exciting and event-filled three-day conference," said Ben. "But one of the coolest things about PAX is that at its core, it is a venue for people who share a passion for gaming to come together and exchange knowledge. To me, this is what makes the worlds of modding and gaming so closely linked, and I am excited to be part of a show and connect with fans."

PAX is a three-day game festival for tabletop, videogame, and PC gamers and includes dedicated tournaments and free play areas as well as concerts, panel discussions, the weekend-long Omegathon event, and an exhibitor hall filled with booths displaying the latest from top game publishers and developers.

On Aug. 27 at 1:30 p.m. in the Serpent Theatre, Ben will join the "Gamers Doing Good" panel, presented by the AbleGamers Foundation, focusing on how video games can have a positive impact on people's lives. Ben will join other gaming authorities and industry leaders, including Johnny Richardson,  developer, Jack Morton Worldwide; Ryan Sharp, president, Get Well Gamers; Mark Barlet, president, AbleGamers Foundation; Stefanie Doctor Shea, Gamers Outreach; and Kari Toyama, Fight Like a Girl.

Modding and gaming enthusiasts will also have the opportunity to meet Ben during HaloFest, the ultimate fan celebration commemorating the 10th anniversary of "Halo," hosted by 343 Industries and Microsoft. During HaloFest, fans will have the opportunity to get hands-on with "Halo: Anniversary," compete in tournaments for prizes, attend panels to hear developer insights about the past and future of "Halo," and much more. Ben will be present during HaloFest, showing off some of his latest modding projects and answering fan questions.

Ben has also teamed up with the AbleGamers Foundation to auction one of his most popular builds, the Portal T-Shirt. PAX attendees and show fans will have the chance to bid on the shirt on eBay®, with proceeds benefitting the foundation, which is dedicated to bringing greater accessibility in the digital entertainment space so that people with disabilities can gain a greater quality of life, and develop a rich social life that gaming can bring.

PAX attendees and fans of the show are always invited to access the element14 community and electronics store and enthusiasts are invited to join "The Ben Heck Show" community to participate in ongoing mod discussions or post videos of their own mods.

About element14

Launched in June 2009, element14 is the first, innovative information portal and eCommunity specifically built for electronic design engineers. The community recently unveiled its element14 knode, a unique automated platform that enables engineers to quickly research, design, develop and prototype in a single, intelligent environment. element14 is an innovative offering from Premier Farnell plc (LSE:pfl), FTSE 250, a leader in multi-channel electronics distribution trading throughout Europe (Farnell), the Americas (Newark) and Asia Pacific (element14). The company had group sales of £990.8m and underlying profits of £93.3m last year.

SOURCE element14

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