Anime Expo is one of those events so big that it manages to break out of its original mold. It has since grown past anime and manga fandom to now include gaming and just about everything else geeky. At last year's event, we met up with and interviewed Solid Snake himself, David Hayter. We also broke the news on Persona 4's launch date, met Japanese pop stars, and saw lots of half-naked girls. Not a bad run for an event that some still write off as just an anime convention.

We already have confirmation of more gaming at Anime Expo this year. Both Aksys and Atlus will be in attendance, and will hold panels at this year's July 2-5 event, to be held at the Los Angeles Convention Center. On July 4th at 10 a.m., go and check out the panel on BlazBlue and Guilty Gear. Later, at 4 p.m., Atlus gives "the full story" on Demon's Souls, the slick PS3 RPG we pawed at lovingly at E3 this year.

Speaking of Atlus, I have the feeling that they'll have something else up their sleeves. Siliconera seems to be on the same page. We'll be looking forward to whatever that is.