To kick off the 2007 Sony Online Entertainment Fan Faire, SOE President John “Smed” Smedley will provide opening remarks to the more than 1000 video game fans coming to the Rio All Suite Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas for this year’s Fan Faire video game convention.

This first-ever “community address” combines a live presentation with a streaming video broadcast online, where Smed will give both Fan Faire attendees and other gamers the kind of look at SOE products usually reserved for industry events such as E3.

Both audiences will see the latest from upcoming titles like Pirates of the Burning Sea and Gods & Heroes: Rome Rising. Fan Faire guests and online viewers will also get their first looks at Secrets of Faydwer, the next expansion for EverQuest, and Rise of Kunark, the upcoming expansion for EverQuest II.

In another first for Fan Faire, Smed will also unveil an all-new SOE online game, which is set to formally launch in late August.

Fan Faire guests will have the first chance to demo this new title throughout Fan Faire weekend, August 3-5. The SOE Fan Faire is a unique social event in which players of SOE’s most popular titles congregate to meet their online, game-playing peers. This year’s event boasts a plethora of game-themed live events including tournaments, contests, live quests, a variety of panel discussions and tons of great gaming related contests.

Fan Faire 2007 will unite gamers from around. For more information, visit events.station.sony.com/fanfaire.