A couple weekends ago my boyfriend and I went to the Playstation Experience at the Anaheim Convention Center. I’ve seen some pictures but didn’t know what to really expect. When we got there we had no idea how long the lines would be. We expected to be about the same as the Gamestop convention (which I have yet to post my bad…). But we were so wrong the lines were crazy! Wrapping around the building, snaking back and forth.
There were 2 lines outside one to check in for your badge and another line to get into the convention hall. I didn’t know that we would be getting a goodie bag with our badge so it was pretty cool. The things in the bag are: a water bottle, a fabric poster, sunglasses with the PS logo on the corner of the lens, buttons, some skin tattoos, hand sanitizer spray, a t-shirt, a share factory magnet, draw to death code, and a bronze card. There could be other things I might have missed. We ended up putting everything into one bag with other things we got.
Security is pretty tight. Before you enter the main hall you have to go through metal detectors. They handed out big zip lock bags so that everyone can place their items in the zip lock bag before walking through the metal detector. Very smart. It is a big difference from the GameStop expo! GameStop was more relaxed and laid back didn’t see that many security and didn’t have to go through a metal detector. It didn’t bother me, though, I understand why there is a need for security there were way more people than the GameStop expo. Extra precaution is always a good thing.
Another difference between the GameStop Expo and Playstation Experience is that there was food! The food court was open and there were food trucks outside. They also had multiples mini bar tables that serve beer, wine, and soda. There is also a bigger bar area with games to play and drink. Unfortunately, we didn’t get to go to the bar there was always a wait to get in and we didn’t eat anything there either. There just wasn’t any time to eat when you have to wait in line for hours at a time to play a game. Although by the end of the day I was getting a little bit hungry (also hangry). The only thing that held me over for so long was because we had dim sum before coming to the event so I wouldn’t get moody. But regardless I'm glad there were food options, unlike at the GameStop expo which didn’t have any and started way earlier. We had to resort to eating at the Hilton Hotels food court. The food is extremely over priced and I think I got sick from eating there. About 30 minutes more or less after eating the sandwich from their food court my stomach started to hurt and I wasn’t feeling good. So a Plus for Sony Playstation for providing food options!
Anyways back to Playstation. The wait time for each game can be as long as 30 minutes to 3 hours or more. I think each game play is about 10-15 minutes long. It was a 2-day event and we did purchase the 2-day pass to have more time to play other games. One thing for sure though if you don’t have patients or have something to do while you wait in line, it can get very boring. It took us 3 tries to get into the PS gear shop that seemed like it never moved. When we finally got in line before the cut off we moved about a foot within an hour wait time. In the end, we decided to leave.
I didn’t come with my boyfriend for the second day because family came over to celebrate my Grandmothers birthday early. Her actual birthday is during the week. But it was ok he still had a great time and said it was so much better on the second day. There were still a good amount of people but not as bad as the first day. He got to play more games and got a good amount of stuff and actually made it into the gear store this time!
Overall it was a fun experience, maybe not so much on the first day. If Sony were to host another event here next year I wouldn't mind attending again. Anyway, here are the pictures of the convention and all the things we got. Thanks for reading!
The things we got:
