Great OP! I'm glad that you decided to make this a separate thread. I''m jealous that you got to meet Alex Evans, I didn't see him :/ Also, hello Gaf! Long time lurker!
Preface:
I attended PSX last year. It was my first and only industry event until PSX '15. I'm a 20 -something male from the US and a huge PS fanboy who loves the Vita.
Keynote:
I was afraid I wasn't going to get in! The lines were insane and I was pretty early. The AV setup was BEAUTIFUL. It worked very well for the show, panels, and the Capcom Cup.
In line I saw Shinji Hashimoto, Hollie Bennett, and Brent Gocke (he was on the floor the whole time!). My friend kept doubting that any of them were who I thought they were. I had a chance to sit next to Hashimoto but I decided against it for fear of embarassing myself.
I sat down around 8:30 and the show started almost exactly on time at 10. The atmosphere during the keynote was palpable. It was so much fun to hear people cheering and laughing collectively around me, though I may have been the only one near me guffawing at Ono punching Gio and the Palmer Luckey TIME reference in the Psychonauts trailer. Also, kudos to Magic Labs for attempting a live VR demo. I hope that one materializes!
There were so many announcements I forgot half of them until I checked the internet at the hotel that evening. I was one of those expecting a megaton at the end (why did Layden wear that Crash shirt!? Grrr) but overall the keynote was pretty great, especially for fans of Japanese games.
Show Floor/ Venue:
I am glad it had multiple floors, bathrooms, and eating areas. The ability to reenter so easily was also a plus. Much better arrangement than last year in that respect. That helped thin the crowds. I do wish that there was more than one Sony store, because that line was constantly out of control. There were a lot more cosplayers and displays than last year. Some of the indies I felt were tucked into a corner, but for those who wanted to play that meant shorter lines and more game time.
Oh, and the beef tacos were pretty slammin.
Livestream Stage:
Much improved from last year. In was in a good location where everyone passed by. The bean bags were a good decision as well. The livestreams actually convinced my friend to buy a PS4! I also loved the crowd participation. I won some cool stuff, including a Dreams figurine!
Panels:
WAY less panels than last year unfortunately, and the stage resulted in the panels being less intimate than last year. I attended the PS VR and PS I Love You panels. At the latter, they gave away Vitas and games which was pretty sweet. I would have attended more but I didn't want to miss a chance to play RIGS. I did get to meet Anton Mikhailov and have a lengthy discussion with him after the VR panel though, which was mostly the same discussion that occurs at almost any VR dev table with some interesting points by the panelists.
Meta games:
Having the app this year was a great idea. In theory, the rewards system was really cool. It was like having a big quest log. However, as anyone will tell you it didn't work properly. A few hours after the keynote, any internet connection slowed to a crawl, rendering the app useless. The cards returned this year, albeit in a different format with a rarity system which rewarded you with a foil/holographic version for doing something special such as winning the round or beating the boss. The trophy cards were a nice touch, until they ran out of Platinum cards :/ I wanted and tried to collect all the cards, but as the days wore on, I realized it was a fool's errand.
Games:
Broforce- I'm so glad I actually tried this game. It didn't appeal to me from a quick glance but after playing it, it is a definite buy. So much hilarity and joy that you don't mind how difficult it is.
EVE Valkyrie- The very first thing I did on Sunday once I realized it was not reserved. The controls surprised me; I thought I would be using a joystick/throttle, but the DS4 worked well. The man in line was very helpful with tips on playing, as was the woman setting up the demo. I was pleasantly surprised to learn that it was a co-operative demo. I spent a couple of minutes just looking around the cockpit. Having my avatar lean accurately with me was quite immersive. Once the game started, playing a 6DOF in VR was just as thrilling as I thought it would be. I intentionally rolled around a lot, attempting to induce motion sickness and I did feel a little queezy but I had a constant smile through the whole demo. At the end, they had a brief survey which I thought was a great idea. I gave them perfect marks all around. I was already sold on VR when I tried it last year but EVE definitely solidified that in my mind.
Gang Beasts- I was introduced to this game at PSX last year. I bought it on Steam early access because of it. It was just as charming as before. It's such a blast to play that you feel bad playing it and have to hand off the controller to others in the crowd. Works very well in a convention set up.
Loading Human- Another VR demo that luckily few seemed to notice. It had an interesting solution for locomotion (the dev commented that he wished Sony included an analog stick on the Move, which I still agree with) . I think if I wasn't a Move vet, I would have had more trouble with it. It didn't appear to be very optimized at the moment, and I hope it wasn't most people's first impression with VR, but it was still a compelling demo.
Disney Infinity- Very charming. They had a lap record contest going, which was a pretty good idea. A giant sandbox made even better with the star wars and marvel characters. I would definitely buy it if I had the money or space
Killing Floor 2- Unfortunately the devs had to set up the kiosks independently on a co-op survival shooter. I give them marks for having headphones though. The gunplay was
fantastic. Just as frantic if not more than the first.
Battleborn- I'll admit I wasn't that interested in this game, especially after seeing Overwatch. After bearing the line, my friend and I scoured the companion booklet trying to form strategies. After seeing some first hand gameplay I wanted to pick Benedict, but we decided on Montana-Miko combo. It was an intense match, close until the end. Having the commentators talking about you and displaying your screen was encouraging. It felt like I was a pro Esports player for a minute. I wish I could have played again but the line was always eternal. After playing it and hearing about a campaign though I am definitely going to give it a chance.
Abzu- Though a convention is not the ideal place to try this game, they did a good job setting up the kiosks. Extremely atmospheric. You can absolutely see the common lines from Journey to Abzu. Gonna pick this up for sure.
Wattam- It was great to see Robin and Keita in person after attending the panel last year. Wattam is coming along great, although I know I'll have to sit down and play it on my own to really understand it haha.
Sentris- Mad respect for the programmers of this title. A big musical playground built around puzzles. Even though I sucked at it I enjoyed my time with Sentris.
Bound- Was eagerly awaiting anything from Plastic, and I am so glad that I got to try this. One of the best things about PSX is getting to talk face to face with the developers. Plus, I got a PS4 theme for playing it! I'm unsure of the proper terms but the voxels and decay effects are superb. I'm looking forward to playing this in the dark on my own setup. Side note, when I asked the devs about bringing Datura to PSVR I got a sly smile! *Fingers crossed*
Ratchet and Clank- In a word, BEAUTIFUL. My goodness this game is crisp. And the Pixelizer? Fuggedaboutit! As a Ratchet fan I couldn't be more stoked. Based on the interest on the show floor, I think Insomniac and Sony made a lot of new fans.
Drawn to Death- Glad to see the improvements from last year. I owned the match and got the rare card. Didn't get to talk to Jaffe like last time unfortunately. Oh well, at least I got into the beta and can share my feedback there!
Gravity Rush- The new controls, textures, and framerate make this game shine. I'm glad this game will be able to reach more people now.
The Last Guardian- I didn't realize this was interactive until after the show, but it was really great to see its presence.
RIGS- Dunno. Didn't get to play it :'( My biggest disappointment. Terribly nice chaps running it though.
People I met:
I walked around the show with two missions. One, to play as much VR as possible (namely RIGS), and two, to meet as many SCE people as I could (namely Shu, Adam Boyes, and Scott Rhode (again). I achieved one of these goals! I carried around a PSOne controller
Brent Gocke- The first one I met! As I said he was on the floor the whole time, which was pretty cool. He was friendly and approachable.
Neil Druckmann- I saw him in the crowd after the keynote. I wanted to have a discussion with him but he gave me the impression that he probably wanted to blend in. Granted I didn't know what was going on with him at the time. I smudged his sig though :/
Ted Price- Also spotted him leaving the keynote. I didn't find out until later where everyone left the stage from. He was very kind and humored my fanboyism.
Anton Mikhailov- Great guy. Wicked smart. I talked his ear off about PSVR and other VR systems. Got to see him again on the livestream stage on day 2.
Gio Corsi- Gio had a great aura about him. I caught him wandering around. I give him and Adam mad props for being on the floor so much with the fans. I thanked him for the onstage Vita love. I hope to see more of him.
Greg Miller- I caught him last year and this year on the floor, but I met him on the Livestream stage during a trivia challenge. He's kinda funny (groan) and personable. We could be buds.
Scott Rohde- Pleasant as always. I spotted him after the PS I Love You panel. He's a very likeable guy. So down to Earth. You can tell how much he loves what he does just by being around him. Kinda wish he was my boss haha.
Adam Boyes- Adam was undoubtedly the friendliest person I met that weekend. I caught him on the first floor. He really liked my controller idea and even tried to help me find Shu.
Shuhei Yoshida- After missing him all weekend, I caught him OUTSIDE the venue on Sunday! He seemed really busy so I didn't bug him to for his autograph but I did shake his hand.
I got butthurt when I found out I missed Troy Baker and Mark Cerny. I didn't know they were there!
Other thoughts:
The swag was much improved over last year. How sweet are the badges!? I also loved that the bag is the PS store bag. Nice touch. Though if I may, I wish the badges had our PSN names either in addition or instead of our full names.
Last year I went alone, but after bringing some friends I can say it's definitely better to have at least one companion. It helps if they are carefree or a big PS fan though.
I must say that security and all of the organizers did a really good job handling the crowds.
Greg Miller had an entourage everywhere he went! The line for the PS I Love You meetup was ridiculous. I really wanted the Shu shirt but I don't know if it would have been worth it.
I would have preferred Las Vegas again but I understand the sake of ease for the developers. It's just that there is so much crime and taxes in SF.
Will Sony send us an email requesting feedback this year? I'd love to give them my thoughts. I'm kind of regretting not telling the people I met what I thought of the setup this year.
I was gonna go to the Gaf meetup but considering I wasn't a member yet I thought it would be weird to show up.
The Capcom Cup was really fun to watch. I didn't think it would be my cup of tea, but it was exhilarating!
Maybe next year the app should be usable offline, as in without a constant internet connection and I also think they should have put a map and schedule in the booklet.
If anyone wants to know more about any games I played or anything, feel free to ask
See you all next year!