From there, I made my way upstairs, noting Playstation advertisements in the form of statues depicting characters from their most recent large titles. From right to left stood a lifelike Norman Reedus as “Sam Porter Bridges” from the hit Kojima Productions game Death Stranding, a realistic cordyceps zombie from The Last of Us, and an adult Ellie from The Last of Us Part II.  The Playstation promotion extends across the entire convention floor in the form of QR codes that grant you an entry in a contest to win a PS5.

Once I’d gotten my fill of selfies and b-roll footage, I made my way onto the Central Shopping District (held behind the hall doors) for further photos and b-roll footage before the area was flooded with shoppers when it fully opened at eleven. Walking around the Arts District, noting all the pins, prints, and postcards I wanted was a fun distraction from my job gathering content, and before long, the doors were opened to the public and everyone set their attention to shopping.

After some shopping of my own – including, but not limited to: t-shirts, gym clothes, blind bags, and additions to my Hatsune Mike figure collection – I met up with some friends and we wandered over to the Super Arcade while we waited for Sal to finish his meeting with Anya Malfissa of Hololive Indonesia.