OPINION – PlayIT is an event held in Hungary that tries to be E3 or Tokyo Gameshow but it ends up as a mixed result sometimes, or a very great experience that I recommend to anyone for a very low price. The problem is that this depends on the organizers and how the floors are organized. I went to PlayIT last year in Budapest, and it was a fun ride with lots of option to try out the newly released video games for a bit, and to try out both the Xbox One and PlayStation 4 before some of us bought it. It was a battle for attention back then. It was a great to show, which is not something I can say about this year’s show.

PlayIT is back, and it is bigger than ever in BUDAPEST! The organizers of the show have now two buildings to fill up with fun activities, games, panels and!! It even contains a secret bunker for Tom Clancy’s The Division (Those of you who made it inside of the bunker probably got to play it).

Yes, it seems that the organizers went out of their way this time, not only to appease the business -marketing side of such events but they invited some of the prominent Youtube content creators in Hungary (HURRAY) for the fans. Everything seems awesome for a great video game con, and yet to me this event felt a bit hollow and too chaotic.

The good

The event is finally held at a place that allowed for any easy and quick entry into the gamer community. It is also large enough to hold two separate gaming worlds: The PC people, and the Console enthusiasts, there was also a small space dedicated to retro games and pinball machines. All the games were displayed on Full HD TVs, and it was fun to watch an NBA or NHL video game match on those bad boys (sadly we could not take one home for review purposes). The games available to the public were new or newish games, so this allowed everyone to try out their Halo or Battlefronts before committing to either franchise.

There were also a wide arrange of panels that were interesting to listen. If panels are not your thing you can listen to some live commentary about League of Legends, or you are into Minecraft, then you can visit that dedicated booth. There are also multiple shops (with discounts all over the place) to buy any new game or peripheral for your gaming needs. I think that funniest part was the WWE wrestling stage setup where two women fought against each other.

The other fun part of PlayIT for me was the retro video game section and the pinball machines. The retro machines had everything, from the Super NES to the NEO GEO (which had Metal Slug), it was a trip back to a fun filled nostalgia land, I urge everyone to check this section of the event. There were also old pinball machines refurbished and looked pristine. Playing those machines were probably the most fun I had on the con.

The bad

As mentioned above an event or (Con’s ) enjoyability depends on how the organizers set up the stages, and the space between them. Well, here even though there was a bigger area I did not feel it was used to its full potential.

In fact, if any of you is going to this event just try out the newest Halo or PlayStation game because you’ll spend the entire day waiting for one game. A bit of an exaggeration but I feel that PlayIT missed an opportunity here to solidify as a go-to place for large „Lan parties.” While the map of the show floors seems organized, they are pretty hectic to find with no clear signage, and the actual sections of the floor where you could play was tiny and hectic.

It seems the organizers did not do the rational thing and lump most of the Xbox Ones and PlayStation into one section of the floor to do massive game parties. The biggest disappointment came when we found the section for Battlefront, which was only a small circular booth where the game was playable on laptops. Hell, the entire next-gen game department was a disappointment, there were barely any opportunities to play together Halo or a few sports games.

I have no idea what happened, but last year either there were more consoles, or the games were more focused regarding availability. Instead this year the gaming sections are all over the floor, which is a problem if you want to listen to a panel. Speaking of panels while the place is huge, there are no walls that would divide the panels and stages, so once again sound can be heard from all over the place while the entertainer is yelling into the mic.

And the ugly

For f*** sake, I can understand that companies need to advertise their items on a show floor, but this year it just went crazy. The most stupid part of the whole thing is when on one of the show floors the „Lumia Dancer group” would start their show. In fact, everybody was in full force trying to peddle you with something, more so than last year. It was getting to the point where there was a brand name snuck into every second sentence. Just like in an NFL match.

Speaking of ugly I never understood why there was a strictly +18 section (it sounded dirty), but all it had been Mortal Kombat X, Gears of War, and Diablo, the problem with the exhibition section was that even under adult supervision you could not take a person under the age of 18 there. Which was funny because that place was the least full part of the entire PlayIT section.

And one last time: go easy on the ads!

In the end this year’s PlayIT is a bit below average, we hope next year the floor planning will be better and a more focused effort on the next-gen stuff. With fewer ads.

-Dante-