If you’re looking for the best gaming event in Southern California or around the world, look no further than the SoCal Gaming Expo in Pasadena, California. The event took over the Pasadena Convention Center from June 6th to June 8th. It was the first three-day event in the convention’s history and they made the most of it. It was a jam-packed hall, free-play arcades, tournaments, games, and plenty more. This was a packed hall with booths as far as the eye can see.

If you’re into retro games, Pokémon cards, modern games, and even some artwork, you were in for a treat at this event. Right when you walk in, there was a display featuring the Master Sword from The Legend of Zelda, the Nintendo Power Museum featuring some of the most priceless gaming artifacts and other collectibles, and of course the vendor hall filled with over 200 vendors. They even had a skateboard ramp set up for people to watch pro skateboarders.

There were plenty of deals to be found on the floor, especially if you were willing to negotiate. Outside of shopping, there was also a tournament area and special guests signing autographs, taking pictures, and just generally hanging out with fans. The highlight for tournaments was the Classic Tetris World Championship Finals.

Most importantly, it sounds like the people running the SoCal Gaming Expo listened to feedback from last year and improved an already great event to something truly special.

The Good Of The SoCal Gaming Expo 2025

The event last year had several issues relating to either WIFI/Cell service and an extraordinarily long line to get in when the event opened. Both of those issues were fixed through better WIFI at the convention center and more people handing out passes in line. Instead of scanning people’s tickets and giving them badges right at the front of the line, everyone going in at 11:00 AM already had badges and were scanned much further back in line. The tireless people working the lines were the real heroes getting everyone in in a more than timely manner. It was just a matter of walking to the back of the line, once you got there, it moved incredibly fast.

Even with that, the line was long to get in, which made for an excellent free billboard for anyone driving or walking by to see a bunch of video game fans waiting patiently to get into the con.

I wasn’t there to meet any of the guests in attendance, but they had a lengthy list of voice actors, performers, video game personalities, and more to show off. It’s pretty impressive how they can basically rival the guest list of most other similarly sized conventions in other genres with these guests.

The Bad Of The SoCal Gaming Expo 2025

This next section is the “bad” of the SoCal Gaming Expo, but it’s really just some things that I personally would have liked a bit more about the con. It was a nearly flawless event that I would recommend anyone who loves video games to go to. First off, the selection of games could have been a bit better from some of the vendors (very clearly something that the actual people running the convention can’t do a thing about).

You had some of the heavy-hitter consoles like SNES, GameCube, and other Nintendo consoles, but the selection for consoles that are popular like the PS2 or modern consoles, was a bit lacking. It also might be a sign of the times, but the super high-end priced items are always fun to look at and wonder what it would be like to own. There wasn’t as much high-end stuff as years past. It might be a sign of the times, who knows.

Outside of that, it might be time for the event to expand to more spaces in the Pasadena Convention Center complex. It wasn’t uncomfortably full, but it was definitely snug, especially on Saturday. There’s more thirst for video games now than ever before, so it’s only natural for the event to expand out. Also, some more representation for games like Magic, One Piece, or other card games would have been nice. It’s cool to see so many old and desirable Pokémon cards, but the other games need some shine too.

In a perfect world, the SoCal Gaming Expo would be the all-in-one destination for nerdy games of all kinds, not just video games.

The Verdict On The 2025 SoCal Gaming Expo

This is simply one of the best conventions out there. It’s hard for them to improve on excellence like this, so to the organizers and everyone involved with the SoCal Gaming Expo, bravo. Here’s hoping that the event next year is bigger and better.

Check out the SoCal Gaming Expo website for information!

For more on Conventions, make sure to check back to That Hashtag Show.

Keep Reading:

Storm King Comics And John Carpenter Take Over Midsummer Scream 2025