I went yesterday too, and thought it was amazing! I am not much of an arcade game person, so I did not play any of those, just pinball, and I had a blast. I played a bunch of games I had never seen before, plus several that I had only gotten to play a handful of times at other shows. This was my first time at CA Extreme. I have been to the Pacific Pinball Expo three times and Pin-a-GoGo earlier this year. I like going to all the different Northern CA shows. I think it is cool how they all have a different vibe and different games. I thought this was a fantastic event - wish I could have gone back today, there were still games I didn't get to play. I guess I will have to go again next year!

I didn't bring a backpack, but I did carry a canvas bag with me in addition to my purse that contained meals for the day (sandwich, cup of fruit, small container of tomato soup for both lunch and dinner, plus a few baggies of carrot sticks for snacks in between) and a glass water bottle for drinks.

I'm sure buying meals at the hotel is no big deal for some people, but going to the show was already kind of a stretch for me financially ($40 to get in, $30 in transportation costs round trip = NOT CHEAP) that I didn't want to be adding to it by buying overpriced hotel restaurant food.

My bag also contained a notebook and file folder with work stuff, so I could be productive during the trip there and back (almost 2 hours each way on public transit).

So I can't say for sure what anyone else needed a backpack for, but that's why I was carrying an extra bag around the show. Perhaps other people needed a bag for similar reasons. It doesn't seem unreasonable to me.