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Frag Reel Friday: LAN parties

Alex Walker ABC Technology and Games 27 Jan 2012

BYO computers and consoles, it's gaming time.


Many BYOC LANs (Bring Your Own Computer Local Area Networks) have come and go over the years, but one of the staples of gaming in Australia for more than a decade is Sydney Gamers League.

SGL was borne well before the turn of the Millennium, but it wasn't until 2001 when the organisation was officially formed to help it house the slew of power cords, networking cables and other associated bits and pieces needed to keep up to 700 computers happy.

The event became so popular at one stage that registration was similar to a major pop concert; each month's event would be filled out within minutes, often crashing the servers every time they were open.

With few gamers having access to high-speed internet in the late 90s, SGL was the best gaming experience in New South Wales, with other LANs like QGL (Queensland), Reloaded (South Australia), Valhalla (South Australia) and Respawn LAN (Victoria) replicating the spirit across the country.

But it hasn't always been smooth sailing for major LANs. The cost of venue hire to house hundreds of gamers and their astonishingly oversized computers, as well as the power and bandwidth required to support them all, is staggering. Many smaller events that used to dot the landscape over the last decade have been forced to shut down, either due to rising costs or a lack of infrastructure, such as a reliable internet connection.

While you don't see a lot of what goes on behind the scenes, the following videos of Respawn a couple of years ago gives you a good idea of the scope of these kinds of events.

Being a hub for so many gamers also makes major BYOC events a great boon for tournament organisers. With people responsible for their own equipment, it makes things much simpler to organise. The added scope and the lack of a need to pay additional fees - since the door entry covers players' participation - also allows for large numbers of gamers from all walks of life to attend.

The true value in an event like SGL or Respawn (and on a much larger scale, Dreamhack in Europe), however, is the ability for the scenes of different games to mingle with each other, watch them live and appreciate their skill; a quick look at the poster for SGL's first event of 2012 gives an indication of just how broad the gaming pallete will be.

In the past, LANs have been primarily a PC-only affair, but the growth of consoles - and their relative ease to transport, compared to full-sized towers - has gained them a seat at the table as well. The Australian Cyber League, which we looked at last week, has partnered up with SGL for a few years now to run a number of tournaments, including Halo and Street Fighter IV.

If you're still interested in checking out SGL this weekend, head over to the website and register.


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