Posted by : bpburnwal on Nov 07, 2003 - 06:04 AM General

Whom would you rather hunt: strangers or friends?
I'll choose friends any day. Why? Because then it becomes "personal."
We're talking about computer games, of course, like "Battlefield 1942" or the latest "Unreal Tournament." As someone who plays games for a living, I've gotten bored with the anonymity of online play.

Instead, I like to lug my souped-up computer to a LAN party where I can plug in and join a linked battle with and against other gamers. A growing movement in the PC community is taking the relentless competition of online gaming and filling in the human side, erasing the stereotype of the misfit loner.

Gamers gather at LAN parties -- LAN for Local Area Network -- to compete against each other through direct connections between multiple computers. After hauling their computers and monitors to private homes or rented spaces they hook up to play for hours, even days at a time.

Cybercafes are getting in on the action, offering pre-installed computers where players can create online mayhem until all hours, paying by the hour. Most cybercafes offer memberships with discounted hourly rates. Some see cybercafes as the modern-day replacement for the dying video game arcade.

Not only can your foe actually hear your trash talk but the gaming is better at a LAN party. Delays common when people play over the Internet are eliminated and combatants can't get away with cheating.

"The environment here is just much faster and lag free, creating more balance," says Greg Olson, 33, of LANtrocity, a LAN party group.

LANtrocity (www.lantrocity.com) started in Sacramento in 1999 with a handful of individuals and an event almost every weekend. It has grown into a small business with rented locations and entry fees.

"Though there are companies that have guest lists well into the thousands, most of the organizations that run LAN parties do it for the fun, not the business," said Chris Brown, 19, online administrator and community adviser for LANtrocity. "There really isn't a lot of money to be made. Any profits go right into the next event."

Common interests

Smaller LAN parties are more interpersonal, Brown said. "Everyone here shares a common interest, so there is an automatic conversation starter. The larger events lose a lot of the personal side."

LAN parties can range from a few friends getting together in a living room, all the way up to 1,000 gamers or more gathered at special events like the yearly QuakeCon, which brings people from around the world to Dallas in a celebration of gaming.

"Stay up all night and play games -- it's a great stress reliever," Brown said. "Into the 21st century, I can only see it becoming more popular.

LAN parties are "the new pool hall," said Olson.

It's still an activity dominated by males. "The age range is early teens to 35 -- high school and college. You will rarely find a female," says Brown.

Someone might bring a girlfriend, he said. Perhaps one out of a hundred within the LANtrocity group, he said. "Sometimes they join in for a game."

A liquid mainstay is caffeine, especially obscure, energy-inducing drinks. Mountain Dew Code Red and Bawls are two favorites.

Not surprisingly, many of the participants come from the tech field "because you are going to have a fast computer in the job," Brown said. "LAN parties are like a car show. There's a lot of pride in your machine."

These guys know what they're doing. There is a creative do-it-yourself atmosphere when custom-built machines, jury-rigged from found objects, sit across outstretched tables, filling the room with computing power. The computers draw a lot of juice and generate a lot of heat.

"Power is the most critical thing to operating a LAN party," Brown said.

The tricked-out PCs are like prized trophies to their creators -- what popular Internet gaming comic Penny Arcade (www.penny-arcade.com) first affectionately dubbed "tiny gods."

Changing games, too

The idea of modifying computers for game play extends to the games themselves. Perhaps the most popular of all online and LAN games is "Counter Strike," a PC game built by fans. "Counter Strike" began as "Halflife," the bestselling science fiction PC game from Valve, released in 1998.

"Halflife" came with tools for players to alter and reinvent it. From that was born "Counter Strike," a multiplayer tactical military game.

The spirit continues in countless user-developed maps and game modifications available for free online. Says Johannes Robbins, 24, an artist for the independent game development studio Wirehead, "LAN-goers and garage developers come from the same pool of dedicated do-it-yourselfers who do it for the purest form of the game."

Robbins sees LAN parties as a continuation of the college dorm experience. "College dorms are essentially a LAN party in and of themselves," he says. "The wiring is already in there, and there is a lot of yelling down the halls."

Another source for LAN-style play is Microsoft's game console, the Xbox. Multiple Xboxes can be connected to bring together many players; each individual Xbox still needs a television and for most games, such as the popular "Halo," the screen will be split into four quadrants, divvying one quarter for each player.

Already, professional game players compete at tournaments sponsored by hardware manufacturers. "Eventually gaming will be a paid sport -- you'll be able to go watch a competition like you go watch a basketball game," says Olson.

Anonymous online gaming has its virtues, but there's something special about taking down an opponent and seeing the look in his eyes. You let out a loud "Booyah!"

Nothing personal.