Gamers set for UrbanLAN
Gamers young and older come together for UrbanLAN at Wintec. Registrations have opened for the 17th edition of the popular event.
You wouldn’t normally associate Wintec with gaming, but UrbanLAN is a regular in the institute’s IT department.
Registrations have now opened for the 17th edition of UrbanLAN, set to take place in Wintec’s N-block, starting on Saturday 7 July and ending at 1pm the next day.
A regular event in the gaming community calendar, it is an opportunity for gamers, 16 years and over, to come together in a friendly, social environment.
UrbanLAN director Jase Preston, 37, encourages gamers of all skill sets and emphasises the social aspect of the event.
“We have people from 16 years old to guys in their late 40s,” Preston said.
“UrbanLAN is about the social side of things, too… We usually organise some competitions and little games of soccer or hacky-sack.”
The event includes a small but fiercely competitive contingent of female gamers.
For just $20, or $15 with Wintec ID, you gain full access to the event including dinner, snacks during the night, and a cooked breakfast in the morning.
With a maximum of 65 participants, Preston urges people to register quickly as past events have sold out in as little as 24 hours.
“We have been blown away with the interest in past UrbanLAN events, and we have high expectations for this one,” Preston said.
He also encourages people to visit the UrbanLAN website, where they can vote for which games they would like to be played.
Voting options include Civilisation 5, Starcraft 2, Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3, Battlefield 3, Armaggetron and Flatout 2.
To play, you will need to bring your own computer to play on, and have downloaded the up-to-date version of the selected games.
Prizes have yet to be announced for the event, but will include computer equipment and components from various sponsors of the event.
For more information, you can go to www.urbanlan.co.nz or check out their Facebook page here.
What is a LAN?
LAN stands for ‘Local Area Network’. However, that is only the beginning. A LAN event is comprised of a group of people that gather together in a central location, connect their computers together, and game as hard as they can.
