Dreamhack: The world's biggest LAN party is a sci-fi party from the future

[Jos]

Dreamhack Winter, an annual LAN party held in Sweden, is easily the biggest of its kind in the world. People come from all over Europe (and sometimes further afield) to spend a few days hanging out, seeing bands and watching pro gamers. Oh, and lugging their entire PC then setting it up in a cavernous, sweaty hall.

This year's event was held on the weekend, and while exact attendance figures have yet to be revealed, the last two years have seen over 20,000 gamers attend. The 2012 Dreamhack Winter resulted in 15,485 connections on the network. That's insane. Tournaments were held covering everything from StarCraft to Street Fighter, FIFA to Counter-Strike, but really, most people were just there for the good times.

Below you'll see a selection of images from the weekend. The aerial shots of the main hall are just crazy.

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https://www.techspot.com/news/54884-dreamhack-the-worlds-biggest-lan-party-is-a-sci-fi-party-from-the-future.html

 

[IAMTHESTIG]

Makes me miss Quakecon... I can't afford to go anymore. Such a shame no one is putting LAN capability in their games anymore. Although I suppose you might be able to host your own internet based servers in this network so it would essentially be like a LAN game.

 

[insect]

That's insane and I love it! Nothing like beating an opponent then smack talking to their face

 

[tipstir]

They need too start LAN Party Circles here. Like we have Drum Circles since I play the drums. Someone should start this up. They use to have LAN Party charging by the hour $5.00 ouch..

 

[Guest]

Insane, way better than any other events. Would love to go one day.

 

[Guest]

insect said:
That's insane and I love it! Nothing like beating an opponent then smack talking to their face

that's cruel, but yeah.
I used to berate opponents whom I beat in starcraft in bnet games and I in turn gets smacked by others.
it would be epic if you could do that in person and be done in return. tit-for-a-tat in a real LAN party.

 

[dennis777]

Too bad they cant play blizzard games (sc2, d3)...
this event looks fun

 

[Guest]

I don't understand what's so fun of dragging all that junk around, connecting it, playing, disconnecting and dragging it all the way home. I'd rather spend that money on a few sunny days at a beach.

 

[Ranger12]

I don't understand what's so fun of dragging all that junk around, connecting it, playing, disconnecting and dragging it all the way home. I'd rather spend that money on a few sunny days at a beach.

Hells yeah! LAN party at the beach. Now your talkin!

 

[Rasta211]

I wonder how they are connecting all that up without blowing a fuse.

 

[Guest]

I defiantly want to attend Dreamhack next year! It looks so sick. Speaking of LAN parties - Have you guys heard of Plan the Lan? It's a site that is getting released this month to help people organize and plan LANs.

I'm looking forward to it myself! The LANing community needs a jump start; so LAning doesn't become a thing of the past...

 

[Guest]

Funny thing- all the ( great ) multiplayer games that my friends and I play through Steam when we meet up, and the ones with which we always end up playing the longest ( and having the biggest blast with ) are older LAN titles ( Quake, UT, HL, SC, TA, etc. )

L O N G L I V E L A N !!!

 

[Mister_K]

So wanna go but I have no PC friends All my friends are either on consoles or aren't really gamers ...

 

[IAMTHESTIG]

I don't understand what's so fun of dragging all that junk around, connecting it, playing, disconnecting and dragging it all the way home. I'd rather spend that money on a few sunny days at a beach.

Why not do both? Seriously though the dragging your computer crap around sucks, but its worth it if the LAN party lasts a couple of days or more. It's really about hanging out with your friends and enjoying something as a group. The competitive nature or team work part of it is hugely fun as well. It is much easier to communicate with everyone in the same room than it is to communicate over VoIP services. LAN parties are just plain fun... if setup correctly. Making a good LAN party is an art really, there are a lot of factors that go into it.

 

[Per Hansson]

Feels like yesterday I was there, damn I think I'm getting old
https://www.techspot.com/news/3326-coverage-from-dreamhack-in-sweden.html

 

[SNGX1275]

Per Hansson - man, just look at all those CRTs