Before LANcouver 2011 last year, I didn’t even know that anyone was trying to resurrect the glory of the multi-day LAN event in the Vancouver, Canada area. But a chance encounter at the Memory Express Duke Nukem LAN changed all that for the better. It was there that I ran into Spencer Whitney, the man behind the LANcouver movement, and together, we set the wheels in motion for a LAN renaissance in Western Canada.
After Futurelooks did what it could to shine as big of a spotlight as possible on last year’s event, it was clear that in order to continue the momentum, this year’s event needed to be bigger. Much bigger. If LAN events are to be reborn in Western Canada, LANcouver 2012 needed to be EPIC and that’s exactly what has happened.
Where and When is LANcouver 2012?
With its humble rebirth last year, LANcouver 2012 has gone from a warehouse in Vancouver with asbestos warning signs (though we were assured by the owners that it was taken out) to the state of the art Richmond Oval, located in Richmond, BC Canada, which was once home to the Winter 2010 Games and all the speed skating events. The event will occupy an entire Olympic Sized Hockey Rink, with the ice removed of course, and will open its doors to BYOC (Bring Your Own Computer) LAN gamers on June 29th, 2012 at 4PM, running continuously until July 1st, 2012 at 5PM. That’s coming up FAST so if you’re sold already, go get your passes. Use code NCIX for $10 off. For the rest, read on for more goodness!
The venue has showers, change rooms, lockers, and bathrooms on every floor, very close to the BYOC LAN area. The Cafe inside the venue will be open late for us every night, and if that doesn’t do it for you, Richmond is known for its Asian inspired food and cheap eats, all within 5 minutes of the venue. And if you want to sneak a nap in between fragging, you can visit the “rest area” that’s near the BYOC area so make sure you bring pillow and sleeping bag. If you prefer somewhere softer to sleep, the Hilton is the official Hotel Partner and is offering discounted rooms with quad occupancy for LANcouver so get your discount here.
This is definitely an EPIC venue that has seen many medals and awards. Hopefully that good luck rubs off on cyber athletes too!
Who Are The Big Sponsors This Year?
We called everyone in our contact list and mighty ASUS stepped up to become the official presenting sponsor of LANcouver 2012. They’ll be dragging a massive 20×30 booth to the event to show off all that ASUS has to offer gamers. From their awesome ROG motherboards, to their uncompromising ROG gaming notebooks and gaming graphics cards, there will be something for every gamer and enthusiast at this event. ASUS celebrity, JJ Guerrero, will also be in attendance to answer your toughest questions both on stage, at the booth, and in the panels. Expect some sweet overclocking demos and more at their booth. They are also giving away free BYOC passes to the event so make sure you sign up for their contest to win one of two passes!
Also stepping up to the plate is Kingston Technology and ANTEC. Both of them will be providing some fantastic prizes, freebies, and giveaways all weekend long and will have their booth all set up to let you see and touch their latest and greatest products. Kingston is also bringing back the popular HyperX Keyboard Chucking Challenge and ANTEC will be doing a new event at LANcouver which is part of something we call “LANcouver University”.
Canada’s Leading computer retailer, NCIX along with their Mac counterpart, COMPU2000, have both come onboard to support the community and gaming. Both companies will be showing off all the cool computer stuff you can buy today and they’ll even be doing some super secret show specials that even we haven’t been told about. If the deals at the NCIX Tech Fair were any indication, there will be some things worth breaking open the piggy bank for. Or you can just pay with cash, debit, and credit.
If you leave something behind, NCIX will also be stocking all the LAN party essentials like ethernet cables, power cords, power bars, and anything else that you’ll need to get yourself setup to game on all weekend long. They are also giving away BYOC and guest passes so make sure you check out the contest they are running. Expect to run into Esther, The Crazy Russian, and of course Linus at their spacious and fully stocked NCIX booth!
Now let’s get on with the information on tournaments, prizes and glory!
Bigger and Better Tournaments and It’s a Canadian Qualifier for the Blizzard Starcraft II World Championships!
Starting with the really HUGE news, LANcouver 2012 was given the opportunity to become the final qualifier for Canada for the Blizzard Starcraft II World Championships. The news came down less than two weeks ago and the event has been overwhelmed with a swell of support from the gaming community in BC. One local Starcraft II player will be flown to Toronto, Ontario all expenses paid, to fight for a spot to represent Canada in the World Championships later this year. The tournament prizes are pretty impressive too.
Other tournaments for glory and prizes include League of Legends, Counter Strike Source and Counter Strike Global Offensive. If you’re not into the tournament games, you can also log onto many of the game servers that will be run by game server sponsor EO REALITY Game Server Hosting and there will be plenty of other pick up tournaments happening all weekend long with some great prizes attached too.
All finals and major matches will be LIVE casted by the team at eSports Collective Network. LANcouver 2012 events will be featured on the main page of Twitch.TV all weekend long so if you can’t make it, make sure you let eSports Collective Network fill you in on the play by play.
If you’re worried that last year’s network issues will strike again, fear not! SHAW Cable is providing four 250Mbps cable modems and assigning a top level tech support team to our service all weekend to ensure that we’ve got an EPIC network for this EPIC event. In fact, they’re having a contest for not only passes for LANcouver but there are NCIX Gift Cards to win as well. Check it out here. In fact, they’re going to be there with their SHAW lounge so you can hang out in between matches and maybe win some free stuff.
Fun events this year will also include the aforementioned HyperX Keyboard Chucking Challenge and Futurelooks will also be bringing back the Killer Wall-Sit Challenge that caused much pain and suffering last year. Both events will be loaded with great prizes and freebies.
But wait! That’s not all!
Futurelooks Presents LANcouver University!
In order to spread the love for computers and building them yourself, Futurelooks has designed a comprehensive curriculum of panel based seminars that are packed with both prizes and information. Lead by Futurelooks, these panels are stacked with some of the biggest names in the computer industry. For example…
Strategies for a Successful LAN Party Experience 101 – Friday – 530PM – 630PM – Starting on opening night (June 29, 2012), Futurelooks will be joined by a panel of expert gamers and LAN party veterans including Kevin Doan from CyberGaming, Brian Lau, from NCIX’s Gaming Team, and Futurelooks very own Eric Garay, for a walk through of all the things you’ll want to do to have the best LAN ever. It’ll also be your very first opportunity to get a taste of the massive pile of prizes that LANcouver has to offer this year so make sure you get your system setup quickly and head straight to the seminar. So that means, as soon as you hear an announcement for this seminar, you go running.
Computer Hardware for PC Gaming 101 – Saturday – 10AM – 11AM – On Saturday morning (June 30, 2012), we return again with our next panel which will take you through everything you need to know, to get the most from your gaming rig. We’ll go all the way through from case selection, to overclocking, in a fully interactive Q and A style format with the biggest names in computing including JJ Guerrero from ASUS, Steve Sung from NVIDIA, Ivan “Crazy Russian” Metelitsa from NCIX’s System Design Team, and William Au from Antec. Just follow the smell of coffee and donuts and just make sure you’re one of the first 40 people there with a BYOC pass. ASUS and NVIDIA have some cool free stuff for you if you’re a keener and let’s not forget about the raffle prizes at the end!
LAB Session – PC Building Demonstration – Saturday – 11:15AM – 12:15PM – We can tell you all day long that building a system from scratch is easy but you’ll never get it unless we show you. Immediately following the PC hardware panel, ANTEC will challenge two of your fellow LAN gamers to rebuild their old system into a shiny new ANTEC case. Paired into teams with their choice of a coach from the panel, or even their best friend, each of them will attempt to complete the task within a generous but strict time limit. After being scrutinized out loud by two judges one of these volunteers will walk away with some fabulous prizes and the case too. If you stuck around and cheered on your favourite team, some of the heftiest prizes of the day will be given out in the raffle at the end of the session.
LAB Session – Starcraft II Gameplay Analysis and Advanced Strategies – Sunday – 1PM – 2PM – Since Starcraft II is clearly the star of this year’s LANcouver, you’re going to bear witness to some of the most intense matches ever. That’s why we’ve invited Professor Sam “FireZerg” Prowse of Cyber Gaming and Gosu Coaching, to give you a detailed analysis of some of the most memorable matches from the Starcraft II Tournament at LANcouver this year. He’ll answer your questions and go through strategies that should increase your chances of reaching the podium. And of course, he’ll have some free stuff to give away so that you’ll maximize your learning.
The best part of all these sessions is that they are open to not only BYOC pass holders, but folks with spectator passes too. The public will have an opportunity to learn and really become excited about the LAN experience so that when LANcouver 2013 or the next LAN event comes along, they’ll be ready and waiting to go. That LAN event renaissance certainly doesn’t start itself!
Make Sure You Come To LANcouver 2012!
Wrapping things up, the Futurelooks and LANcouver 2012 team hope to see you at this EPIC event that is about to happen in just over one week. All the sponsors are standing by to make sure you have a great time, and the word about the event has reached as far away as California. Expect a lot of home town heroes to putting on their A-game for the out of towners that we’re welcoming. Even if you’re not gaming, make sure you pick up a spectator pass and support the community. If you do intend to throw down a system and have a great time, make sure you use code NCIX when you register for your pass. It’ll knock $10 off. Or you can try to win one from ASUS or NCIX and don’t forget that SHAW is giving them away too.
Of course, Futurelooks will be covering the event with highlights of all the special events, panels, and cool products that all the sponsors will be showing off. If you really can’t make it, make sure that you check out that coverage right after and stay glued to our Twitter, Facebook and YouTube for live updates and videos next weekend. But try to get here in person first.
For more information on LANcouver, make sure you visit the website, follow on Twitter, and like it on facebook.
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