Future of Lan gaming in UK

blu3shad0w

blu3shad0w

blu3shad0w

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77
Hi

Just thought I would test the waters.

I have been going to LAN Centres for the past 10 years, but over that time a number in the south and east of the country have closed down and shut there doors for good.

When I first went to a Lan centre, it wasn't because I had a crap computer, it was at a seaside and I would rather spend time playing computer games than going on the arcardes. The fact that your playing with other people in the same room just adds something that gaming over the internet can not.

One of the reasons for the failure in my view, is the IGUK. There website hasn't been updated in ages, in fact it seems just to be a forum now. Half the lan centres on this site has in fact closed down...

I'm thinking about maybe doing something that is national, under a single brand. That isn't just restricted to computer gaming, but tabletop roleplaying (with books) card games, etc...

A place that had computers from Overclockers, where you could bring your rig into the centre so you could show off your rig...

Just wondered what people think about this idea....

Cheers

blue
 
blu3shad0w said:
I'm thinking about maybe doing something that is national, under a single brand. That isn't just restricted to computer gaming, but tabletop roleplaying (with books) card games, etc...
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Doomed to fail.

The reason lan gaming is in decline outside the massive events like Dreamhack or Insomnia is because online multilayer on consoles is far and away more accessible than multilayer PC gaming.

Also they are massively expensive, starting something from scratch would either require a huge injection of private cash or some insane sponsorship right off the bat, which just wouldn't happen.
 
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The LAN centre in my town (the only one I knew of) closed it's doors. Never went to it myself and it never attracted a lot of people. I guess people now would just rather sit in the comfort of their own home gaming and game at home for free.

Plus I would think most LAN centre gaming PC's arn't up to par with the gaming systems people have at home?

Only reason I never went is my confidence:rolleyes: although I wouldn't put my money into it now.
 
Another factor I would like to put forward is that gaming is not an inherently communal activity, nothing I can do at home, be it single or multilayer, is enhanced by being within arms reach of the person I'm playing with.

You might argue that I would "have more fun", I might, but only in the same way a film might be, or going out to dinner. The actual event, the film, the meal, the game, is not improved by the social contact, it's just an excuse for it.

Gaming has changed, for the better I would say, it is getting to the stage of surpassing being a "hobby" and moving towards a simple day to day activity like reading or watching TV and not just something a subset of people do and therefore need to get together to validate.
 
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Spacedeck said:
The LAN centre in my town (the only one I knew of) closed it's doors.
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Cybernet? Was pretty naff anyway and most people there thought they were best in the world at whatever game they played :p

On a more general note, I used to love going down to one of my local LAN centres several years back. Awesome atmosphere especially at the all nighters, all the regulars there with regular CS 1.5/1.6 scrims against another centre in London, great banter! I miss it for sure.
 
Yeah when there was a LAN gaming/cyber cafe in the town I live in it was in the days when a lot of people didn't have internet access and most had dialup that did and a even a basic gaming PC would set you back over £1000 easy.

These days of fast, lowish latency, ADSL, fiber and cable connections coupled with the ability to pickup a respectable gaming PC for a few hundred has meant a massive decline in interest in gaming centers and cyber cafes, the surge in smartphone capabilities has also erroded another chunk of their potential market.
 
the future might be competative events, starcraft compertions seem popular.

also my pc is mobile like a tree :)

the case was 4-5 stone last time i weighed it, and ive got biig external rads and a big water tank :D
 
Fenris said:
Doomed to fail.

The reason lan gaming is in decline outside the massive events like Dreamhack or Insomnia is because online multilayer on consoles is far and away more accessible than multilayer PC gaming.

Also they are massively expensive, starting something from scratch would either require a huge injection of private cash or some insane sponsorship right off the bat, which just wouldn't happen.
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This Tbh.

LAN parties are in decline because fast broadband is accessible to just about everybody that wants it, and things like Xbox Live have made it very accessible to everybody. £100 and your online talking with friends over the included headset playing games with your mates.

I used to attend LAN parties all the time as a teenager. But i haven't been to one in years because you simply don't need to.

Yes theres a social thing to it, because you see people face to face. But its ultimately not that important. Not enough for people to pay to go to LAN centres.

Look what happened to the Official OcUK Lan Party
 
Was a good laugh the ones I went to, never went to the bigger organised ones like i-events.

The static "shop" one I used to goto was good fun, was right at the start of me playing CS and tbh I really enjoyed myself though I used to go with my brother and a couple of friends. My brother being around 10-13 (was years ago jeez :/) at the time getting accused of cheating was funny. Having people my age and older coming up to his keyboard and pressing F5 and similar to see if hacks would turn on :/

If there was a local one to me now I'd go down but there again there arnt any games I think I'd play.. I'm not competitive in anything and by that I mean I'm not in a team so I dont feel the need to go heh.

I think now because MMOs are so big, you can't get as much done in a days worth of gaming like you could when FPS / RTS ruled the scene. There needs to be an up to date, competitive game like cs 1.3-1.6 with dedicated servers that are fully customizable (especially max rounds, mw2 I'm looking at you for this!).. I'm hoping CS:GO will fix this but thats just a dream!

If CS:GO really took off I'd probably rejoin a team and maybe even... yeah I think I would, I'd install mIRC.. :)
 
For the big money tournaments like WCG, there still isn't anything to replace CS.

CS:Go is an attempt to move on from CS 1.6 and CS:S to a new game.

I doubt anything else will have a hope of moving them on from that game tbh.
 
I miss CS when new maps were still being officially made by valve.. was something fun to look forward to and they were free to! :D
 
Some (not all) of the main advantages of LAN centres have diminished since their heyday of the late 90s:

-People have better internet connections so don't need LAN for good multiplayer
-Consoles have online multiplayer now
-A lot of systems now support VOIP for chatting with fellow gamers whether it be in-game or via mumble/TS/vent etc
-More people have hardware at home capable of running games
-Not strictly related to gaming but more net cafes in general: Internet access away from home is much easier now thanks to WiFi, 3G etc coupled with portable devices like smartphones, tablets etc

Yes there is a social aspect you get from a LAN but I don't think that is enough to make it viable in the modern age. The last time I went to a gaming cafe was 2001, I think, then 10 years ago I got broadband and haven't been to one since.
 
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