CherryPopper

The ever changing face of gaming & technology has had an impact on gaming LAN's. No longer are they the only way to get your multiplayer frag fix. You can do it online with your PC & broadband connection, you can do it with your console and you can even do it on your portable gaming console or mobile phone if your really desperate. So where does this leave gaming LAN's as we know it? Will the social interaction of gaming LAN's die a slow death or will we see a change in what happens at the event?

Some of the changes will be for the better. As more and more people get into gaming this will help grow the LAN community as more people start to realise the fun of multiplayer games and start to look for ways to get some multiplayer game on. But LAN events will need to cater for the more casual gamers as well as the current "hardcore" gamers. So you will start to see more console's at events or even events dedicated to consoles only.

But how to attract the casual gamers to what has typically been a hardcore gamer event? Do the casual games lend themselves to being played in a LAN or even competitive environment? Does a room full of people jamming to guitar hero, swinging controllers in a game of Wii Tennis or squirming away with a DS in Mario cart DS really sound like a good time?

The more casual gaming events i don't see being all nighter events but more laid back and generally just a lot more fun, i mean how could you possibly take Guitar Hero serious? Sure their will be some competitiveness but you wont see the hardcore gamers doing strats & practicing for hours on end just to get the perfect rift.

There is also the added benefit of increasing the hardcore gamers. With more people getting into gaming via the casual market some of these gamers will seek more enjoyment and move up the gaming food chain and become LAN gamers like you & me.

In the end its going to be some interesting times ahead and should benefit everyone.