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Sam Reynolds
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NVIDIA GeForce LAN Day 2 & 3 Coverage
Earlier in the year NVIDIA announced the latest edition of their GeForce LAN events and PC gamers eagerly grabbed tickets to what promised to be one of North America’s largest LAN parties. Once registration was complete, over 600 people had applied to be part of the 48 hour Bring Your Own Computer LAN and we’re told if more spots could have been opened, they would have likely sold out as well. NVIDIA calls this a celebration to PC gaming and from our perspective, they really are pulling out all the stops for this one.
While the first day of the GeForce LAN was focused on an opening keynote by DICE’s Johan Andersson, NVIDIA’s Drew Henry and Phil Eisler, day 2 and 3 were all about exhibitor presentations and the Battlefield 3 tournament.
NVIDIA's Phil Eisler Talks 3D Tech and Gaming
Hardware Canucks caught up with Phil Eilser on the show floor to talk about NVIDIA’s new 3D technology, and what the company thinks about the future of PC gaming. Mr. Eisler is currently the General Manager of 3D vision at NVIDIA. He was formerly the VP and General Manager of AMD’s chipset division, but NVIDIA managed to poach him from the competition in August 2009.
“[3D gaming is] an additive experience, it makes gaming better,” remarked Mr. Eisler. “Things that add to the experience always become mainstream over time.”
Mr. Eisler also mentioned that at the GeForce LAN, the first public showing of NVIDIA’s 3D Vision 2 technology, gamers overwhelmingly said that they prefer the “3D experience to the 2D experience.”
Check out our entire interview with Phil Eilser here:
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LAN Action
Most people at the GeForce LAN were there to play Battlefield 3. The event was a LAN party first, and a trade show second. The tournament concluded Sunday afternoon, with Team DC winning back-to-back games in the final round of tournament play securing first place. Runner up was team 20iD.
Team DC went home with new Geforce GTX cards and the ‘net cred’ of winning a tournament of such a size as the GeForce LAN.
Hardware Canucks chatted with some professional gamers in attendance, though much to their chagrin they posted in the rankings far below Team DC. Nonetheless, the BYOC event attracted a huge cross section of enthusiasts; from hardcore competitors to casual gamers, it seemed like everyone was there and having a blast.
In general, everyone we talked to was ecstatic about the GeForce LAN, the location and NVIDIA's attention to detail. There were several remarks that this was one of the best organized LANs many of them could remember which says a lot considering the logistics involved aboard a floating ship. Indeed, the general consensus was hope that NVIDIA holds another one of these soon.
We chatted with a few of them on-camera about the tournament, Battlefield 3 and the GeForce LAN:
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The Custom BYOC Rigs
One of the grand traditions of any LAN party are the displays of custom-built PC rigs. The GeForce LAN was no exception, as gamers from across North America converged upon the USS Hornet and many had creatively manufactured custom built rigs.
Some of the hobbyists had spent an incredible amount of time creating custom fabricated cases to hold their PC’s components. The work and dedication that went into some of these machines was downright impressive. Hardware Canucks scoured the BYOC floor for cool custom built PC rigs and talked with their owners. Check it out:
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