LAN seems like such a relic of a golden past, doesn't it? Going to parties of your friends to connect your consoles together on one network and play massive rounds of your favorite games. These days, the prevalence of online multiplayer and hosted match making has made LAN parties somewhat pointless, and some games don't even support local co-op anymore. So it is with a great breath of nostalgia that the GamerKulture team has been allowed to cover the Halo 5 Launch Event at the Santa Ana eSports Arena! It will be our first outing as a team, covering players and interviewing gamers as they enjoy the game's launch, and in honor of that, i'd like to cover a bit of the Arena here, what they do and offer, and what kind of trend this, hopefully, does for gaming moving forward. Also, I would like to say upfront that this is NOT in any way sponsored. We aren't getting paid to cover this event, and the only thing we get out of it is the enjoyment of talking to gamers like ourselves, and reporting on the event to all of you.
LAN stands for local area network, and used to be the only way to host gaming parties with friends. By linking up multiple consoles to the same network, you could have 8+ of your friends all playing in the same game. As I said above, this is slowly falling out of practice. Internet cafes and their like can somewhat alleviate this as places for friends to congregate and play together in person, but the quality of the network is often times a crap-shoot. Pricing, as well, can often become outrageous, with some locations charging $100 for a month of membership time. The eSports Arena has taken the effort to provide a place gamers can rally around that won't break the budget, with no hourly rate and only $13 a month in membership fee. They operate as both a sort of local game club of sorts, as well as a place to host local competitions and event center. As I stated above, this October 26th and 27th, they will be holding a Halo 5 Launch party, where people can pick up pre-ordered copies of the game, as well as play it pre-loaded onto the provided consoles. As people get to play, we hope to talk to as many people as we can and get everyone's opinions on their experience!
I was so excited to hear that we not only were given the chance to cover this, but also that the Arena even existed. They are fairly new, having only been open for about a month at the time of writing, but they already seem to have a respect, understanding, and enthusiasm for their members that I hope will take them far. I want to see places like this pop up all over, not just in the US, but the world! To see hubs of affordable and quality centers for gamers to do what we love; play games, and share our love with others. I can't wait to watch the place grow, and hopefully we will see you all there next week! For more info on the event, check out our twitter @GamerKulture, our facebook page, or their homepage at www.esportsarena.com .
-Kuma
Thanks everybody, and stay Kultured!
LAN stands for local area network, and used to be the only way to host gaming parties with friends. By linking up multiple consoles to the same network, you could have 8+ of your friends all playing in the same game. As I said above, this is slowly falling out of practice. Internet cafes and their like can somewhat alleviate this as places for friends to congregate and play together in person, but the quality of the network is often times a crap-shoot. Pricing, as well, can often become outrageous, with some locations charging $100 for a month of membership time. The eSports Arena has taken the effort to provide a place gamers can rally around that won't break the budget, with no hourly rate and only $13 a month in membership fee. They operate as both a sort of local game club of sorts, as well as a place to host local competitions and event center. As I stated above, this October 26th and 27th, they will be holding a Halo 5 Launch party, where people can pick up pre-ordered copies of the game, as well as play it pre-loaded onto the provided consoles. As people get to play, we hope to talk to as many people as we can and get everyone's opinions on their experience!
I was so excited to hear that we not only were given the chance to cover this, but also that the Arena even existed. They are fairly new, having only been open for about a month at the time of writing, but they already seem to have a respect, understanding, and enthusiasm for their members that I hope will take them far. I want to see places like this pop up all over, not just in the US, but the world! To see hubs of affordable and quality centers for gamers to do what we love; play games, and share our love with others. I can't wait to watch the place grow, and hopefully we will see you all there next week! For more info on the event, check out our twitter @GamerKulture, our facebook page, or their homepage at www.esportsarena.com .
-Kuma
Thanks everybody, and stay Kultured!