• Marquette gaming enthusiasts gathered for a LAN party on Saturday
• Entitled EagleCon I, the event featured an in-person gaming tournament via a local area network
• The event allowed participants to play games, discuss technology and have fun

In a fusion of technology, energy drinks and trash-talk, marathon gaming tournaments known as "LAN parties" offer video game enthusiasts the opportunity to compete in an alternative, interactive atmosphere.

Eta Kappa Nu, Marquette's electrical engineering honors society, hosted its first LAN—Local Area Network—party Saturday in the Alumni Memorial Union. Titled EagleCon I, the party lasted all day—from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m.

Participants each brought their own computers and configured them together through a local area network rather than over the Internet, allowing the games to operate much more quickly.

LAN parties have the advantage of allowing participants face-to-face interaction with their opponents, said Aaron Ott, system administrator for Information Technology Services and one of the event's coordinators. That differs from games with online voice chat.

"There's something exciting about having everyone in the same room, so when you're talking to them—or insulting them—you can see their face," Ott said. "With a sweet venue like this it's pretty fun, instead of just sitting in someone's basement."

In spite of a high number of sign-ups, Ott said the event only attracted around five or six people throughout the day. He said he believes the relatively low turnout could be due to poor timing, or possibly the increased popularity of voice chat technology in modern games.

"With all games supporting voice chat, it's harder to convince people to come out here," Ott said. "LAN parties in general are still pretty popular. It's just a little harder to get them together."

This was the first LAN party Ott and fellow organizer Aaron Hecker have held at Marquette. Hecker, a technical support specialist for IT Services, said he plans to make the party a semi-annual event.

In spite of their reputation for repelling girls and attracting "nerds," Hecker said LAN parties are an excellent opportunity to discuss technology, meet new people and have fun.

"It's fun to get pointers from other people and see how they're running their stuff and how you can tweak yours," Hecker said.

He said while LAN parties can draw very large crowds, he believes their "nerd" connotation may deter some potential attendees from participating.

"Nerds don't really care, but people who are on the fence might," Hecker said. "There's probably a little stigma there."

Hecker said the parties tend to last around 12 to 15 hours. Some participants stay for the entire time, while others come and go at their convenience. Games played Saturday included Half-Life 2: Counter-Strike Source, Quake III Arena and Left 4 Dead.

He said participating in a LAN party for too long can be physically tiring and even "mind-numbing."

"I would compare a day of gaming to a day of work," Hecker said. "By the time you're done, you're tired and your muscles have atrophied from sitting for so long."

Andrew Theriault, a graduate student in the College of Engineering, said he attended Saturday's LAN party because he "had nothing better to do." Theriault said he too can become physically drained by a day of gaming.

"When you're sitting there for too long, it's just uncomfortable," Theriault said. "The longest I've ever gone is probably around 20 hours."