Dundee LANs its biggest ever

[Tami]

PRESS RELEASE
Dundee LANs its biggest ever networked game marathon

12 July 2005

MEDIA INVITATION: You are welcome to cover Dundee's first ever computer games 'LAN' party, running between 11am and 11pm on Saturday 16 July, in the Student Centre, University of Abertay, Bell Street, Dundee.

Computer gamers from all over Scotland and beyond will be gathering at the University of Abertay Dundee this Saturday (16 August 2005) for what is thought to be the first ever 'LAN Party' to be held in Dundee.

LAN (Local Area Network) parties are marathon computer gaming competitions in which contestants connect their PCs to a shared network and battle it out over many hours.

This Saturday, start-up company Waracle, founded by Abertay graduates, will welcome around 60 gamers to the University's new Student Centre for a 12-hour session, starting at 11am in the morning.

A number of top-selling computer games are being played – Counter Strike, Unreal Tournament 2004, Battlefield 1942, Quake 3 Arena, Battlefield Vietnam and Desert Combat – and prizes worth more than £500 are up for grabs.

By connecting to a central server over the network, gamers are able to see in real time how they and their rivals are racking up the points during the day. Waracle is laying on food and coffee during the day.

Michael Romilly, of Waracle, said: "Dundee is a centre for computer games design and development in Scotland yet it has never hosted a LAN party on this scale, even though they are relatively common in Edinburgh and Glasgow.

"We wanted to help generate a community spirit among the computer games industry in and around Dundee, and also stage a showcase of the networking technology that Waracle is developing. Hosting Dundee's first ever LAN party seemed like the best way of doing it, and I'm pleased to say that we've had a very encouraging response from gamers keen to show off their prowess."

Michael, whose degree was in marketing, formed Waracle last October with Alex Maitland, Sotirios Mitsis, Oskar Kirkwood, Mike Wharton and Malcolm Collins after they had enrolled separately in Abertay's unique embreonix incubator facility for graduate businesses.

They were all working on aspects of server technology to support online computer gaming, and quickly realized that together they could develop a strong business proposition.