SCLS Gaming

The April LAN Party has been rescheduled for the 23rd and 24th.

See you there!

March 7-13, 2010 is the American Library Association’s “Teen Tech Week.” This year, the Sweetwater County Library System is hosting a multi-location LAN Party. Each of the three main branches, White Mountain Library, Sweetwater County Library, and Rock Springs Library will host their own mini-LAN starting at 6pm on Friday, March 12. While the libraries will be closed, gamers can still access the meeting rooms.

Every month, the White Mountain Library in Rock Springs hosts LAN Parties. People bring their own computers, game consoles, monitors, games, snacks, and caffeine. LAN stands for Local Area Network, and this means the computers and game consoles are connected to each other over a network. A LAN Party brings people together for 24 hours of competitive gaming. There are no restrictions on what games are played, and people can form their own tournaments. Each LAN Party is different, and the gamers never get bored. However, the libraries want to try something new.

The differences between the mini-LANs and the monthly LAN Parties are the mini-LANs will have library-provided computers, only one game will be played, and gamers will compete with everyone at each other library. No equipment is required, and gamers only need to bring themselves. There is no age limit for the mini-LANs, but teens from the ages of 15-18 are encouraged to attend.

The game for the mini-LANs will be Star Craft, a futuristic real time strategy game. It was originally released in 1998, and it has quickly become the standard for competitive gaming. For some countries, Star Craft is a sport just like football is to the USA. South Korea, for example, hosts tournaments where professional gamers compete to make a living. While our mini-LANs won’t be awarding cash prizes to our players, they can experience the social and competitive atmosphere of LAN Parties.

To add to the social aspect of the mini-LANs, webcams will be placed at each location. Players will be able to see their competitors at the other locations via live video on the projection screen. If someone destroys the base of another player at another building, players can see the reactions of their opponents.

Having a multi-location LAN Party would not be possible without the library’s fiber optic network. The bandwidth required to host several games, three video feeds, and other Internet traffic is more than DSL can provide. In fact, the fiber optic network could host hundreds of LAN games simultaneously.

Monthly LAN Parties will still continue as normal. The next regularly scheduled LAN Party is March 19 at 2pm at the White Mountain Library. If the multi-location event proves to be a great success, our monthly LANs may evolve into monthly multi-LANs.

More information about gaming in the Sweetwater County Library System can be found at http://gaming.sweetwaterlibraries.com or call David Halter at 307-362-2665 x5400. Information on other events, services, and library hours can be found at http://sweetwaterlibraries.com.

Check out this article from ZombiePickle, a local gamer that attends many of our LAN Parties.

http://zpnerdblog.wordpress.com/2010/03/08/why-do-we-need-video-game/

Hello everyone! Here is the schedule for the 2010 LAN Parties.

There is a new article about the White Mountain Library LAN Parties on Sweetwater Splash. The site is maintained by David Martin, an avid gamer that visits our LANs frequently. Go check it out!

http://sweetwatersplash.net/2009/10/29/lan-parties-at-white-mountain-library/

Hey everyone! Cindy Moore, our reference librarian at Sweetwater County Library sent this video to me. I figured I would share it here. Enjoy!

Click on the poster below to view a larger version.

Wow. We had a HUGE turn-out for the April LAN party. We had around 70 gamers on Friday, and 90 gamers on Saturday. We peaked around 65-70 people at any given moment.

We had some electrical issues, but I believe I can fix that issue for the next LAN party. We are also running out of table space for people to place their equipment. I will think of ways to remedy that situation too.

And as always, the Internet connection has been amazingly fast. There are plans to implement UPnP routing for the LAN parties so that we can host games online too!

Cya in May!

The April LAN Party is scheduled for the 24th and 25th.

Here is the new poster advertising the next three months!