I wrote about The Reality last month, which was a large-ish LAN party where 700 people brought their computers to play games, share files and have a good time together. This month, however, I’m going to Dreamhack Winter in Sweden, the world’s largest LAN party. An expected 13 to 15.000 visitors will attend the party, supported by the world’s biggest and best network hardware.
Last year, Dreamhack used a 40Gbit internet connection and top of the line Cisco network hardware that allowed a throughput of 92 terabits per second. It’s also the home of ‘eSport’ championships and creative competitions.
All of this is made possible by Intel and Asus, who are sponsoring Duh-Events to bring the Belgian/Dutch qualifying Counter-Strike clan and a handful of press and enthusiasts to the event with a touring bus under the moniker ‘Pack4Dreamhack’. I am going as both – with a press pass in one hand and my Macbook Pro in the other, I’ll be reporting from Jönköping as the event progresses, wrapping up with an HD video like at WWDC this year. For realtime coverage of the craziness, it’s worth following me on twitter.
My tech-pack has been expanded and adjusted somewhat for this trip:
• Macbook Pro (17″) and Incase sleeve
• Koyono Built Laptop bag
• A PSP for the bus ride
• Steelseries Siberia headset with Griffin iMic
• My old iPhone & iPhone 3G
• Incase iPhone 3G battery
• Logitech G15 keyboard
• Razer Boomslang CE mouse
• Extra large black mouse pad
• Kensington Lock cable
• The usual array of power adaptors, chargers, and batteries
• Cat6E network cable
• Canon EOS XS SLR camera
• Canon SD960 camera
• and of course an extra Exploded Settings shirt!
I’m getting on the bus November 25th and will arrive at the Dreamhack venue in Jönköping the next morning. If you’re in the vicinity, let me know and we can meet up and have a drink together!
Aw, I am actually in Berlin around that time. I live near Jönköping :D Would’ve loved to meet :(
ah man, cool! i’m going with the german razer bus ^^ ill send you an email
Whoa, that’s a huge event.
Might want to pack a couple of external Hard Drive’s if I remember your report from “The Reality” correctly.
@Bastiaan: Why, yes indeed.
Have a great time! You won’t be sitting at your computer very much – there’s too much to see ;)
Hey,
Which mouse pad are you using?
Ty!
@Seedorfe: I got a nice deal on a Fatal1ty Fat Pad, so I got that. I’d prefer it unbranded, but meh. :) Cheap is cheap.