KitGuru KitGuru.net – Tech News | Hardware News | Hardware Reviews | IOS | Mobile | Gaming | Graphics Cards
Here at KitGuru we're big fans of a good LAN party. There's not a lot better for a dyed-in-the-wool PC gamer than being able to play lag free with a bunch of your friends and it's even better if you can wander around a gaming festival in your down time. That's what Multiplay's Insomnia series events are all about, which is why we headed along to the latest, i54, to see what's going on.
Even though this iSeries still saw thousands of gamers lugging hefty desktop systems to the arena, the i54 LAN is an order of magnitude smaller than the big summer LANs that Multiplay puts together. Despite that though, the place was rammed when we arrived, with lines upon lines of eager gamers and families of gamers, queuing outside in the drizzle. Making matters worse, is the fact that parking attendants were turning people away by mid-morning, sending them to a car park around a mile up the road.
Word to the wise, if you want to park easily, get their early
The reasoning for this, is that the outdoor tented arena, usually located on the football field itself (the Ricoh Arena's day job is providing a ground and stands for Coventry FC), was instead pitched in Car Park A, cutting back on the number of cars that could pull up in a convenient location.
Still, this does at least place the tented area in a nice spot for those looking to try something different at i54. While you can visit all of the usual booths indoors, some of the most fun at an iSeries event can be found outside, as that's where the retro and board gaming takes place.
Outdoors is also where you'll be headed if you're being dragged to the iSeries with your young'un who's desperate to see one of the attending Youtube personalities. Needless to say, at least half of the queues in and around the Ricoh Arena today were thanks to the legions of fans here to see those new online celebrities.
More importantly though, it's also where you can buy your retro games. My ever expanding Mega Drive collection has a nice new addition thanks to this trip.
As wonderful as the great outdoors is though, it's inside where the majority of the action is. There's the BYOC LAN halls of course, which are always an impressive sight. However this time, to accommodate the main stage moving indoors – again, thanks to the local football team having the gall to use their own field – everyone has been split up. A pair of LAN halls are located upstairs, while the remainder are down in the basement.
Dare you enter?
If you do, it's about what you would expect, with just smaller numbers of people in each hall. It's still several hundred a piece though, so it's still quite an impressive sight.
If you didn't feel like bringing your entire home gaming system with you to this iSeries event however, you'll likely be more interested in the main expo, which has plenty on show, despite being a little more retail orientated than we're used to at a LAN festival.
Chillblast has a lot of pretty PCs on show, as well as a number of different competitions giving away gaming mice of various values.
This Borg Cube-looking PC caught out attention.
Overclockers Uk was in attendance as you might expect, showing off its resident OC champion 8-Pack, as much as some beautiful gaming PCs.
Along with a PC featuring RAM that's lit up by the strip-light equivalent of a plasma ball, this purple and white, water cooled set up was particularly pretty.
For those bringing their PCs to this iSeries, don't forget that OCUK is again offering its delivery to desk system. Just order your parts online and they'll deliver them from the warehouse, to your desk within 24 hours. Better yet, take it to their booth and they'll even install it for you.
PC Specialist has a few interesting bits of kit on show, as well as plenty of stations to try out some of its more popular peripheral choices and pre-built systems.
One thing GAME did have on show which impressed was a set of pre-built MAME cabinets. I really want one of these.
Thermaltake made an appearance, showing off some of its new TTEsports gear.
Gigabyte too had some gear on show, though arguably it's main focus was its charity raffle which is raising money for Zoe's Place baby hospice.
As far as games go, there weren't many big reveals – though the main stage shows had some great talks with top-name developers. However, there is a booth full of systems set up to play the new Mortal Kombat.
Maker of Runescape, Jagex, has a decent sized booth. Since it's scrapped the development of the its Transformers Universe MMO, it's instead pushing its card battler Chronicle and the cubic shooter, Block and Load.
Logitech has a big booth at this iSeries and this time it's brought a bus. Cosy up to one of the attending staffers and you might even be able to bag yourself a VIP pass for the upstairs area, which will feature a bar and other extras exclusive for kiss assers. And handsome journos of course.
As usual, one of my favourite areas of the whole LAN was the Indie Zone, which features some great up-and-coming titles from faces new and old. Unfortunately the guy behind one of the most advertised games, Raging Justice, was having some technical difficulties when we swung by, so hopefully it will be sorted by the time you get there.
For those looking for some manic brawling action, there is a booth set up with Gang Beasts. If you haven't played it yet, I'd urge you too, but if you have and you enjoyed it, Mutiny is another game in a similar vein. It might have failed its Kickstarter, but it didn't fail to capture our attention.
For those wanting something a little more tactical and engineer…ical, then Medieval and Space engineers are also available to try out.
As VR continues to increase its stake in the gaming world, it's no surprise that it's showing up more and more at events like this. For those interested in trying out a VR headset, there's the Samsung Gear VR powered, ‘Smash Hit Plunder', which has you bashing in pots and pans in a gold filled dungeon.
I am an ace pilot. That's why I needed him to guide me in.
Over at the Tesoro stand there's an Eve Valkyrie set up with a DK2, joystick and throttle. Apart from the over-zealous guy demoing it by moving your head around with his hands, it's pretty impressive.
If you have a DK2 at home, you might like to download Air Drift, a game that's available now on Oculus Share. It's getting prettier all the time and there's new levels on the way. You can try a couple of them out at i54.
Pneuma is easily the prettiest of the VR games on show however. It's also available to buy and is 50 per cent off for event attendees on Steam. It even works without a VR headset for those of you still living in the 20th century.
One interesting take home from the first iSeries of 2015, is that navigating it's reduced size is pretty easy. However should you get lost, many booth owners have begun filling the skies with eye catching banners and balloons to try and draw in the masses.
GAME, understandably features a lot at the show, since it's now the owner of the Multiplay brand – despite barely scraping back from the brink of liquidation two years ago. Along with its big booths selling games, hardware and a few other additions, was this large banner.
At the other end of the arena, Chillblast's booth has a balloon filled enough helium to make turn Vin Diesel into Mickey Mouse.
CEX opted for a red shark. It's not particularly relevant, but I do want to take it home with me.
Final Thoughts
So that's Multiplay's i54 Insomnia gaming festival in a nutshell. It's not the most impressive it's ever been and does feel a little dominated by retail partners rather than those showing off new and exciting technology, but it's got plenty to see as always. So for whatever reason you're heading along this weekend, we hope you have a good time. Other Kitguru staff will be in attendance throughout the weekend, so keep your eyes peeled and feel free to say hi if you spot us.
I'm not kidding about the parking though. Get here early. I wish I had.
