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Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh houses one of the nation’s top Computer Science schools-and that means plenty of gamers (and maybe geeks, too). Although this is the second LAN to ever happen on the campus, the popularity is rapidly growing and gaining recognition as time goes by. Hosted by the CMU Online Gaming Society student organization, the LAN’s entire day of non-stop gaming was a definite fun-filled 12 hours of non-stop gaming action!

Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh houses one of the nation’s top Computer Science schools-and that means plenty of gamers (and maybe geeks, too). Although this is the second LAN to ever happen on the campus, the popularity is rapidly growing and gaining recognition as time goes by. Hosted by the CMU Online Gaming Society student organization, the LAN’s entire day of non-stop gaming was a definite fun-filled 12 hours of non-stop gaming action!

The doors opened at 2PM sharp (maybe even a bit earlier) and the gaming began immediately. Event sponsor AMD provided "Gamers Wanted" shirts to all attendees and made a notable presence with representatives on hand. Due to power limitations and fire codes, the seating was limited to about 70-75 seats; but there were two electrical outlets and a CAT5 cable with a dedicated OS45 internet connection ready for every gamer who hauled their PC over. Server machines provided by local gaming cafe, CyberConXion ran a Battlefield 2, Counter-Strike Source, and UT2k4 server with low-pings.

The event only lasted from 2PM to 2AM, but packed in two tournaments, a fully catered meal, and a giveaway of a complete FX-60 gaming rig. Counter-Strike Source 2v2 was the largest tournament, running in double-elimination. There was also a small Warcraft 3 tournament held as well. The main focus of the event was not as much on the tournaments but rather simply enjoying the opportunity to spend time with friends and fellow gamers all in one room while fragging for hours on end.

The greatest excitement of the event was for the giveaway of an AMD FX-60 gaming rig donated by sponsor AMD. The system featured an Antec Sonata case, an AMD FX-60 processor, 1GB of Corsair RAM, a GeForce 6800 Ultra, and an Antec TruePower PSU as well as a harddrive. A random drawing was held for all attendees and the lucky winner, make_shift28, a freshman at Carnegie Mellon, took home the awesome system. In addition there was a giveaway of a Logitech G7 wireless mouse, donated by Logitech as well.

To wrap up a fun-filled LAN, a catered meal by Chinese restaurant Orient Express was provided free to all attendees with copious amounts of rice and absolutely every Chinese dish you could imagine-from tofu to beef and broccoli.

CMU students work a rigorous schedule. Just as much gaming happens as studying-but this doesn’t stop them from enjoying a good day’s worth of gaming at a LAN when it swings around. Until the next CMU LAN happens, at least an entire summer away, make sure all of you keep practicing your fragging skills and get ready to "pwn some n00bs" at the next local LAN around your own city!

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