GameCyte Sneaks Into Guinness World Record LAN Party

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GameCyte Sneaks Into Guinness World Record LAN Party

Fri, Aug 22, 2008

The constant hum of hundreds of monitors. The low-pitched buzzing of thousands of miniature fans. The frantic clicking of millions of keys. These are the sights and sounds of that grand PC gaming institution, the LAN party. But in a private section of the GeForce LAN beginning this Monday at NVISION 08, there may be a new sound -- the sound of gamers begging for comrades and adversaries alike not to fall asleep.

Update: Wednesday, 3:23PM:At the awards ceremony following the main event, the tallies were revealed -- out of 228 who boldly attempted attempted the 36 hour feat, only 25 dropped out. At the NVISION 08 awards ceremony, Guinness World Records adjcator Gareth Deaves just announced that the 36 hour record was set by no fewer than 203 gamers.

When registration asked us for our shoe size, we joked that they needed to estimate how deep to make our caskets... but apparently, they just wanted to get some kicks. 203 pairs of them. Each GWR holder will receive a custom pair of shoes from Nike displaying their achievement.

Update: Wednesday, 11:20AM: It's all over... We have prevailed. Standing in line for pictures righnt now, and will bring you details of the award ceremony at 3PM.

Update: Wednesday, 4:45AM: I've racked up enough break time that I've only a few hours left to grind before I can finally catch some sleep. Interestingly enough, I'm relatively wide awake... and now it's my new friend who needs coaxing just to keep his eyes open.

We're back to CoD4, as it's probably the most engrossing action-packed game left at the event, but it's clear many of the players' hearts are no longer in it. While I played with some pretty skilled players throughout the first 24 hours, those still sitting in the server now were easy pickings for my still-nimble trigger finger. I'm not proud to say I racked up 45 kills in a little over five minutes by combination of two carpet bombing runs and an attack chopper sweep.

Update: Wednesday, 3:12AM: Three hours ago, the NVISION promotions crew -- led by PMS clan leader Athena -- explained to what remained of the BYOC crowd that that the Guinness World Records participants had completed 24 hours, or one full day of nonstop gaming. In describing this preliminary achievement, they called us "heroes." But with the realization that we still had a full twelve hours to go and drowsiness having long set in (I began to nod off in the middle of bumrushing bases in Team Fortress 2, spending precious minutes plowing face first into walls), I didn't even feel like a survivor.

Now, with several ounces of Cherry Bawls circulating throughout my body and an online exercise (chess) to circulate the mind, I'm once again awake... but I wonder how long that might continue. The caffeine crash will inevitably come... and at that point, with all my best multiplayer games played to death over the course of 30+ hours, all I'll have is the companionship of my next-door PC neighbor.

Update: Tuesday, 8:26AM: It's been 11 hours since event coordinator Sam told us how we were going to "prove to the world that gaming isn't about playing 20 hours a week," but rather somewhat longer... and 9 hours since we began fragging in earnest. As those of you who've checked out our lovely webcam have no doubt witnessed, things on the surface have been rather uneventful so far.

But in the chat windows and in-game messaging, there are murmors from those who've realized just how long this long haul is going to be. We're tired, our chairs aren't all that comfortable, and it's actually rather cold in the San Jose Convention Center, despite how much heat our stressed graphics cards are pumping out. The sane ones, the 9/10ths of bring-your-own-computer attendees who weren't entered in the Guinness Challenge, have almost all left, but our section has remains strong and awake -- so far.

The generous accommodations certainly help. While the rigid Guinness rules keep us from entering tournaments or winning prizes, friendly volunteers are almost at our beck and call, bringing us free food and drinks and through their demeanor conferring upon us an elite status. We are treated as honorable guests, although it's clear that something is expected of us in return... we must stay awake. So far, so good.

CoD4 and TF2 appear to be the most popular LAN games at this point, though just as many seem to be playing WoW using the facility's speedy internet connection.

****************

For, if at least 100 out of the 228 challengers manage to stay awake and gaming non-stop for 36 hours, those hundred will all set a Guinness World Record for the accomplishment.

Sounds like fun, right? Well, we'll soon find out, because one of those two hundred and twenty-eight spots belongs to me -- and you're invited to come along for the ride.

This Monday, August 25th at 11PM, your mild-mannered GameCyte reporter will enter the NVIDIA war zone as an embedded journalist, and bring you blow-by-blow coverage of the event. As fools get fragged and n00bs camped, I'll be recording the death toll. When gamers begin to pass out, I'll detail exactly how they collapsed. And if I lose consciousness myself... well, I'll be reporting my grievous shame right here.

Mind you, I won't just be a bystander in this conflict -- I've got a loaded MX518 and am not afraid to use it. Come cheer me on as I deal death for GameCyte!

Though Guinness World Record rules will make my updates somewhat sporadic -- participants must perform practically all non-gaming activity during accumulated break time, of which I'll be obtaining 10 minutes per hour of play -- we'll also have a live webcam for those who don't want to miss one minute of the mayhem.

The Guinness World Records challenge ends at 11AM on Wednesday, August 27, and -- should we make it -- the awards ceremony begins at 3 in the afternoon.

Photo credit: Raymond Yuen

competition, Guinness World Records, LAN party, NVIDIA, NVISION

This post was written by:

Sean Hollister - who has written 825 posts on GameCyte.

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8 Comments For This Post

Seaniccus Says:
August 22nd, 2008 at 11:13 pm
That's awesome and horrific. Remember that too much caffeine will just cause a crash, save the massive stimulants for the last six or less hours if you can. Maybe eight.

As a last ditch effort, if the rules allow you could always start a World of Warcraft account - you know how it is with those MMOs - you'll feel so obligated to level up , sleeping (and all normal bodily functions) will become secondary to the grind.
Sean Hollister Says:
August 23rd, 2008 at 10:00 am
@Seaniccus: Stimulants cause me to crash very rapidly -- I'll probably be best served not using them at all.

The rules do allow for MMOs, but I don't really care for WoW. I'm open to other suggestions though...

Dear readers: any other advice to ensure Team GameCyte takes home a medal?
Solarian Knight Says:
August 24th, 2008 at 1:11 am
A hearty helping of 10 hours sleep beforehand, a moderate (not huge) breakfast, and continual light doses of food and water throughout the day. Avoid big meals and things high in sugar. Eat lots of protein (protein can be converted into energy without an associated high like foods high in sugar). If some sort of sugar must be consumed, try to eat starchy foods that require energy to break down into sugar like potatoes and (brown!) rice.

I also recommend you exercise moderately the day before the LAN party. Good blood circulation = less heart work = more energy.
Jesse Henning Says:
August 27th, 2008 at 8:15 am
You can do it!
Seaniccus Says:
August 27th, 2008 at 10:29 am
Keep it up man! Don't give up! Words of encouragement!
Nael M. Says:
August 27th, 2008 at 10:33 am
Congrats on getting the record, dude!
Seaniccus Says:
August 27th, 2008 at 6:38 pm
Awesome. You are probably asleep now, but how about some photos of the new kicks?
Eric Says:
August 28th, 2008 at 10:09 am
Das est guht! Congrats

GameCyte