On the third week/files/storyimages/in June, the nexus of the video game world will be in Louisville at LANWAR, the opening event of the World Series of Video Games, a new super-competition for virtual-reality survivalists. According to the event’s organizers, Louisville can expect 2,000 or more gamers from around the region to desc/files/storyimages/on the Kentucky Exposition Center for three days of non-stop simulated action.
For anyone computer-savvy enough to know what a LAN is (Local Area Network), the event’s name is rather self-explanatory. But if you’re having trouble generating an image, let us help: Covering a 150,000-square-foot expanse, the event will consist of one gigantic LAN “war,” allowing gamers to haul their own computers or Xboxes to the event and connect to the network. They’ll be able to compete not only against others across the room in Louisville, but also play against gamers in Jonkoping, Sweden, where DreamHack, the world’s largest LAN party, will be held simultaneously. Organizers are hoping the folks from Guinness World Records will att/files/storyimages/in Louisville because tying together the two events should assemble the largest group of people playing against each other over a network at the same time — ever.
Also at stake June 15-18 is the opportunity for winners from their respective Xbox and PC games to advance in the World Series, which plans to crown international champions in a December tournament. The games to be played are Counter Strike, Quake 4 and Warcraft 3 for PCs, and Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter, Halo 2 and Project Gotham Racing 3 for XBOX.
One highlight of the Louisville event is the expected appearance of Fatal1ty, the world’s top professional video gamer. What Takeru Kobayashi is to the Nathan’s Hot Dog Eating Contest on Coney Island, Johnathan “Fatal1ty” Wendel is to video gaming — only he’s made in America and has already parlayed his video-game acclaim into a series of branded after-market computer components such as video cards and specialized gaming “mouse” devices.
By the time Wendel arrives in Louisville, he’ll have been training on Quake 4 for two months. He’ll demonstrate what it takes to be a master player for hobbyists at LANWAR. “It’s like underground boxing,” Wendel said in a telephone interview. “You don’t know what it’s about until you see, and then you say, ‘Wow, that was insane.’”
