If there is one thing gaming comics get right its how to appeal to their audience. Ctrl+Alt+Del has teamed with the guys behind Blind Ferret Entertainment to bring us Digital Overload, a HUGE LAN Party. I’m talking the hundred you manage to piece together with all your college buddies “testing” the campus network. These guys are borrowing the Rhode Island Convention Center to seat 750 gamers out to prove that you can game for more then 50 hours straight without killing yourself. Here’s the press release:
Blind Ferret Entertainment and Ctrl+Alt+Del have teamed up to create Digital Overload, a LAN Party dedicated exclusively to fans of Ctrl+Alt+Del, the ever popular gaming webcomic. The event, chalked full of video games, tournaments and prizes, will take place March 10-12, 2006 in Providence, RI.
“This will be the first ever LAN Party organized by Ctrl+Alt+Del and the largest ever for a web comic. We’re really excited to be working with Ctrl+Alt+Del on this project” said Randy Waxman, President of Blind Ferret Entertainment. “The Ctrl+Alt+Del brand has become very well known and extremely powerful in the gaming world, and fans have been itching for a Ctrl+Alt+Del exclusive event like this for years” said Waxman.
“For about a year now, I’ve talked about holding a Ctrl+Alt+Del LAN event. That’s exactly what this event is all about; dedicating a whole event just to Ctrl+Alt+Del and its fans. Something where we can get together, and play video games with fans for a couple of days straight. No tables, no formality, just screaming at each other in good fun as we LAN late into the night.” Adds Ctrl+Alt+Del creator Tim Buckley.
With space for 750 gamers this year, the event is sure to be one of the best of the year for the East Coast. ?We expect that the event will be very well received and tickets will probably be sold out within the first few weeks.
Bah. I love how they mention it\’s \”the biggest for a webcomic\”. That\’s only because you can\’t really consider PAX a \”LAN party\”, even though it\’s an event, organized by a webcomic, that drew in 9,000 attendees last year.
Now THAT\’S a party. =D
And while not quite the same thing, how much traffic does the web comic friendly Conneticon attract?
Why doesn\’t Buckley get it over with and just admit he\’s throwing himself an ego party?
CAD is not on my regular reading list, and sure, the idea for Digital Overload may have been born from PAX, but is another convention really so bad?
Many people who cannot attend PAX have complained there wasn\’t a similar event on the East coast. Well, this is it.
Additionally, this could be viewed as simply another way for webcomics to earn money, much like T-shirt or advertisement sales, albeit for those webcomics with a larger fanbase.
Penny Arcade and ConnectiCon may have blazed the trail, but if Mr. Buckley can bring in some revenue from his convention, more power to him.
-dt
How do you figure PA or Connecticon \”blazed a trail\”? Neither of them invented conventions.