LAN and consoles

[Dante's Stalker]

Hi guys!

So, I've only ever had a LAN session playing Counter Strike x amount of years ago. You can't even call it a real LAN session since it was during the day, there were only four of us, and it lasted for all of five hours. *hears a multitude of pffffts*

I know you can have these things via PC, so my question is whether anyone here has had LANd with another console. Be it the PS3 or Wii or Xbox 360, has anybody here got experience rigging up their consoles with a few other gamers? How long did it last for, what equipment did you use, were there any issues that cropped up?

And if you haven't, would anybody here be interested to LAN using another console aside from the PC?

I'm just trying to get a general idea here as I'm looking to track down gamers in my area and invite them over to my place for all-night LANs, but I want to break away from using only one gaming console so I can attract more gamers.

It's just eaaaaarrrllly stages of research at the moment, but I'm going to work toward having minor league gaming competitions (and eventually massive LAN marathons once I get the aid of Xbox and Microsoft and a couple of other local businesses to sponsor the events). So, as I said, I don't want to limit the show to PC gamers only, I want to get pro-PS3 gamers and the likes into it as well.

Feel free to share your experiences of LANs here too, what kind of Clan you're in or were in, and name what made them good and what made them suck, and what you wish HAD been part of the experience.

At the moment, the only idea I've got that would compliment a LAN at my place is to stock a bar fridge with energy drinks. You know, when you need that kick to wake you up at 2am in the morning and start taking people down.

I figured I'd ask you guys because... well, everyone here is a gamer. ^_^

 

[Dark Drakan]

Steve and I used to play Command & Conquer games, Age of Empires, Duke Nukem games, Blood, AvP and many others on LAN on his PC's and ive also linked 2 PS1's up and played Command & Conquer Retaliation and had Xbox and Xbox 360 on LAN playing Halo, Gears Of War 1 & 2 and Left 4 Dead amongst others. Annoyed me how they restricted the LAN on CoD on consoles as that would have been a great LAN game too.

 

[aka958]

I've only laned at my school and once at a friends house. It's fun staying up 2 days in a row and then falling asleep on a keyboard. XD

One time a friend of mine brought a Gamecube to our school LAN. It's fun to play, sadly he only had two controllers.

I'd guess if you want to LAN with consoles that party games are the best option, at least in my opinion. If it is a minor LAN and not a huge LAN that is. Party games like those Nintendo offers. Mario Kart Wii, Super Smash Bros Brawl, Mario Party, damn Wii you got da best party games eva. o.o

 

[Nessy]

I've been to a few big lans, centres near me, i've been to a bunch of iseries events for competitions and stuff, cs, quake etc. Had a bunch of lans with friends, when I was a bit younger I used to lan on the xbox playing halo:ce.

Pretty much done everything, seen local lan businesses start and end, shipped my huge PC half a thousand miles by train to play competitions.

In terms of local byoc lans I would say that in terms of making money, it is probably only going to be profitable if you can get over 36 people, and you need to be able to reel them consistently, otherwise you will only be able to have events very rarely. Most local lans that I have known of (used to be one called the ministry of gaming in edinburgh, it closed down when gamerbase (by hmv) opened up, now there is another independent one called twitch) have supplied the computers and consoles. Got a friend of mine that has been talking of starting a lan centre also, but it is a reasonable investment, and they have to offer something that players don't have otherwise. People like myself would only ever show up for a competition because there is nothing else they have that I can't do myself. My PC is always up to date and I don't have any need for the company they provide.

If you were thinking of starting it up without any idea of profit (which I think is what you are getting at) here are a few things that are useful:

Have some people that have cars
Have spare wires (especially ethernet cables)
Have LOTS of ventilation
Have TONS of space

Pretty simple stuff, another good thing is if you can get a local pizza place to do a massive delivery at say 3am or so.

About my own experiences with lans: I absolutely love them. I've been to a bunch of iseries (first one I went to was i33 about 3 years ago) and often when I am there I don't sleep for 80 or so hours at a time. I've been to local byoc lans and have competed in competitions for loads of games, quake3,quake4,ut2k4,cs,cod4 and am getting into sc2 so if I can get good at that might be attending some events for that game.

Last lan I attenden was just with 4 friends of mine at one of their houses. Lasted about a week, played quake live, starcraft 2, halo pc (it used to be a big game for me), counter strike and heroes of newerth.

 

[cheezMcNASTY]

used to do LAN with xbox's... 5 years ago i think it was. my experience with it is limited to Halo: CE.
before i moved, my friday night routine was to bring my xbox to my friends house, invite 3-5 others, order pizza and soda, and play round after round of custom games and slayer. took a brief hiatus when guitar hero 2 came out, then went back to the same old.
we did play a few other games...namely splinter cell chaos theory, and phantom dust.

not much else to tell really. picture a bunch of pubescent guys sitting around 2 tvs eating pizza, shouting profanity, and occasionally tackling one another and you get the gist of it.... not one of my highlights.
now i get much more enjoyment from playing RPGs by my self from the SNES and PS1 era.

 

[Ember To Inferno]

The only time I have ever done LAN it was absolutely annoying for me. I spent hours because a good friend who lives far away had came over, only to eventually learn that my router's NAT settings would always hop on over to "Strict" upon receiving multiple connections from two of the same consoles. I spent all night trying to get that thing working, until eventually I found a formula to have one Xbox on "Open NAT" and the other on "Moderate NAT".

The lengths I go for some things baffles me really. At least we got a few days of Red Dead's free roam and Lost Planet 2 on it. Afterwords though, she just decided getting the internet for herself would be better since she got a job.

 

[Dark Drakan]

The only time I have ever done LAN it was absolutely annoying for me. I spent hours because a good friend who lives far away had came over, only to eventually learn that my router's NAT settings would always hop on over to "Strict" upon receiving multiple connections from two of the same consoles. I spent all night trying to get that thing working, until eventually I found a formula to have one Xbox on "Open NAT" and the other on "Moderate NAT".

The lengths I go for some things baffles me really. At least we got a few days of Red Dead's free roam and Lost Planet 2 on it. Afterwords though, she just decided getting the internet for herself would be better since she got a job.

My cousin had a similar issue and we went through Microsoft's website and they had a good troubleshooting page for it and sorted it out.

 

[Nessy]

network address translation, yeah, had a few problems with that years ago when trying to configure a router.

I was like 13 at the time, live and learn.

 

[Ember To Inferno]

My cousin had a similar issue and we went through Microsoft's website and they had a good troubleshooting page for it and sorted it out.

I feel foolish for not realizing that Microsoft probably had an FAQ thing about it. My stupid has been overwhelming me longer than I thought lol.

 

[Dark Drakan]

I feel foolish for not realizing that Microsoft probably had an FAQ thing about it. My stupid has been overwhelming me longer than I thought lol.

Yeah there were step to step guides on both Microsofts website and the Xbox.com FAQ section.