The i10 event was the largest LAN party held in the ever. Bar-none. Over nine-hundred avid games fanatics poured through the doors of the Berkshire Stand at Newbury Race Course on the morning of Friday March the 29th – Good Friday. A good Friday it was too, as the buoyant mood kicked-off four days of intensive gaming – intermitted for many by sleeping upstairs in sleeping bags, trips to the bar, and retrieving other essential supplies of the liquid or solid variety. The party goes on even as we go to press, and won’t end until the early evening of Monday April the 1st – for those who can hack the intensive pace. A number of the events largest tournaments will also be held on this final day, concluding the heady long-weekend of gaming indulgence.

So was it any good? In a word, yes, of course it was! I personally travelled to attend the event on Saturday the 30th, and was quite taken aback but the sheer scale of the event and the organisation that had gone into making it a memorable weekend. Multiplay have certainly got it down to a fine art, the server arrangement, setting, games, and of course beverage and food provision – albeit it a little pricey.

Game of choice was of course the ubiquitous Counter-Strike, with other games also sharing the limelight, such as Planetarion, Quake 3, Unreal Tournament and the newly released Jedi Knight II. Word on the street was also very positive on EA/Crave’s beta of Global Ops, it being touted as a possible successor to Counter-Strike’s throne.

I had hilarious fun watching Ferrago Web-Guru Jason being slaughtered on Counter-Strike, before challenging him unsuccessfully at Halo, on a number of networked Xbox’s on display as part of Microsoft’s ‘Xperience’ publicity event. The game appeared to being going down well with the punters, too, multiplayer proving a diverse and hilariously fun-filled affair, especially on maps where vehicles could be used.

Anyway, enough said on the various amusements of this fabulous event- here’s some images from it. Enjoy!

By Luke Guttridge