@Plazmunky
I'm extremely happy this sort of thing is being talked about because I also have hosted my own public LAN events, as well as assist with another local group to run theirs where I live for over twenty years. For a long time now, even in-house LANs; I've gotten tired of running them, because coordinating everybody to focus on a single activity, is such a massive challenge. I played with ideas like shutting off the internet, etc. and it just doesn't help because people move to their phones. I still believe in BYOC, but I can see the approach you're trying to take by providing curated experiences. I'm an older school gamer and I have a love for Windows 98-XP era games, so I built 8 old PCs with Windows XP installed and all the games pre-installed to run locally only. I provided all the hardware, keyboard/mouse/monitor/mousepad, etc. My next LAN went much smoother, we ended up playing only one singular game the whole time because people were enjoying it so much. I believe that this approach you're explaining makes much more sense and has invigorated me to give all of this another go. Thank you!
@heikojakob6491
I'm still going to the same LAN party twice a year since the 90s. The event downsized from ~300 to 100 ppl, but playing the games isn't in focus. Focus is on spending quality time with your friends. Showing of your PC build, talking about the stuff you tweaked in your rig. Being proud of your kids when three generations show up. So grandpa and grandson can beat up dad and his friends in battlefield ... There are even people flying half way around the globe to be there. They usually only bring a gaming notebook, not the entire rig.
@MikeBenko
I'm watching two guys in their late 30's rediscovering Cyber Cafe's.
@braddabug8598
You might be on to something. Last time I went to a BYOC LAN party was after-hours at the office. I got tired of waiting on everyone else trying to get games installed (that we told everyone ahead of time to install), making sure everyone has the same version, installing patches, figuring out networking issues, all that crap... so I went into a smaller conference room where someone had Rock Band set up. I picked up the guitar controller and a bunch of us jammed out for hours, having a blast, while everyone else spent hours trying to get Battlefield working.
@sadravin1
Linus figured out the issues with large lan parties. Sometimes I wish i worked with him to solve those issues for him. I have decades experience hosting large 100+ people lan parties and would have warned him ahead of time, and offered solutions.
@CasualViewer-t4f
A LAN setup I’m looking into is my Steam Deck OLED with a portable display to avoid hauling a rig. We generally play AoE 2, Unreal Tournament, Dota 2, etc. which the Deck runs just fine. I find most LANs go best when everyone is playing the same 3 games or so for the weekend.
@carlosdgutierrez6570
The only hope to revive LAN parties are the mass adoption of handhelds and gaming laptops because let's be honest, actual desktop systems, especially the gamming battlestations are way too cumbersome to transport and other than the uber enthusiasts, nobody really want to deal with the hassle of moving their heavy and delicate systems. People did that in the 1990s and 2000s because they didn't have a choice, it was either doing that or use consoles.
@JimJamFlim
I always remember having the most fun at Xbox 360 LANs. Consoles were easy to carry around, games were all on disk so at most people would need to download a couple of updates, also using disks meant you had to decide on the games beforehand because you had to physically bring them with you, and you could bring extra copies for people who didn't have one, pop it in their console and it works straight away.
@foxriver9156
I had one of the original LAN centers back in ‘99 to ‘03. Built 20 PCs, 4 to 6 PCs per room. And over the years I added Xboxes, table top, and card spaces. Often had lines out the door. Keep in mind this was before high speed internet hit our area. It was the perfect timing, because as internet rolled out my customer base dwindled.. there really is something to having a small selection of different experiences, and limited or no internet gaming access. to this day I daydream of setting up a high end motion sim rig center.. but really don’t want all the headache that goes with it.
@stratum42
My wife an I host 3-4 LAN parties a year. It's definitely still doable and nothing beats a good old arena shooter at a LAN Party. Hoping to have an Unreal Tournament server up and going this month yet for the next one.
@doomdimensiondweller5627
no one goes to lan parties casually anymore the people who go to lans now like prepare all year for them
@seporokey
16:20 This right here is the key. My friend basically turns his entire house into a board gaming house for a day, and each room of the house has people playing different games. Want to play a DnD one shot? Go to the kitchen. Want to play social deduction games like Werewolf and Secret Hitler? Head to the living room. Feeling some Root? Garage. Card games? Dining room. Throughout the night people can migrate to different areas, or just play Betrayal at the House on the Hill until 4 in the morning.
@unrealed
You could have a sick flight-sim corner too. Like the racing one but essentially replacing the wheel and pedals with a HOTAS
@tpmann7166
Artemis Spaceship Bridge Simulator is a bit older, but it's a lot better for light hardware. Favors touchscreens, but iirc you can stuff up to 88 people across 8 ships if you were all insane. I got to play at a Maker Faire years ago and I've never had enough nerds in one place to play it again
@gmscott9319
Back in my day, I loved going to game conventions and playing Artemis bridge simulator. Fantastic coop LAN game that was essentially Star Trek with the serial numbers filed off.
@LoganChristianson
I actually REALLY enjoy linus talking about the logistical adventures and day-to-day stories of the center.
@foamysking
With Star Trek bridge crew you no longer need all in vr but vr is so much better the real issue with that is the buggy as hell Ubisoft friend and invite network. We have done it a few times and every last time someone would have to reboot 2-3 times before they could join or even appear as online and the person having the issue would be random
@kanavyreCh
6:17 "you don't need to bring all your crap to an arcade" Me, playing Maimai, bringing gaming gloves, multiple cards for save data and payment, IEMs and adaptors, and a camera to record myself to review later to get better
@ViewportPlaythrough
here in my country, we didnt really had the byoc culture, we had computer shops filled out with everyone. so yah, we didnt had those problems of having to maintain systems or problem bringing them, those who dont have the money to have their own computer can still join since its a comp shop, people that had the budget to buy their own keyboards or mouse could bring them if they want to... comp shops would also organize competitions from time to time and all the technical stuff is being taken care of by the comp shops..
@stretchycheese8522