The Jawatech

Posts Tagged ‘Quakecon’

Who cut Quakecon’s Bawls off?

This is the first Quakecon to occur since ID was acquired by Zenimax. There have been some drastic changes this year and I am left with a lot of mixed emotions.

The new registration process was phenomenal. The overall setup and hard work everyone put into everything was very impressive…

That being said, it just didn’t feel the same at all. This year someone decided that it would be a good idea to ban file sharing in the BYOC. BAN FILE SHARING?! Quakecon is supposed to be Americas largest and most awesome LAN party. Tell me, What kind of shitty ass LAN party BANS FILE SHARING?! This year, there was nothing that I could do in the BYOC, that I couldn’t have done better and faster at home. With Steam not working at all and Quake Live running hit or miss there is really not much to do in the BYOC. I thought it was especially ironic when they announced a special Quakecon 2010 Gaming package. During Quakecon only, you can buy every game ID and Bethesda has ever made for only $70! Heres the catch, Its through STEAM! You cant even log into Steam when your at Quakecon!!! LOL ARE YOU KIDDING ME?! They literally said you should probably leave so you could go buy it. What a Cluster Fuck. You would think that at least Quake Live would work well at Quakecon right? Wrong. It ran great when it worked but the connection was so hit or miss it made you not even want to play it.

Back in olden times, we used to hang out in the BYOC all night! We would drink outrageous amounts of BAWLS energy drinks and browse other users computers and see what kind of weird shit they had to offer. EVERYONES games worked because with file sharing, everyone had the same games. DC++ was the LIFE FORCE behind the BYOC. Now that it’s gone you might as well just get a general admission pass and just look around for a few hours and then leave. File Sharing is no more illegal than is sharing a piece of birthday cake. Any website you have ever viewed is proof of this. If you are trying to stop software piracy…well then your going to have to kill the internet all together (good luck with that).

There was no Bawls booth this year and the only answer I could get out of anyone is that they went bankrupt. I remember last year they had an entire booth made up of cases of Bawls. They couldn’t truck that shit in fast enough. I saw a few people this year that must have brought their own and i know they still sell that shit at the store! So whats the deal with that? Whatever the reason for them not being there, it just added to the failure.

Needless to say we checked out of the hotel early and came home yesterday out of sheer boredom and frustration. Something that I have never EVER done. I’m really glad I got to check out RAGE, BRINK, and Fallout 4. John Carmack’s keynote speech was incredibly insightful. It made coming to Quakecon all worth it. I do not regret making the trip, but I do regret bringing my computer.

I am just thankful that I was not one of the many people that drove from across the whole damn country to come to Quakecon this year. If there had been a “NO FILE SHARING” announcement months ago, I am willing to bet that most of us wouldn’t have bothered to participate in the BYOC at all.

For those of you who have never been, Heres a video of me doing a quick walk through:

Twas the night before Quakecon

‘Twas the night before Quakecon, when all through the house

Not a LED was blinking, not even a mouse;

The Keybords were packed by the powerstrips with care,

In hopes that morning would soon be there;

The gamers were nestled all snug in their beds,

While visions of rockets danced in their heads;

Updates compleated, and torrents on cap,

Laptop in bed, Cant sleep worth a crap,

When out on the chatroom there arose such a clatter,

I sprang from the bed to see what was the matter.

Away to the forums I flew like a flash,

Tore open the tabs and caused windows to crash.

The blue on the keys of the new-rendering glow

Gave the luster of mid-day to objects below,

When, what to my wondering eyes should appear,

But a savior in black, and eight cans of beer,

With a USB driver, so lively and quick,

I knew in a moment it must be Linux.

More rapid than eagles his coursers they came,

And he whistled, and shouted, and called them by name;

“Now, Basher! now, Consol! now, Format and SU!

On, BIOS! on Stupid! on, Ponder and Reboot!

To the top of the porch! to the top of the wall!

Now hash away! hash away! hash away all!”

As dry leaves that before the wild hurricane fly,

When they meet with an obstacle, mount to the sky,

So up to the Gaylord the gamers they flew,

With the car full of toys, and all of us too.

And then, in a boom, I heard on the roof

The Blaze of an M60 and a Smoke grenade “poof”.

As I drew in my hand, and was turning around,

Down the foxhole Pvt. Soap came with a bound.

He was dressed all in camo, from his head to his foot,

And his clothes were all tarnished with ashes and soot;

A bundle of ammo he had flung on his back,

And he looked like a peddler just opening his pack.

His eyes — how they twinkled! his dimples how merry!

His wounds were like roses, his blood like a cherry!

Cooking a Grenade that looked ready to blow,

And the skin on his face was as white as the snow;

The blade of knife he held tight in his teeth,

And the smoke it encircled his head like a wreath;

A little square box attached to his belly,

That shook, when he ran like a bowlful of jelly.

He was chubby and plump, a right jolly old elf,

And I laughed when I saw him, in spite of myself;

A wink of his eye and a grin on his head,

Soon gave me to know I had plenty to dread;

He spoke not a word, but went straight to his work,

And drained all our health bars; then turned with a jerk,

And laying his rifle aside of his nose,

And giving a mod, up the chimney he rose;

He sprang to his tank, to his clan gave a whistle,

And away they all flew like the down of a thistle.

But I heard them exclaim, ere they drove out of sight,

“Happy Quakecon to all, and to all a good-night!!!!!1″

BEHOLD! I’VE DONE IT!

Everything worked out perfectly. When you plug an NES controller windows already knows whats up. Its super easy to configure and it Accepts Most standard NES controllers. No Zappers or power glove but still…WAY COOL. Who the hell wants to use the power glove anyway? Also it’s fun to play Need for Speed Undercover and look at peoples faces when they realize that I’m holding a fully functional NES controller. I plan on making a full step by step walk through on this project but not until i show it off for a while. Look for me In the BYOC at Quakecon this year. We can have a Dr. Mario off!

Next stop.. SNES Controllers!