Geeks gather for games extravaganza

About 600 computer geeks took up residence at Alexandra Park over Labour Weekend for a 50-hour gaming marathon.

Event organiser Anthony Baikie said xLAN 2004 was the largest gamefest yet to be held in the country.

Entrants arrived on Saturday morning, humping enormous hard drives and terminals up three flights of stairs to reach the gaming areas.

Several came prepared for a long campaign, with sleeping bags, food and plenty of coffee. The competitions involved well-known games such as Counter-Strike and Warcraft.