The BIG GAME is a UK LAN party based in Southampton, Hampshire. If you didn't already know, LAN parties are events where people bring their computers to a public location and plug into a Local Area Network (LAN). Once connected to the network, you can interact with each other in order to play multiplayer games (as you can on the internet). This approach has many advantages over Internet gaming including ultra low-ping connections meaning that games will not lag, cheaters are kept at bay and most importantly you'll experience a great social atmosphere where you can chat to (and shout at) the people you're playing against!
All sorts of games are played at the BIG GAME including first person shooters like Quake, Counter-Strike and Battlefield 1942. Strategy games like Command & Conquer, Homeworld and Warcraft are also popular. There are no limits on what you can play, with the average event attendance in excess of 70 people, there is normally someone else about who will like the same games you do. Tournaments are also organised so if you fancy yourself as a CS expert or a Quake master get some people together and enter a team into the tournaments. Prizes are normally on offer so it's worth doing. Consoles are also at the event on a projector screen so there is a change of platform available if it takes you fancy.
The events run over a three-day period, normally from midday Friday to Sunday night so there's plenty of time to play all the games you want to. There is enough room at the event for you to find some floor to sleep on, so even if you aren't local the event is still an option for you. The current record stands at Germany for the furthest travelled to the BIG GAME and we have regular attendants from Wales and northern England (but don't let that put you off ;).
The event is run by a team of 6 people (the BIG GAME crew) who have been doing events like this for over 5 years and are very passionate about gaming and want to create the best atmosphere they can to make the BIG GAME the best lanning experience it can be. They are on hand all event to help if you have a PC problems, network issues or any other problems.
Basically the event is for people to play multiplayer games in a friendly atmosphere with great hardware and enjoy a weekend of high quality gaming.