SAGAfest - mega LAN, july 11-12

(mad) wrote:completely forgot that there may be people interested here and that i should probably spam you guys before early bird tickets are completely gone
and for those that would like a td;dr: head on over to http://www.gamersalliance.net.au/

Social Gaming in Australia
Social Gaming involves people getting together in person to enjoy PC and console games. A recent study by the Interactive Entertainment Association of Australia reported that nearly 30% of the population of Australia participates in Social Gaming on occasion . The Australian gaming industry generated 1.7 billion dollars in 2007, and is currently growing at a rate of more than 15% per annum . Australia wide, Social Gamers are largely catered for by non-for-profit volunteer organisations running LAN Parties and gaming festivals on a regular basis. In South Australia alone, around 6 events are held ever month.

SAGAFest – July 11th, 2009

On July 11th and 12th 2009, the Gamers' Alliance is holding the South Australian Gaming Festival (SAGAFest), one of the largest Social Gaming events ever seen in Australia, welcoming up to 480 attendees. The event brings together volunteers from StreetGeek, IgniteLAN, AVCON, CS.Club(), WiLANga, PHLANX, Zeal and EVAC to participate in this joint spectacular.
SAGAFest is a recurring Gaming Festival, projected to be held semi-annually. Promotional material for the event will reach up to 480 attendees on the day, and a further 1000 individuals at related events. Through electronic media, the SAGAFest message will reach a further 2000 individuals across South Australia. Print and radio media coverage of the event is also expected.
The demographic of SAGAFest attendees is projected to centre around a 15-30 year old age group, with gender balance expected to be around 75% male and 25% female. SAGAFest ‘09 focuses on community and friendly, social gaming activities, omitting high-stakes competitive games. The line-up brings together a huge variety of gaming-related activities, attempting to expose attendees to an exciting sampling of the gaming world.
The event offers a fully gigabit PC network with tightly regulated internet access. A console section exists with a number of consoles and games provided.

The Gamers’ Alliance
The Gamers Alliance is a coalition of gaming-related groups from all over South Australia who have come together to create and run a large event for the Social Gaming community. The objective of the event is to raise the profile of the Social Gaming industry, and attract a wider demographic to enjoy Social Gaming.

Tickets
SAGAFest tickets come in two types: Allocated Seating and Social. Allocated Seating tickets are suitable for PC gamers, and for console gamers who are bringing a console for their own exclusive use. Attendees who are playing only on shared consoles, or who are bringing a console for shared use, purchase a Social ticket. Ladies pay half price for all ticket types.
Allocated Seating: $25 Male, $12.50 Female
Social $15 Male, $7.50 Female
These prices apply up until midnight on the night of Friday July 3rd (one week before the event), after which ticket prices will increase by $5 ($2.50 for females). Please ensure that you use your correct name and address when purchasing tickets, as valid photo ID will be required to verify your identity on the day!

On the day
When doors open in the morning of Saturday July 11th, attendees will present their ID at the door to gain admission. Sponsors’ stalls will already be in place, and the opening ceremony will commence one hour after the doors open, followed immediately by the first PC and Console tournaments.
The day is punctuated by VIP matches of Warhammer and DnD, as well as tech talks given by game design companies and gaming societies. Scheduled games continue throughout the Saturday night.
Sunday sees the “In Real Life” (IRL) games series begin, featuring the famous home-grown game Frizbeemark.
Towards the end of the Sunday afternoon, the closing ceremony will be held, with presentations for major prize winners, and awarding of the door prizes from title sponsors, including Allneeds Computers.
Sunday evening, the SAGAFest experience comes to a close, and tired and weary gamers, satisfied by an action-packed weekend, pack up their rigs and make their way home.

Tournament Details
PC
The preliminary line-up for PC games includes:
* Team Fortress 2
• Left4Dead
• CounterStrike Source
• Boreshaft III Tower Defence
• Unreal Tournament III
• Warsow
• Teeworlds
• Quake III Corkscrew
• Call of Duty 4 Promod Double Elimination 5v5
• Race Driver GRID Free For All
• Track Mania Nations
Playstation 3
• Grand Turismo 5 Hotlap
• Street Fighter 4 1v1 Double Elimination
• Tekken 5: Dark Resurrection 1v1 Double Elimination
Nintendo Wii
• Super Smash Brothers Brawl 1v1 Double Elimination
• Super Smash Brothers Brawl 2v2 Triple Elimination
• Mario Kart Wii 4-way Knockout
• Wii Tennis 2v2 Knockout
Xbox 360
• Gear of War 2 4v4 Double Elimination
• Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock 1v1 Double Elimination
• Halo 3 4v4 Round Robin

Member organisations:

StreetGeek is the founder of the Gamers’ Alliance. In 2008, StreetGeek became the leader of the Social Gaming industry with ticket sales for the year reaching 1253 tickets. StreetGeek is defined by its strong focus on community and fun, sociable gaming, as opposed to competitive, big-prizes gaming. Accordingly, the organisation enjoys the highest ration of female to male gamers in SA, making up 26% of all ticket sales.

IgniteLAN has been running since January 2005, and is one of the most frequently-held events in South Australia, with an attendance of around 30 on a monthly basis.

The Anime and Video Games Convention is a weekend-long annual event held at the Adelaide Convention Centre. AVCON ‘09 has a capacity of 4000 attendees, and is the uncontested centre of the Anime culture in Adelaide.

The Computing Science club of Adelaide University represents the interests of Computing Science students, and maintains a close relationship with gaming organisations and with employers in the industry.

Zeal is an XBOX and PC gaming event held on a monthly basis, run by the Golden Grove Salvation Army Youth.

PHLANX is an XBOX LAN, running every 3 months with an attendance of approximately 30.

Wilanga is a LAN servicing the south. Wilanga runs a 20 person event several times per year.

The Adelaide University Anime and Video Games Club (EVAC) holds weekly gatherings on every Friday of the University term for students interested in video gaming.
Sponsors and Affiliates
These sponsors have joined us for SAGAFest ’09.

AllNeeds Computers, located on King William St in Adelaide, has a long history of Gaming Festival involvement in South Australia.

Thermaltake is a proud and long-term supporter of Gaming Festivals in South Australia. Thermaltake are very active in the South Australian gaming community, having had some past or present involvement in nearly every LAN group around.

Cisco systems is the world leader in high-quality, high-reliability networking equipment. The SAGAFest ’09 network consists nearly entirely of genuine Cisco gear.

AMD manufactures highly cost-effective CPUs, and industry-leading graphics cards. AMD is supporting gaming on a new scale with their AMD Game initiative.