No Man's LAN gaming tournament draws hundreds to St. Clair

More than 100 video game enthusiasts spent the weekend gaming in the 10th annual No Man's LAN tournament at St. Clair College.

By 9 p.m. Sunday, as the computer monitors in the school's gym turned to black, some of the gamers had spent 51 consecutive hours playing video games.

"I have eaten, I have not slept. There's a lot of energy drinks going on to keep everybody's energy high," gamer Dustin Bortolotto said as he entered 30 hours of gaming.

An assortment of empty junk food wrappers piled up at the edge of most keyboards.

The tournament takes players out of their normal gaming environments at home.

David Stafford says it puts him shoulder to shoulder with his opponents.

"You can yell at them, they can hear you, they can yell back at you, it adds a whole different aspect to the game," he said.

For Jason Pedro, the tournament is about being more social.

"Instead of just getting off your computer and going to get a sandwich you can actually talk to them, have a nice chat," he said.

Most gamers play from the seclusion of their bedroom or living room.

"In here, you can actually talk to the players you're competing with and against, you can see them, you can interact with them," Prado said.

The No Man's LAN tournament continues to grow each year.

This year's play had to be moved to a larger space to accommodate the tournament's growth.

LAN stands for "local area network." It's a computer network that interconnects computers within a limited area such as a home, school, computer laboratory, or office building, using network media.

The No Man's LAN tournament is hosted by the St. Clair ITC Club. More than $1,000 in prizes was up for grabs.