You cannot walk through QuakeCon out here in Dallas without spotting a large computer. People drag them in wagons or saunter through the halls of the host hotel with their arms in a personal-computer embrace. Let's start with this beast:
This was the largest rig I saw in the Bring Your Own Computer section of the con. In one massive hall, people set their computers up for LAN and online games.
Here's a closer look at that mighty PC.
The BYOC area is a sea of computers. You can leave them unattended, such is the culture at QuakeCon, though the security man at the exit will pat your bag to be sure. People were playing lots of different games, from Team Fortress 2 to StarCraft II to Street Fighter IV.
Some computers are classified.
Some computers are less impressive than their monitors.
And some people don't even bother with a monitor.
Adjacent to the BYOC area is a showcase zone, where companies display games, PC hardware and all sorts of peripherals. Since QuakeCon was founded with a focus on the games of id software — and because id is now a sister company of Bethesda Softworks — you'll have a sight like this of the Bethesda booth's Rage display which was occasionally running footage of Fallout: New Vegas.
The showcase area has cars you can win.
But it also has crazy computer set-ups of its own, like this three-screen display mounted on the front of a truck.
Or, of course, you have the obligatory, hot girl painted on a PC tower
That's what QuakeCon 2010 looks like. Sure, you can go outside and look at the banners. But why do that? The darkness of this great big Texas gaming party beckons.
QuakeCon 2010: A good place to even catch a nap.