DreamHack Winter 2016 was absolutely fabulous! It was my first international Lan party and I was blown away. Sitting in the bus and travelling 14 hours from the Netherlands to Sweden really paid off. When we finally arrived at Jönköping, at the convention center Elmia, I eagerly looked for my Lan spot with the rest of the gang. If you haven’t slept for a long time you would be happy to have found it too. I was only thinking about gaming, networking, having fun, spending money and watching e-sports.
Sleep is for the weak!
I did not sleep at the venue, because I wanted to have some privacy. And I am betting that the people there didn’t want to hear me snore like a bear either. That’s why I rented a cute Swedish bungalow near the Elmia convention centre. What really suprised me is that Dreamhack was actually focused on the ¨gamer¨. In the Netherlands we have an overload of shopping areas during gaming, comic and anime events. But at Dreamhack this didn’t seem to be the case. There were only 6 stands with Japanese merchendise and there was a shop with hardware. I also found a small booth with gaming hats, t-shirts and coffee mugs… and that’s it. And yes, I got myself a keyboard from Razer and Steelseries. And don’t worry, the review will follow soon!
Welcome to the biggest Lan Party of the world.
DreamHack really delivered this year. There were spots for 10.000 gamers. The internet was great and I never had any problems with lag at all. Sadly, this hasn’t always been the case at other Lan events so far. And of course there was VR-gear at almost every corner of the entertainment venue. Because, why not? You could try the VR One from MSI, with their mobile laptop backpack. Which is meant to make your VR experience more realistisch, because you don’t have a cable on your back to limit your movement or to fall over.
The entertainment and Lan area were mixed. So next to your seat, you could also join some competitions. For example: Smash Brothers, Retro corner, Call of Duty, etc. In Hall B you could play on your own computer/console and if you looked over your screen, you could actually see the professionals play for huge cash prices.
DreamHack felt like home…
The atmosphere was so relax and every body was focused on e-sports and having fun. The e-sport area was packed, like it would be in a stadium where Dutch people gather to watch soccer matches. You could cheer on your favorite teams like Cloud 9, Optic Gaming and many more. You could also stroll around and hang out at the Overwatch, League of Legends, Counter-strike and Dota 2 area booths.
Eat, Sleep, Game & Repeat.
One of my favorite spots was the food corner! As a black girl I love me some rice with chicken. And the Thai food court had delicious rice with chicken on a stick. I was so happy have more options than just pizza or other common event foods. Even Mexican food was served here. I actually ate proper food at a gaming event. What a time to be alive! And at night they had some cool entertainment with DJ’s and good music. So after playing games for 8 hours straight, you could stretch your legs and dance dance dance! I did miss some dancing games there, like Just Dance or Dance Central.
Make sure to visit next time!
Ladies and gents, if you haven’t been to a Lan party and want to be blown away, check out DreamHack. It is worth your money, your trip and your lack of sleep. If you were there this year, I’d love to hear what you thought of DreamHack. Comment below or tweet us your experience! And for everyone else, I hope to see you there next time!
