$35 LAN Party...

[Colin McGregor]

On Mon, Feb 4, 2013 at 12:23 PM, Kevin Cozens <kevin-4dS5u2o1hCn3fQ9qLvQP4Q at public.gmane.org> wrote:
> On 13-02-02 07:46 PM, Molly Tournquist wrote:
>>
>> But, to be very blunt, the core hassles are lugging in a monitor and
>> keyboard for each player, but more importantly the monitors are also
>> the majority of the component cost and also the most fragile.
>
> Lugging around a monitor and keyboard is the same hassle one would have with
> any LAN party. The main difference being is that a Pi is a much easier to
> deal with than lugging around a computer in a tower case.

Yes. Also, it largely gets us away from people saying things like "The
only reason she won is because she had a $2,000 video card in her
computer!" type comments (okay, I see Canada Computers is offering
$149.99 gaming mouse (seriously :
http://www.canadacomputers.com/product_info.php?cPath=21_273_275&item_id=032880)).
But by keeping the compute platform the same we can LARGELY (not
completely) level the playing field. Obviously there would be some
small advantages to be gained via special peripherals (gaming mice,
etc), and some small advantages via OS tweaks, but largely we would be
looking at win/loose based on tactics (camping in one area vs. say
keeping mobile) and reflexes.

> Using a monitor from a car backup camera system, and a mini wireless
> keyboard with built-in mouse pad means an entire computer system can fit in
> a small back or backpack. I have seen these monitors avaialable in 3.5",
> 4.3", and 7". The caveat is that the resolution is very low. About 480x234
> on all of them (even on the 7"). You wouldn't want to be reading a lot of
> text on a screen that small but it would be ok for some graphics based
> programs.

Even 15" or 17" LCD screens are not that hard to transport for most
people. For a game where (due to the hardware limitations) you do NOT
want to run at the software's maximum potential resolution, a 15"
screen would be just fine.

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