War room

Henry Northmore chats to the people behind the

Ministry of Gaming, Edinburgh’s new centre for

community gaming

aming is great digging

out your console or

powering up your l’(‘ for a dose of virtual action. It‘s even more fun if you get a few mates together for a bone-crunching 'I'ekkeii session or a pass-the-mic round of .S'i'ngStur. Now imagine a group of 28 with your own top of the range PC in the satne room. Think of the fun of an all out frag fest on Quake 4: the military precision of a multiplayer Butt/el’ielr/ or the spine-chilling atmospherics of the creep and kill dynamics of Alien 11v Predator. with the lights turned down.

That is exactly what the Ministry of (iaming offers: the shared gaming experience of 28 high end machines all geared solely for gaming. The big bonus is that you are actually sitting next to the guy you last took down. or your comrade in arms. First Person Shooters make up a huge part of what MoG has to offer. but there‘s also strategy gaming. Rl’Gs (such as the phenomenally popular l’l’ur/r/ (if TVUI't'I‘tf/i) and even just common or garden internet browsing.

At first glance it‘s just a room filled with people hunched over computer screens wildly bashing away at their keyboards. But there’s an air of excitement in the room.

and once you plug in. load tip and don the headphones. you soon realise why. The gameplay is fast and furious. the competitiveness amped up by close proximity. This is another league compared to onlinc gaming.

‘We‘re not all about the game. we're also about the community.‘ explains general manager Marc Seymour. ‘(iuys can come down and sit and chat with their mates. When you‘re sitting at one end of the room and you shoot a guy from across the room and he screams and you look up and think "yeah". it's a great feeling you get out of it. You

‘WE'RE NOT ALL ABOUT THE GAME, WE'RE ALSO ABOUT THE COMMUNITY'

get to join in the tournaments. you can compete nationally. It's about meeting like-minded people as well. It’s a great sport. it‘s no longer a basement. underground geeky thing. We get businessesmen through the door. people from Scottish Widows. RBS. Standard Life. they come in as teams. So it‘s

MUSIC

You can't have failed to notice that it's Triptych this fortnight and the official website has all the listings and artist profiles you'd expect. But what really makes the site worth checking out is the collection of interviews and top tens from acts performing this year as well as live sets from Triptych through the years. www.triptychfestival.com

becoming a corporate event. It‘s like paintball without the pain.’ Wait a minute. did I hear him right'.’ Did he refer to gaming as a sport'.’ It might not be as weird a

claim as it at first seems. 'l‘ournaments can attract big money (the total prizes at 2006‘s World (‘yber (lames came in at a staggering $462,000). the best players are sponsored and. obviously. the biggest companies in the world. such as Microsoft and Sony. are keen to promote players and tournaments. And let‘s not forget the lightening reflexes and dedicated practice it takes to be the best of the best.

These are high end machines (‘Dell Xl’S7()() gaming machines all integrated across an optimised (‘iigabit local area network‘) linked to 19in flat-screen monitors a far superior set up to those in the average household. ‘In the past people have played console games because they are scared of P(‘s.‘ explains Seymour. ‘A lot more goes into setting up a P(‘ game and configuring it and it‘s a lot more expensive. But if you come down here you can experience the ultimate in PC gaming.‘ And he‘s

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Up to 28 gamers can play simultenously on high end machines at MoG, pictured

right. they play like a dream. This isn't an intimidating set up and the staff are friendly and happy to take newbies through their paces. liven if you grew up on consoles it only takes your fingers a quick session to realign themselves to the keys and mouse set tip rather than the usual joypad.

Ministry of Gaming is offering visitors free 30-minute trials as pan of a launch event on Sat 28 and Sun 2‘) April. 'l’eople will be able to come in. sit at a machine and try otit some games.‘ says Seymour. ‘The staff will give a few pointers. we’ll have a lot of tournaments and people will be competing against each other on the big screen. So what we're trying to do on a grand scale is introduce people to a concept of community gaming and show them what great fun it is.‘

The Ministry of Gaming, 22 Bread Street, Edinburgh, 0131 228 3452, www.tmog.co.uk. Launch event is on Sat 28 and Sun 29 April.

FOOD

First came sites where you create a huge version of yoiii favourite foodstuff (from Creme Eggs to Jaffa Cakes) and now it's time to downscale. Which is good news for dieters. To get you started. this website shows you how to make some surprisingly tasty looking inini-pancakes. www.baraskit.se/ random/archive/8/pancake 2.html

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Ma. .K‘x‘ THE LIST 95