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QuakeCon 2007 drew close to over 6,000 computer gaming enthusiasts to Dallas this August. This was the 12th QuakeCon (aka the "Woodstock of Gaming"), and it was yet another fantastic gathering of hardcore gamers, pro gamers, game developers and hardware manufacturers.

Among many events that took place, one of the core presentations was id Software's upcoming line up. Return to Castle Wolfenstein is bound for the big screen. The crowd cheered as the second film based on id Software games was announced. An entire collection of id Software games is available via Steam's digital download for a nominal fee of $69.99. One of the most exciting announcements was John Carmack's tech demo of his latest graphics engine, which will power the upcoming game Rage, which is set in the post-apocalyptic future. The visuals are photo realistic, and the graphics engine clearly capitalizes on earlier advances in mega-texture technology to create a living and breathing world. John Carmack also briefly described another exciting project called Quake Zero, which will allow people to play Quake 3 against each other via their Web browser without owning the game. The technology will be available in the near future and is currently in its testing phase.

As far as the actual event goes, the "Bring Your Own Computer" or aka the BYOC dominated QuakeCon as usual with over 3,000 computers networked in the world's largest LAN party. The network infrastructure was provided by D-Link and consisted of 185 D-Link high performance xStack 24-port Managed Ethernet switches, as well as the xStack 48-Port Managed Gigabit switches with dual 10-Gig stacking ports. Dozens of rather unique-looking computer cases dotted the landscape of BYOC, including the BBQ grill PC case and the Transformers — Optimus Prime case, which were among the most original.

Next door, in the exhibitors area were many booths featuring games from a number of top game publishers and developers. Valve/Turtle Rock Studios was there featuring Left4Dead (zombie survival-type team-based shooter), as well as Sierra/Massive Entertainment with its upcoming real-time strategy game: World in Conflict. Enemy Territory: QUAKE Wars Beta 2.0 was highly visible on both the PC and Xbox 360. The PlayStation3 version was not available at the time but is in development. A number of hardware manufacturers presented some rather unique gaming devices. One of the most promising systems is the amBient system made by Philips, which uses specially built speakers to project sound, light and vibrations from different angles, thus giving a player dynamic environmental cues while gaming. Playing Quake 4 never felt so good using the amBX system. Another futuristic gaming system was from IZ 3D, which develops both monitors and stereoscopic glasses for a unique 3-D visualization environment when playing games.

Among some first-time QuakeCon presentations was the release of Pro Gam3r magazine, which focuses on the competitive gaming arena for both the PC and console worlds. Released quarterly, Pro Gam3r will offer a unique look at the work and play of pro-players and report on all pro-gaming league statistics and events, such as the Cyber Athlete's Professional League, World Series of Video Games, Electronic Sports World Cup and the DirectTV Championship Gaming Series.

This QuakeCon also featured a large tournament with a prize purse of $100,000, which was donated by nVidia. For the first time, all four Quake games were used for the classic one-on-one deathmatch competition. Enemy Territory: QUAKE Wars Beta 2.0 was also the battle scene for a large team-based competition. There were also a lot of Quick Draw tournaments in which QuakeCon attendees were randomly selected to face each other in a one-on-one Quake 4 match worth $1,000 per event. About 10 of these matches took place during the event. There was a lot of free goodies for everyone in the shape of various promotional T-shirts, video games and computer hardware. nVidia was especially generous in providing a lot free video cards as prizes for numerous fun-filled events.

Fountainhead Games displayed some rather innovative cell-phone games among which Orcs & Elves role-playing game was very addicting. Built on the original Doom engine, the game allows 3-D gaming on a large variety of current cell phones.

The entire event took place at a posh downtown Dallas Hilton Anatole hotel and lasted four days. Most of the sponsor-based events took place during the day, while the actual gaming in the BYOC area went around the clock. For the sixth consecutive QuakeCon, the famous comedy group by the name of Mr. Sinus Theater made everyone laugh during its commentator-type butchering of the film "Doom." The group's style is similar to "The Mystery Science Theater" TV show. Needless to say, the group is a major crowd-pleaser each time.

QuakeCon is a unique gaming festival that rivals E3 in its scope yet is specifically geared for gamers. It is also free to attend and is a great occasion to meet people, play games, relax and see the latest advances in computer and console gaming arena.