Accommodation is ripe with variety on the grounds offering a camp site and hostel rooms. Hotels in neighboring towns will be money well spent as weather is far from predictable, and anyone who stayed in the hostels at i34 said they would never do it again. Tents are a cheaper alternative however think in through. You're staying outside at the end of September in England.

Team Fortress 2 has finally got some recognition. £7,500 for 1st prize!? Take that you source chumps! I am happy to see TF2 receive decent sponsorship for an event such as PCGS and look forward to watching the tournament as it progresses. The increased prize pot has bread extreme competition between teams and has lead to further incentives for organizations to send their teams from the farthest breadths of Europe to the LAN; Something i wish TF2 could do more often

In my opinion as a CoD4 player and enthusiast, the game is on it's last legs. The home straight to destruction it could be said. Activision see no worth in sponsoring CoD4 tournaments as they are switching resources to CoD5 which is set for release relatively soon. Players are sitting idle with little motivation to play. The game has not been out for a year yet players are already lacking the will to play it. The CoD4#invite channel is a ghost town with barley and top teams practicing. It is truly stagnating and this tournament shows the lack of enthusiasm towards the game from sponsors. Considering the recent summer LAN's, £2,500 is a bit on the lite side and from my perspective, not too many teams have worked very hard to secure a decent finish at the LAN, almost to the extent where they just want to show up and see what happens.

For WiC standards, £2,500 is a pretty hefty prize pot and i hope to see it attracting teams from around the UK who don't normally participate on LAN. A breadth of life into the relatively small game, this tournament will do well to stir interest.

Left 4 Dead will playable at the event. Providing the most anticipated zombie slaughter fest to the masses of gamers on a free to play basis in the Showdown Village (exhibition hall) is an amazing opportunity for Valve to wave their e-peens about and show us, the humble gamer, just what they have been working on since last E3 where the demo was initially put up for play. I can't wait to play the game and i am sure the booth will be packed out from morning to midnight.

FarCry 2 and Fifa 09 are expected to be an alternative attraction for those who don't take dashing of zombie matter in their tea. EA will feature a 40m² stand exhibiting walls of consoles and rows of computers ready to take the brunt of gamer fandom.

The PC Gamer Showdown is primed to be a fun weekend. I have every confidence that Multiplay will run the event competently and I will be providing coverage of the event along with Fender. Check back for my thoughts on the event, reviews of stands and general info on the tournament side.