Okay, so everyone has been blowing up our forums asking what the schedule is going to look like. WELL we had a staff meeting and finally set it in stone.

Friday March 26th:

• 6:00 PM: Event Opens
• 7:30 PM: Opening Raffle
• 9:00 PM: Street Fighter 4 Tournament
• 9:30 PM: Starcraft
• 11:59 AM: Midnight Raffle
• Open Gaming and Midnight Madness

Saturday March 27th:

• 9:00 AM: Morning Raffle
• 10:00 AM: Left 4 Dead 2 Tournament
• 11:00 AM: Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 Tournament
• 5:00 PM: Counter-Strike Source Tournament
• 6:00 PM: Halo 3 Tournament
• 11:59 PM Midnight Raffle
• Midnight Madness and Open Gaming

Sunday March 28th:

• 9:00 AM: Major Roffle Raffle
• 10:00 AM: Ice Chest Tournament
• 12:00 PM: Closing Ceremonies

*Upon entrance to the event each attendee will receive ONE raffle ticket; Those tickets will be used for all raffles except the “Roffle Raffle” at the conclusion of the event. The 1st 100 people who pre-pay will recieve 3 tickets instead of 1. So… PRE-PAY, it’s worth it!

On another note we will have an ALP system in place in the next couple of days that will have all the tournament rules and guidelines on it along with a way for the people who have paid to select a seat. Keep checking the site for updates and peruse the forums for even more up to date issues.

As you all know, while the LAN grows closer we will be raising the price until we reach the final pre-registration price of $40.  If you happened to MISS OUT on the AWESOME reduced price we had at the beginning of registration the staff decided to throw in an incentive for you cats rolling into ISXI team-style. The more players you pay for at once the cheaper it gets (up to 5 people). TAKE ADVANTAGE of the cheaper prices while you can. And besides, its always better to play with friends; who else is going to make up for your lack of skill?

Dont Wait!

“The study of economy usually shows us that the best time for purchase was last year.” – Woody Allen

Pittco hasn’t had a legit case MOD contest since Iron Storm 3 and after attending the GXL in the fall and seeing some of the entries in their case MOD contest we figured it was about time to bring it back. Pittco has been known to habor some skilled craftsmen and judging from the last Iron Storm event it seems that the competition should be pretty fierce. We will be awarding prizes for the Top 3 cases at the event. Don’t think you console kids are out of luck in this either; I know the modding community is just as large in the hand held world as it is in the keyboard/mouse world. I’ve seen some pretty sick X-Box 360′s, so bring them out and show them off. The more unique the better. LED’s, Cathode Tubes, Custom Paint, Glass Work; It will all score you points toward a kick ass prize.

As of 11:59pm tonight we will be closing the “Early Bird Special” price option for Iron Storm: XI. From that point on we will adjust the price as it gets closer to the LAN. Hey, they say, “the early bird catches the worm”; well, in this case the “early bird” pays less money, and their’s no reason to pay more than you have to. Look at it this way: The sooner you register, the sooner your team can start to discuss strats…

Pittco has opened registration for Iron Storm XI!

This event will be like the past events but bigger and larger than before; who doesn’t love that? We’ve teamed up with fellow sponsors from the GXL who have thrown 500 man LANs, Rec0il Gaming for the epic console setup, and Pwnage.TV who will be simulcasting the whole event!

The event will be 42 hours long which is a lot longer than the events we’ve thrown in the past. Also, we are aiming to fill 250 seats for this LAN. With this support from sponsors and expansion, there is no reason why you should miss out on this LAN, even if you are hours away.

We’ll be running the usual 3 PC and 3 console tournaments not to mention the massive amounts of servers we be providing.

Long story short, up to January 11th, we will providing seats for only $25! Price at the door will be $45. After the 11th, we’ll slide the cost up!

Don’t be a noob and miss out on this early bird special. Check out the next-event page for more information. We’ll be posting as the event draws closer, stay tuned!

CLICK THE REGISTER NOW BUTTON and CLAIM YOUR SEAT!

Greetings,

We have tried as hard as possible to find any way that we can hold Iron Storm XI next Sat-Sun. Alas, it was not to be. We are now in the process of finding a better date where we’ll be able to have an event worthy of Pittco!

To those who already paid:
Thank you for your valiant effort in drumming up other payments and in finding friends. We will be refunding your payments by the end of the week. If there is any complication in that, contact Bob (bkelley@pittco.org).

To those who contacted us as walk-ins:
We did count you in our attempt to reach a feasible number. Thank you for taking the time to contact us.

Finally to everyone else who was unable to come:
We heard your silence, and we’re going to do our best to figure out what factors made for this. If you would fill out this itty bitty survey so we know why you were unable to come, it would help us immensely as we’re still working on our fortune telling techniques! http://is.gd/1RJXq

All in all, let us not look at this as a disappointment, but as an opportunity to better understand the ever-changing climate that is gaming. Keep sharp, we’re not done by any stretch of the imagination.

We’ll be in contact with the rescheduled date for Iron Storm XI!

–
Bob Kelley
Treasurer, Board of Directors

PITTSBURGH LAN COALITION, INC.
http://www.pittco.org

Friends and gamers,

Pittsburgh LAN Coalition is in a predicament. Iron Storm XI is in jeopardy of being canceled because not enough people have prepaid. We have more than 100 registrants, but only 26 have paid. We earnestly thank the six who have paid in the last 24 hours since an email was sent to ALP accounts.

We’re not sure of the reasons behind the low turnout, but we believe it may be a result of the economic recession, an unknown weekend event, or that Iron Storm XI is one week earlier than Iron Storm 9 was last year and is colliding with our attendees’ summer recreation/vacation schedules. Our summer events have traditionally been smaller, but this is the first time we’ve been in this situation.

In order for Iron Storm XI to happen, we need to have at least 77 paid registrations as of Wednesday, July 29 at 11:59 p.m. We need this many registrations to cover the costs of the venue and the food which we provide for free. Pittco is a non-profit corporation–we rely on income from our events and require that we make ends meet in order to hold an event.

So, we ask you this: If you are planning to attend Iron Storm XI on August 8 and 9 at the Castle Shannon Fire Hall in Pittsburgh, PA, you must prepay by Wednesday, July 29 at 11:59 p.m. If we do not have 77 paid registrations by 12:00 a.m. Thursday, July 30, we will have to cancel the event.

Register and pay here: http://www.pittco.org/alp/payment.php

Prepaying saves you $10–$25 prepay, $35 walk-in. If you plan to pay as a walk-in, please email Colin Dean at cdean@pittco.org. This will help us account for potential walk-ins and we might be able to reduce that 77 person requirement by a few.

In the event that Iron Storm XI is canceled, don’t worry–all payments will be fully refunded as quickly as possible following our decision to cancel the event. In either case, Pittco will continue to plan for its traditionally huge spring event (Iron Storm X had more than 170 people!).

Again, we beseech you: If you plan to attend Iron Storm XI, prepay by 11:59 p.m. Wednesday July 29.

Thanks, and we hope to see you at Iron Storm XI.

Register and pay here: http://www.pittco.org/alp/payment.php
–
Colin Dean
Secretary, Board of Directors

PITTSBURGH LAN COALITION, INC.

http://www.pittco.org

Iron Storm 11 is only a few weeks away, have you registered and paid for the LAN?

The infamous Prize List has been created. Please make sure to check out our sponsors below and their websites with all the nice prizes they’ll be supplying us with for Iron Storm 11.

A lot of the items haven’t been received yet, but once we receive them we’ll post them here, so be sure to check back regularly for updated prizes!

Cooler Master

• 5 x CM 690 Mid Tower Chassis
• eXtreme Power Plus 460W Power Supply
• eXtreme Power Plus 500w Power Supply
• eXtreme Power Plus 550W Power Supply
  
• 4 x Cooler Master Backpacks

Gigabyte

• GA-EP43-UD3L Motherboard
• GA-EP45-DS4P Motherboard
• GV-N250ZL-1GI GTS 250 Video Card
• Swag

BFG

• GX-550 Power Supply
• GTS 250 (Possibly)

Lian-Li

• Swag
• Possibly some prizes

Vizo

• Ninja HS (w/ USB Hub)
• Luxon Advanced ED
• Master Panel II
• Mirror Box CR
• UV LED Fan
• 2 x UV SATA Cable
• 2 x UV USB Cable
• 2 x Cold Cathode

JINX

• Gamer T-shirt
• The cake is a lie T-shirt
• MegaPack Sticker Pack (50 8×2 Stickers)

Computer Connections Inc.

• EVGA GeForce GTS 250 Graphics Card
• Logitech G11 Gaming Keyboard

Patriot Memory

• LAN Package (TBD)

eDimensional

• 4 x $25 Gift Cards

MotherboardPro.com

• 3 x DFI LanParty hats
• 1 x DFI LanParty PC Transpot
• 3 x DFI desk clocks gifts
• 1 x DFI Chinese pot

Alienware

• Alienware Swag

In Win

• Probably Cases (TBD)

Crucial

• Probably Memory, Swag (TBD)

Velocity Micro

• Swag Bag

Hooray!

Pittco has secured a group rate for the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra’s presentation of Video Games Live on July 11 at 8:30 p.m. and July 12 at 2:30 p.m. at Heinz Hall in downtown Pittsburgh.

There are several pricing levels; you can sit wherever you would like:

1. $80.50
2. $48.50
3. $40.50
4. $32.50
5. $24.50

There are also student tickets available for $15 in the Gallery and $25 in the back of the Orchestra. Check out the seating map for more information. It seems that those who spoke up first will be in the student sections or in the level 4 and 5 seating.

To order tickets, call the PSO at 412-392-4900 and tell them that you are with Pittco. They’ll confirm the group rate and take your payment information.

If you are going, you should post something in the forum thread—some folks might organize a group dinner somewhere around Heinz Hall before or after the show.

If you have any questions, please contact Colin Dean at cdean@pittco.org or (724) 216-6371. Please note that we are not chaperoning this event—children under 18 should probably be accompanied by a sibling or parent. Pittco won’t be responsible for minors.

Here’s a blurb about the show, in case you missed the first email:

Video Games Live™ is an immersive concert event featuring music
from the most popular video games of all time. Your Pittsburgh
Symphony Orchestra and the Mendelssohn Choir of Pittsburgh perform
along with exclusive video footage, synchronized lighting, solo
performers, electronic percussionists, live action and unique
audience-interactive segments to create an explosive entertainment
experience!

Video Games Live™ bridges a gap for entertainment by exposing new
generations of music lovers and fans to the symphonic orchestral
experience while also providing a completely new and unique
experience for families and/or non-gamers. The show is heralded and
enjoyed by the entire family. It’s the power & emotion of a symphony
orchestra mixed with the excitement and energy of a rock concert and
the technology and interactivity of a video game all completely
synchronized to amazing cutting edge video screen visuals,
state-of-the-art lighting and special on-stage interactive segments
with the audience.

Created and produced by industry veterans and world famous video game
composers Tommy Tallarico and Jack Wall, Video Games Live™ features
the best music and exclusive synchronized video clips from the most
popular games from the beginning of video gaming to the present.
Games include: Mario™, Zelda®, Halo®, Final Fantasy®,
Warcraft®, StarCraft® II, Sonic™, Metal Gear Solid®,
Kingdom Hearts, Chrono Cross™, Myst®, Tron, Castlevania®,
Metroid®, Interactive Frogger, Interactive Space Invaders,
Interactive Guitar Hero™, Harry Potter and the Order of the
Phoenix™, Civilization IV, Tomb Raider®, Medal of Honor™,
and more!