That’s right. Gamers from all around the Vancouver area, as well as likely some out-of-town visitors too, have all congregated on the Great Northern Way Campus for LANcouver 2011. The event is back after a few years’ hiatus and it looks to be as hopping as ever. Unlike some other LAN events that focus only on the PC side, LANcouver is more all-encompassing.

They’ve got table top games, trading card games, board games, and yes console games too. On the first day of LANcouver, there was a great Mario Kart Wii tournament. The structure was simple enough; based on a four-person race, the top two move on to the next round. There were three rounds in all of heated competition.

What was interesting was, despite it being Mario Kart Wii, nearly all the competitors stuck with the GameCube controller rather than using the Wii motion controls. I get that. The analog stick is so much more accurate and precise, but half the fun is holding (and shaking) that Wii Wheel in the air! The winner of the tournament was awarded with a $100 Future Shop gift card, a LANcouver t-shirt, and a cool bandana. Runners up got t-shirts and bandanas.

Here’s to a crazy weekend of gaming! Stay tuned to our various social media channels and this site for more updates in the next few days.