Gaming at a LAN event 9
(2) sociality, for the participants who scored on this motive the main attraction of a LAN
event is to join like minded gamers and friends (9 items, eigenvalue = 2.85),
(3) interest, a LAN event is appealing because it allows the participants to gather
information about games and gaming (3 items, eigenvalue = 1.81), and
(4) relaxation, visiting a LAN event is motivated by the possibility to escape from
ordinary life (3 items, eigenvalue = 1.47).
------------------------------------------
Please Insert Table 1 About Here
------------------------------------------
Four scales were constructed on the basis of these four motives. A reliability analysis showed
that Cronbach’s alpha was satisfactory for competition (.90) and sociality (.76). The alpha of
interest rose to .65 after removal of one item (nr. 29). Unfortunately, the alpha of relaxation
(.49) did not meet the criterion for a reliable scale. Therefore, we dropped these items.
Results
Our first research question asked who the visitors of a LAN event are, in particular
with respect to their age, gender, social relations, and their gaming behavior. There were 170
men, and 6 women in our sample (3.5%). This is about the same range as the total number of
women at Campzone2: about 30 women out of 1200 visitors (2.5%). The age of our
participants ranged from 11 to 35 years of age. The mean age of the participants was 19.55.
Both median and modus were 18 years of age. A large majority of 81.7% lived with their
parents, although older participants generally lived on their own: we found a significant
positive relation between independent lodging and age (Cramér’s V = .511, p < .01). The
majority of the gamers were single: 72.6% of them did not have an intimate relationship. In
this respect, it is important to note the weak positive relation between age and relationship.
Older participants did have a (girl)friend (Cramér’s V = .211, p < .05). In addition, the
significant positive relation between having a relationship and living independently indicated
that gamers who had a relationship lived independently (Cramér’s V = .427, p < .01).
All participants (100 %) possessed a PC, in 80.5% of the cases located in their own
(bed)room. The PC was not always their exclusive possession: 28.4% shared the computer
with other people in the house. A small group also had an Apple computer (2.4%). Game
consoles, such as, for example the Nintendo64, and Sony’s Playstation were widely
proliferated: 31.4% of our sample possessed a console. Portable gaming devices, such as, for
example, Nintendo’s Gameboy were also rather popular: 18.3%. Internet access was common
among these gamers: 98.2% was connected. About seventy percent had a rather fast
Convention