This week marked Maximum PC and PC Gamer's second joint-hosted LAN party, Showdown. I was there, along with 500 of my closest friends, and I had a really great time. So, without further ado, here are my top-ten favorite things about Showdown LAN 2007 - San Jose:

10: The Tent

When I first heard we were having the LAN party in a giant tent, I was not impressed. I had bad visions of Barnum & Bailey, elephants, clowns, and carnies dancing through my brain. But, when I walked into the event, I was instantly sold on the tent. With a giant screen on one end, row-after-row of PCs in the LAN, and lots of room for sponsors on either side, it was truly awesome.

9. Guitar Hero 2 Tournament

Guitar Hero certainly isn't a PC game, and I'm OK with that. Seeing my nerdy brethren pick up a goofy plastic guitar, then absolutely pwn the crushingly difficult GH2 songs on the hardest difficulty settings made me glad we made space for the GH2 tourney. Props to the two guys who took home the gorgeous Epiphone guitars, now you guys just need to learn to play them!