DreamHack Denver: First Impressions

Written by Zeke Perez Jr.

DreamHack Denver 2017 was a convention that marked a lot of firsts. It was the first time that DreamHack, the world’s largest digital gaming festival, made a stop in the Mile High City. It was the first time the humble National Western Complex ditched the cows and sheep to play home to an event centered on gaming. As I wrote in my preview piece, it was my first time ever attending a gaming festival. After spending some time checking out all that it had to offer, all I can say to DreamHack is…please come back!
 
The event spanned three days (open 24 hours a day), three floors, and two arenas. It featured as many possible activities as you could dream up, including professional eSports competitions, panels, archery tag, tabletop gaming, drone flying, and much, much more. My Nerds That Geek colleague Joel Lewis and I checked everything out and we had a blast doing so!
 
Right upon walking in, I was greeted by the Freeplay Arcade zone. There aren’t many better ways to start your day than with a round of Marvel vs. Capcom followed by a game of Dig Dug. I raced around in Fast and the Furious and brought back some great memories with NFL Blitz 99. Folks of all ages hovered around those, Dance Dance Revolution, Street Fighter, and several other featured games. You could hear people clamoring nostalgically about the games they used to play as they walked around the area. With people lining up to share in and enjoy games, the area truly fostered an old-school arcade feel, perfectly embodying the spirit of the event.  
 
I ventured on and checked out the event floor more broadly. The DreamHack website was helpful in covering the layout of the event, but unfortunately there wasn’t an app (that I knew of) or any printed guides to help with exploring the sprawling festival. With past events I’ve attended, apps or guides have been a great tool for paring down a massive schedule, allowing me to pin can’t-miss events and sort out my day. They could be useful tools for DreamHack in the future, given the sheer number of things taking place at any given time. Nevertheless, everything was very organized and maps were posted throughout the venue. 

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Speaking of the venue, I feel like the National Western Complex was a perfect spot for DreamHack. As a Denver native, I’ve rarely ventured to the NWC over the last few years. The NWC and the Denver Coliseum aren’t popular destinations outside of the stock show and rodeo or other very occasional regional events throughout the year, so it was great to see the complex land an international event. I feel like the NWC complemented the feel of DreamHack more than the Colorado Convention Center or another arena would, especially in its spacing, setup, and ability to allow for 24-hour use and overnight events.
 
Exploring the festival grounds, I found that the setup lent itself to everything going on. Despite being so massive, each event felt intimate. The roaring crowds of the eSports championships didn’t interfere with the more relaxed tabletop gaming or the solitude of the LAN space. The merch and art zones were not as big as those at Denver Comic Con, for comparison, which makes sense because the focus of the event was obviously gaming. And gaming was definitely elevated at DreamHack.
 
No matter where you went, you could feel a buzz of excitement, especially as the day went on and more people flooded into the NWC. The hallways rumbled as people moved between events. Cheers, oohs, and ahhs erupted from the crowds surrounding the massive screens displaying championship bouts. I’ll cover my thoughts on the eSports competitions in more detail in posts to follow, but to sum it up: it was captivating.
 
I wasn’t sure what to expect from DreamHack Denver 2017, especially since I was unfamiliar with many aspects of it going in. I had never watched eSports, there are many tabletop games and PC games I’ve never played, and I’m a stranger to LAN parties. But DreamHack Denver was a welcoming and vibrant event; one that allowed me to dive in and sample a bit of everything. On behalf of the Mile High City, this gaming festival rookie hopes to see you again in 2018!

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