Last chance to win a $500 EB Games voucher and a REFRESH prize pack!
By Tim Colwill on August 22, 2012 at 11:15 am
Here at games.on.net we like to give things away, and not just because we’re constantly beguiled by our very attractive community members and want to shower them with gifts. So when REFRESH Eye Drops emailed us and said “Do you think your community would like a couple of $500 games vouchers?” I was quick to re-assure them that, no, they’d be better off going directly to me and Cas instead. Luckily for you they insisted, and so we’re reluctantly very happy to offer this prize pack to you!
Two lucky games.on.net readers will each walk away with a $500 EB Games gift voucher – perfect for the upcoming end-of-year games rush – and a REFRESH Eye drops pack, perfect for soothing your dry, sandpaper-like eyeballs after you’re finished with all of those games you just purchased.
How do I enter?
It’s quite simple! All you need to do to enter is leave a comment on this article that, in 200 words or less, describes the most outrageous, intense, hardcore gaming marathon you’ve ever been a part of. Maybe you sat up for 32 hours straight to finish a game. Maybe you and a friend laminated your computers and took them underwater to LAN a game of Diablo III in a shark cage. Does it have to be real? Not really, but if it is – well, that’s even better.
The two most creative, well-written and cringe-worthingly-hardcore entries will walk away with a $500 EB Games voucher and a REFRESH Eye Drops prize pack.
How long do I have?
The competition closes at 11:59PM Adelaide time on Wednesday, 22 August. Winners will be chosen and announced the next day.
What’s this REFRESH stuff all about?
Ever experienced pain, dryness, burning, grittiness or redness of the eyes when gaming? REFRESH® Eye Drops offer effective relief for the symptoms of Dry Eye Syndrome, a condition that can affect anyone whose eyes experience prolonged exposure to computer screens. That’s you gamers!
The REFRESH® range of eye drops, available at leading pharmacies and selected optometrists, includes REFRESH PLUS® (30 x 0.4mL single-dose preservative free vials for every day dry eyes), REFRESH TEARS PLUS® (15mL multi-use bottle for dry irritated eyes), REFRESH LIQUIGEL® (15mL multi-use bottle for persistent dry eyes) and REFRESH CONTACTS® (15mL multi-use bottle for contact lens wearers).
Always read the label and use only as directed. If symptoms persist, consult a healthcare professional. REFRESH PLUS®, REFRESH TEARS PLUS® and REFRESH CONTACTS® contain carmellose sodium 5mg/mL. REFRESH LIQUIGEL® contains carmellose sodium 10mg/mL. ® is a registered trademark of Allergan, Inc. For more information about the REFRESH® range of eye drops, please call 1800 252 224 or visit www.allergan.com.au. AU/0034/2012.
Terms and Conditions
Entry into this competition is subject to the terms and conditions on this page.
Gear up for the Metro with Gigabyte: Winners Announcement!
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BenQ Gaming Monitor Competition: Winners Announcement
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The night begun after a epic clan battle, fellow clan mates wanted to wind down on a game of dayz.
I logged in, hadn’t played for maybe 3 days. It was day 14 for this character. I asked my clan mates where they were, turns out it was around 15km run away. I looked in my backpack There was two slices of cooked meat and 1 bottle of water, hell thats not enough for a hike that big. I sat down, got the pen and paper out wrote down some hot spots for ponds & maybe some food supplies.
It was daylight turning night possibly the best time for me since I could switch on my NV goggles and pretty much be a ghost while doing my midnight stroll, I was around 10km and my health wasn’t that good, I was hungry and thirsty as a camel, I sat down and ate my first stake and drank my last bottle off water it was delicious.
I got up, headed south west it was almost pitch black now meaning I was more of a ghost and I was staying away from main citys hoping to stay out of site.
Fast-forward a couple of KM I see zombies on the horizon, I comunicate to my clan mates, they are more then 5KM still they couldn’t of spawned them. I was on the outskirts of Stary sober a very intense PVP zone, my heart was pumping from the run, I had to keep moving if I stayed still I’d be spotted a mile away.
I stick to the east of Stary, I hear a few sniper shots sounds like a DMR, I shit myself a get myself to some high ground, on the way out of Stary I see a pond, I fill my bottle and take a drink.
After searching the area for a good 5 minutes I decided it was time to try and group up with my clan mates. They are still around 3KM away, I high tale it away from Stary as quick as I can. About 800m away from Zeno I see some action in the shopping center, my clan mates were around Zeno I asked them if it was them, negative on that front my hearts pounding and I need food before I can regroup and do some fun stuff.
I make my way to the shopping center switching NV on and off due to multiple flares, my eyes were so saw it felt like they were bleeding, I had to move forward and find some food before I logout. I see the shopping center front windows, NV is on I see nothing…. no shadows nothing ask my clan mates, if the rear is clear they repsond with a hell yeah. I move forward, I see those bean on the floor from 200m away, I make a dart for it dodging zombies and trying to stay out of sight. I get to the beans, Then suddenly I hear a bullet wizzz pass me, I drop and start barrel rolling out of fire, I’m bleeding.
I bandage and inform my clan mates raging because I think it’s them leading me into a trap. They argue it wasn’t them, I agreed and came back out to see if I could spot him, a few more bullets from wizzing past, this guy sucks…. I still can’t see him.
I look out to the hill to the east looking directly over the shopping center, CONTACT! I YELL EAST MOUNTAIN!
my clan mate with his AS50 with infer-red spots him and fires, direct hit.
yourmum died.
I Just ran 15KM on little food and water, not once did I stop, the run took a good 3 hours, which I thought I was running into a captured town so I could resupply, turned out my clan mates suck at locking down a town and forgot one person or who knows HE nearly got my longest surviving character!
it was 3:20 AM, I think this game did anything but wind us down after a epic BF3 win, My eyes were watering, my palms were sweating I needed sleep. I logged out and said good night to my clan mates.
I stumble to the bathroom looking for a cure to my eyes, there was nothing! just my LUCK! I said stuff it and shoved my head under the tap and turned it on.
My whole face was drenched, I no longer was worrying about my burning eyes, but dam I wish I had some eyedrops, if I did I would of went to sleep within 20 minutes rather then sitting up for another 2 hours charging because I stupidly dunked my head under the tap making myself wide-awake.
This one time, at an epic Energy drink and skittle fuel lan, we saw a guy punch his monitor then start biting into it, He ended up taking a chunk out of the corner of what was left of his monitor before passing out.
Lesson learned, don’t stay awake for 96 hours playing games.
I had reached my monthly download limit and decided to download as much of ARMA II and ARMA II Operation Arrowhead as much as I can before my limit resets. I leave it over night and it’s done 1gb each, I then wake up the next morning know that my Limit should have reset and then find both ARMA II and ARMA II Operation Arrowhead both complete as I have forgot to cancel the downloads and used up a lot of my monthly limit. I download DayZ as to not really caring after using a fair amount of my limit, I play it for 2 Days with constant dying, on the 3rd day after I die, I respawn and I find an AK I keep searching and find a lot of ammo for it. I go outside scavenging for more items only to be run over by someone in a Car and rage quitting it ever since.
During my gaming experience I was a dynamic figure, often seen scaling walls and crushing ice. I was known to remodel train stations on lunch breaks, making them more efficient in the area of heat retention. I had to translates ethnic slurs for Cuban refugees, I wrote award-winning operas. Occasionally, I had to tread water for three days in a row. I wooed women with my sensuous and god like trombone playing as well as cooking Thirty-Minute meals in twenty minutes. Using only a hoe and a large glass of water, I once single-handedly defended a small village in the Amazon Basin from a horde of ferocious army ants. I was the subject of numerous documentaries. When I was getting bored, I built large suspension bridges. I was an abstract artist, a concrete analyst, and a ruthless bookie. Critics worldwide swoon over my original line of corduroy evening wear. I didn’t perspire. I created deft floral arrangements having earned fame in international botany circles. I had to hurl tennis rackets at small moving objects with deadly accuracy. My intense gaming experience forced me to read Paradies Lost, Moby-Dick, and David Copperfield in one day and still have time to refurbish the entire dining room that evening. I performed covert operations for the CIA. I slept once a week and when I did sleep, I slept in a chair. The laws of physics do not apply to me. On the weekend, to let off steam, I participated in full-contact origami. It was a intense marathon of gaming.
The problem with having friends all over the world is that there is always someone who is awake to play games. After having worked a 10 hour shift on Friday, my friends and I had gone out drinking and after a particularly late night we had missed the last train from the station. Not wanting to waste money on a taxi, my mate and I headed to the local 24 hour internet cafe. We then proceeded to have a 10 hour gaming session in which we also had pizza delivered to the cafe. Realizing it was around midday we decided to head home. I was ready to collapse but there was street work going on outside, so I played some Battlefield with my overseas cousin.
Later that afternoon I was informed that our guild in was running ICC 10H, whilst my care factor was zero at this point a friend guilt tripped me into coming. By the time we finished I had been awake for around 44 hours. I then got a call on Skype to play Borderlands. I went to the bathroom and looked into my bloodshot eyes, did the logical thing and went to sleep.
True Story.
STARCRAFT MARATHON
Tonight its time to train
For the world Cyber Games
So take my life away
Sleep – so yesterday
Alone, on my seat tonight
Got a Bar fridge on the right
Will call in sick tomorrow
Dial a pizza to fill the hollow
Got a pair of Snugglers on
Wont even go to the Jon
All so I can be a
Champ in South Korea
Eyes’r sore, got dry eye syndro
Feel like two dog ‘P’s in the sno
Fixed with a couple drops of refresh
Thanks to EB’s for this game sesh
2hours, 4 hours, 8 hours, 10
Zerg rush works again and again
24, 36, 48 hours ATTACK!
What day? I think I’ve lost track
Now you know the scene
My skin starts turning green
Over use of the ’6 pool’
Has turned me into a gaming Ghoul
Forgotten about food, water, my life
Sitting so long, I think I’m in strife
WCS seems out in the lurch
UH OH! I’m gunna fall of my perch!
September 14, 2010.
A monumental day, one that started, ended and was filled in between with gaming. However, this was not the only day, but the first 1 and a half days on non stop gaming. The came of course: Halo: Reach.
It started at midnight on the 13th of September, my brother and I made the trek to buy the game, running 2 km to the store and then back again. We were one of the first to get there and as soon as we clutched the beautifully present metallic box of Reach, we jogged, ran, sprinted, with one copy each, back to our home. It was just beyond 1 AM and the Xbox took flight, little did it know it wouldn’t touch down, rather crash in a matter of time.
The marathon begun and as we, combined in a party, soldiered our ways through both the ranks and the hours, it came to about 3 PM the next day, when it all came to a rapid stop. A sight that you wouldnt wish upon your worst enemy, not even a PS3 owner, the Red Rings of Death. My 5 year old Xbox Arcade had finally succumbed to its inevitable death. My brain, tired and weary, still managed to persevere. I ran to a neighbour next door, and belting helplessly begged that i might borrow his xbox for the day. He allowed it, thank god.
And so, the marathon continued for almost another whole day, a total playing time, id raked up of 33 hours. By this time of course, depleted of food and water and pale as a ghost, thought that it was best that get some sleep, only after a couple more hours.
I reflect on my first time with Fallout 3. For thirty hours (toilet breaks excluded), I lost a good chunk of my weekend in the Capital Wasteland. Mutants were killed, bottlecaps were collected, Moira was shot. Repeatedly. Just me, my Pip-Boy and plenty of weapons to protect me. Hopefully. I found myself lost in its atmosphere, refusing to fast travel, the hostile and bleak ruins of Washington D.C. could be down right depressing, but as long as I had John Henry Eden’s raspy voice telling me stories about growing up in rural Kentucky, I felt safe and secure from its horrors.
The grand finale had me wandering through a little place called Dunwich Building. Maybe it was the pre-war flashback that caused me to wonder if I was starting to hallucinate from playing so long, a door opening without assistance or the sound of feral ghouls growling around every corner that caused goose bumps to cover my skin, but what finally did me in was a coffee pot throwing itself off a shelf and landing on the ground. That was enough for me to call it quits, turn it off and retreat to the sanctuary of my bed.
In order to really feel the rush of Need for Speed, rigged a system that would run on top of a friends van, installed arm chairs (gotta be comfortable) strapped in and started the game. Meanwhile aforementioned friend starts van and drives at speed down the straights, so as we are racing down streets in the game, our hair (and the rest of us) gets windswept and feels fully immersed!
One weekend, about a week before Gears 3 was released, by mate came over on the Friday night and we planned to finish both Gears 1 and 2 as my brother had them, but i had never really played them. So at about 7pm we started, (just after dinner) we headed out to our rumpus room (shed) and set up, we had two 1.25 liter bottle’s of fizzy each, about 4 bags of chips, and a few blocks of chocolate, we set up some bedding as we could then fool my parents into believing we would get some sleep, we played Gears 1 on Insane, after maybe 3 or 4 hours of dying, we got a little bit bored and decided “If we’re gonna do this, we’ll need interval games!” so i said my mate could pick some, so he got up and walked over to out medium sized Xbox collection. i saw him pick one out and smile… Condemned 2…. he put it in and we started to play, it was a windy night outside and we had a relatively good sound set up…. it took us up till we were at the Doll Factory level until a small branch of a tree landed on the roof of the shed…. we jumped……. i was so damn scared! but we kept playing as we were hooked, soon enough it was morning and we had done close to nothing on Gears… we had been playing Condemned….. my mates dad wasn’t picking him up till about 2pm so we played a bit more gears, well, a LOT more…. but by about 1pm we were still not done, so my mate text his dad and ended up staying another night as well, but by night time we had finished both Gears, we then decided to watch a few movies, we started with action thrillers like, Rise of The Foot Soldier and Crank and what not, then we started to get into the horrors….. this made us want more condemned, then i realised.. i had the first one as well, i had already finished it, but i thought i could play again…… so by late Sunday afternoon (when we woke) we had finished both Condemned’s and both Gears… it was a good weekend!
There is nothing like a Mario Kart 64 marathon with your two brothers. Each of us taking turns in picking the next track in hopes of leaving the other two on your tail. We spent hours playing through all the tracks, some of them twice, battling to see who was the ultimate Mario Kart’er in the household. You can already imagine how much fun we were having by the situation alone, there is nothing like the multiplayer in which your sitting next to those you’re playing with.
DAMMIT! first one was more than 200 words, (this is a re-post exactly the same, less words)
Prior to the release of Gears of War 3, my friend and I decided we’d spend the weekend attempting to finish both Gears of War games in order to be truly be prepared for the third game. After dinner, we set up in the rumpus room which involved getting the beds ready so it looked like we’d attempt to sleep. We hit up Gear of War on insane with our snacks and after dying more times than we could count we needed to play something else, something less, insane. My friend picked out Condemned 2 of all the games in my rather large collection, whilst at the Doll Factor level, a tree decided to drop a branch on the roof, scaring the hell out of me. Moving past the fear of a tree branch, we continued playing, we were hooked, and before we knew it the sun rose. With my friend’s departure approaching fast, he successfully asked to stay a second night, and after hitting up some more Gears of War followed by some movies and the first Condemned, come Sunday afternoon we’d finish both Gears of War games and both Condemned games.
- 5 Minutes Remaining -
It was the final hours the planet had to spare. 26.4 hours and Dratas would no longer exist. We knew there was no way out, so we stayed inside. The ground was beginning to rumble more and more, and the urge to live life to the full was at its climax. Suddenly, drake yelled to all 7 of us saying “TO THE G-STATIONS!!!”. No one hesitated running towards their G-STATIONS as they knew it would be the last time they could have a game. “Halo: New Reach, anyone?” said Drake. Shaking with excitement, Trent spoke “Yes! For the final time!”. After Drake launched the game, there was a subtle silence during the countdown. “5…4…3…2…“ “No! The Dratas destruction counter just jumped to T-…” Drake struggled as he spoke the digits of the counter “…T-5 minutes!”. The G-STATION adjusted the playtime to 5mins: “5 minutes remaining” it said. Everyone in the room began to play like they never have before, violently mashing the keyboard so hard that the keys began to fall out. “1 Minute remaining”. The gamers began to yell. It was level 2 during the launch premiere for the new ‘Gameception’ console.
A stormy weekend in 1998 facilitated the perfect conditions for a gaming marathon for my brother and I. Our plans, however, were ruined by Dad’s insistence that we round up our pet guinea pigs (which ran free in our backyard like miniature wildebeests) lest they become startled by the storm and flee the safety of our backyard to be eaten by neighbourhood cats.
Soaked to the skin, we eventually finished catching the squeaky bastards and headed inside to sit by the gas-heater and finally have a crack at collecting ALL the wumpa fruits. MANY hours into the endeavour my father walked in to stop us…
“Dad, is it just us or is the TV going funny? It’s all wobbly.”
“I dunno. It does look a bi…HOLY S**T!”
Such consternation erupted as he gazed upon the faces of his sons, expecting to see the pleasant countenances of two young boys, only to have his vision raped by the sight of two delusional, bloodshot-eyed child-devils, visibly weeping, yet who were completely unperturbed by the fact that their eyes had turned to mush and were streaming down their faces; steadfast in gaming on as we were. Playing hours unknown…
My epic gaming marathon was rather a retro affair. New to gaming, I casually took my flatmate’s Gameboy to the bathroom and tried out a thing called, The Legend of Zelda…
I was sitting there on the loo for a good four and a half hours before the last vestiges of feeling finally left my legs. Then another hour and a half after that, before I finally toppled sideways and yanked the charger from the wall. The red rings around my eyes were matched only by the perfect oval imprinted on my behind.
A friend of mine was the owner of a local netcafe where a bunch of mates would have nightly LANs filled with CS, DOD, BF1942, COD, QTF, MOH and a whole other bunch of acronyms. One night around 8:30p.m the shop was quiet of tourists, browsers and runescapers .. so the owner decided to lock the doors and leave it up to us gamers. What proceeded was hours upon of hours of gaming goodness played with the screams of 12 intoxicated grown men. Little competitions between groups formed, bets were placed, chemicals ingested, ciggarettes smoked.. and memorable times were had. It was’nt until someone decided to actually step outside that it was discovered that it was past lunch time the next day, and around 20 hours of gaming time had transpired. My eyes were stingy red, my back hunched over and aching, my voice lost and my wrist cramped in a Monty Burns kind of pose. Great times.
Highlights
Racking up $100 dollar bill in munchies and drinks
Threatening to kill the owner with an axe for awping
Been knocked unconcious for nipple crippling the owners girlfriend
Seeing a guy recieve sexual favours outside the shop from one very drunk girl
Making the gamewinning kill with steyr with only 3Hp in a competition and recieving a GPU.
…and just overall gaming and laughing all night with my mates.
True story.
A friend of mine was the owner of a local netcafe where a bunch of mates would have nightly LANs filled with CS, DOD, BF1942, COD, QTF, MOH and a whole other bunch of acronyms. One night around 8:30p.m the shop was quiet of tourists, browsers and runescapers .. so the owner decided to lock the doors for us gamers. What proceeded was hours of gaming goodness played with the screams of 12 intoxicated grown men. Competitions started, bets placed, ciggarettes smoked.. and memorable times were had. It was’nt until someone decided to actually step outside that it was discovered it was past lunch the next day, and around 20 hours of gaming time had transpired. Eyes stingy red, back hunched over aching, voice lost and wrist cramped in a Monty Burns pose. Great times.
Highlights
Racking up $100 bill in munchies.
Threatening to kill the owner for awping.
Been knocked unconcious for nipple crippling the owners girlfriend.
Seeing a guy recieve sexual favours outside the shop from one very drunk girl.
Making the gamewinning kill with a steyr on 3Hp in a comp and receiving a GPU.
…and gaming and laughing all night with mates.
True story.
(Double post, as previous one was 200+, couldnt edit/delete first, sorry!)
The year was 1980. The location? Classified.
I was a rookie at the time, only 18 and I had been left in command of a Pac gunner.
My sergeant was by my side the whole time, breathing down my neck. He gave me the creeps. But I knew I could trust him.
After 18 hours on active duty, eating white pills and chasing and being chased by ghosts, I turned to my sergeant, who was mysteriously gone.
Sarge? I said out loud. Where are you?
No Response.
‘WAKA WAKA WAKA!’
It sounded like an explosion, 3 ghosts flew out of the wall towards me, but just as they were about to hit me, I dropped my biggest pill. The ghosts shat themselves and started to bail, so I took chase.
As I drove the Pac machine down the twisting hallways, chasing the ghosts, I suddenly saw my Sergeant, facing into the corner of the room. ‘Sarge?’ I called to him. Slowly he turned, as he was turning around, I realised something wasn’t right.
Instead of a normal head, hair, nose eyes etc. Sarge had a Giant red lamp shade with eyes and a wavy little mouth, all of a sudden he ran at me, I shouted in alarm and began to run, but it was no use, he was gaining on me fast, as I turned a corner I saw another ghost. I was doomed.
I turned around to accept my fate, ready to see my life flash before my eyes, but instead all I saw was GAME OVER.
Then I woke up, I had fallen asleep on my Pac-Man table after a massive gaming session. My eyes burning, my head throbbing, I looked around the darkened room to see a man with a red lamp shade on his head wearing an army uniform, staring at me.
Earlier this year I was at some girls party, It was fairly boring since I didn’t know many people. I decided to give myself a tour of the house.
I came across a room with an xbox 360 hooked up to a 50 inch LCD tv. Usually I wouldn’t invade someones privacy, but I was reasonably drunk. There was a game of Call of duty Black ops paused. Without really thinking I sat down and started playing someone elses game.
I ended up finishing the entire black ops campaign on hardened. But without realising the party had ended a few hours before I had reached this gaming achievement. I still had no idea of the time, and so I continued on to play countless games of Deathmatch online. I even found a headset and made an online friend.
The funny part of this story is that, around 5:00 pm the next day, the girl who lived there, while doing the laundry or whatever, discovered that I was still there playing. She was so amazed that I had subconsciously played 24 hours of xbox in someone elses house.
We actually ended up talking and we even went out for a while.
i once parked a tank in Battlefield 1942 sideways off a the main centre cliff in Wake Island map and got diagonal multi-killstreaks, we spent our night attempt to shoot planes out of the sky and often did, we trolled the server, while a girl gave us a screaming violent dildo show right next to me on the couch, while i was wearing a sombrero, i remember laughing as i got a 10.0 ratio but stopped and watched this crazy woman with her feet behind her head smash her box, shes now a housewife down the street with 2 kids, life is bizarre.