Returning for its fifteenth year, rAge, brought to you by VS Gaming, is SA’s biggest video game, technology and geek culture event. Suitable for the whole family, rAge offers visitors an unrivalled experience jam-packed with competitions, esports tournaments, exhibitions, and tons of geek paraphernalia. Celebrating gaming and popular culture, the expo uniquely caters for casual fans and dedicated gamers alike, and promises to be an event that’s not to be missed.

Want to know more about what’s in store on the show floor? We’ve got you covered with some of the awesome highlights, just click the links below to go directly to that section to view the details:

• Computers, Hardware & Gadgets
• Animation, VR & Game Development
• Geek Culture & Lifestyle
• Games
• Esports
• Competitions & Giveaways
• Floorplan

Computers, Hardware & Gadgets

• HP will have their OMEN by HP pop-up store, where people can interact with and purchase the latest OMEN products. Armed with a 4m-high smoke machine, the OMEN by HP Store will showcase the all-new OMEN by HP laptops.
• Pixel Customs will be showcasing hand-painted PS4 and Xbox One controllers.
• Codation specializes in custom water-cooled PCs and their respective components, and will be showcasing a fully stocked range of EK water-cooling components as well as the new RX500 series graphics cards from ASUS and GIGABYTE.
• Young Pioneer will be showcasing many smartphone and computer accessories, as well as gaming accessories – from virtual keyboards to top-of-the-range headsets.
• Astrum Peripherals will be highlighting and retailing a variety of their key products such as premium Bluetooth stereo headsets, ultra-slim Bluetooth speakers, high-definition webcams with Wi-Fi and built-in microphones, flexible, portable LED table lamps, and USB 3.0 Type-C universal docking systems.
• The Kwesé Play showcase stand will feature the Kwese Play device.
• BT Games will be retailing at rAge with extreme deals on games, hardware and consoles. As usual, BT Games will also be offering rAge-exclusive pre-order incentives – like collectable figurines and T-shirts.
• Skullcandy will be launching their new Skullcandy Crusher wireless headset, with a free gift for every Skullcandy wireless product sold.
• Global Gaming Pads will custom-make mouse pads to your size and specs for the avid gamer. They also stock standard-sized mouse pads for normal home or office use. You’ll be able to print your very own pictures onto your chosen mouse pads at the expo.
• Apex Interactive will be unveiling the new Tactical range by Gioteck. They’ll also be showcasing the full range of PC accessories from Nacon, an extensive variety of PDP products (like officially licensed wireless headsets for PS4 and XBO, officially licensed XBO controllers, and a wide range of adorable Pixel Pals), and the complete range of Razer products for PC and console. They’ll also be launching the new wireless range from Turtle Beach for the first time in South Africa, with the Stealth 600 Series available exclusively from the BT Games stand.
• Plantronics will be showcasing the new 800 Gaming Series which is only launching in 2018. Massive discounts available on the complete gaming and lifestyle Plantronics device range.
• Incredible Connection are offering the Dell Inspiron 15 7000 laptop at a massive discount of R14,999 (R8,000 less). This is a limited offer, with only 50 available and only one per customer.

Animation, VR & Game Development

• AS Game Development College will be showcasing some of their students’ work, as well as demonstrating virtual reality using a VR system assembled on their stand.
• WeThinkCode_ is a revolutionary tech university dedicated to delivering South Africa’s human potential and meeting the increasing demand for software engineering skills. WeThinkCode_ will be showcasing their gaming abilities and the skill sets developed on their course.
• Vega School, which offers an IIE Bachelor of Computer and Information Sciences in Game Design and Development degree, will be exhibiting at rAge. Make sure to visit them to find out more about how to study at Vega and pursue a career in game design and development.
• The Innovation Hub, in partnership with the University of the Witwatersrand, will be showcasing some of their entrepreneurs’ products as well as allowing visitors the opportunity to learn how to become an entrepreneur in the gaming industry through their Incubator.
• The VUMA stand will be running a VR racing game competition, where the top lap time each day will win a R500 Steam voucher, and the best lap time of the weekend will win another R500 top-up for their gaming voucher.

Geek Culture & Lifestyle

• Cosplay workshops will be held on the cosplay stage during the course of the weekend. Topics include wig styling, a make-up panel and a Cosplay 101 Q&A. There will also be a Geek Fashion Show taking place Saturday 7 October at 2pm.
• Hot 91.9 FM will be broadcasting live from the expo. Visit their stand for old-school classic pinball games as well as branded merchandise.
• Artist Alley will be showcasing the artworks of talented local artists. You’ll be able to check out their original creations or appreciate their unique spins on fan-favourite characters – plus you can get them signed by the artist. You’ll also be able to buy fantasy sculptures, trinkets, 3D-printed items, uniquely creative geek merchandise, plushies, jewellery, mugs, and cosplay-related goodies and accessories.
• The Silver Spire manufactures 100% hand-crafted sterling silver jewellery, with a variety of video game-related pendants, bracelets, earrings, rings and keychains for sale, as well as other fantasy/mystical themed pieces for both men and women.
• Airsoft HQ brings you combat training and military simulations, as well as supplying high-quality airsoft guns and supplies. With this sport being recognized internationally and enjoying exponential growth in South Africa, you’ll want to visit their stand to find out more or book your spot in their next game.
• Central City Comics will be celebrating the release of Thor: Ragnarok with HAMMER TIME! There’ll be discounts, prizes and Funko Pop vinyl figures given away to visitors who attempt to throw the hammer.
• Geekout Inc will be selling novelty merchandise that’ll appeal to everyone from casual gamers to hardcore anime lovers.
• The VUMA stand will be hosting a cosplay competition. Take a picture at the stand, post it on Instagram (with the hashtag #VUMArAge), and you’ll go into a draw to win a R500 Steam voucher.
• 4Ever Odd, a lifestyle art publishing brand, will be showcasing and retailing 4Ever Odd merchandise, alongside art and merchandise from David Griessel (a pen and ink artist from Cape Town), art and merchandise from Lynton Levengood (a watercolour artist from Cape Town), art and merchandise from Llayla Clarke (a sculpting and sketch artist from Johannesburg), and art from the novels written by Abby Godsell (a novelist from Johannesburg).
• The NAG Shoppe will be retailing some hot new rAge and NAG merchandise.

Games

• PlayStation will be featuring GT Sport on their stand, as well as behind-closed-doors screenings of content from the new God of War.
• Middle-earth: Shadow of War will be playable via pre-release code on the Xbox Stand.
• LEGO Marvel Super Heroes 2 will be playable via pre-release code on the main LEGO stand.
• Visitors will get hands-on time with Call of Duty: WWII on PlayStation 4 before the game launches globally on 4 November.
• Ubisoft will be showcasing their award-winning line-up at rAge 2017, which will include Assassin’s Creed Origins, Far Cry 5, The Crew 2, and South Park: The Fractured but Whole. To top it all off, join Mario and the Rabbids in Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle on Nintendo Switch.
• For fans of the hugely popular shooter Overwatch, Kwesé Gamer will have a space available for players to try their hand at the new 1v1 mode.
• Codex Knights is a 3D action-RPG/puzzler designed to encourage and promote reading to all ages, and will be showcased at the Mattador Starfish home_coded stand.
• Another home_coded exhibitor and local game developer, Givit Game Studios, will be officially launching its first commercial release, titled The Adventures of Sam Carlisle: The Hunt for the Lost Treasure.

Esports

• The VS Gaming CS:GO Masters Finals will be hosted throughout the weekend, following a rigorous seeding tournament which took place between 17 April and 11 June 2017. The eight teams will be competing for a R550,000 prize pool. The prize pool includes R220,000 for first place, R99,000 for second place, R55,000 for third place, R44,000 for fourth place, R38,500 for fifth and sixth place, and R27,500 for seventh and eighth place. The tournament will start on Friday 6 October at 10:00, with the finals contested at 09:00 on 8 October. All games will be streamed live on: https://www.youtube.com/c/VSGamingWorld
• The VS Gaming Digital Gaming Championships (DGC) annual championship event is the conclusion to the VS Gaming DGL (Digital Gaming League) competitive season. The best players and teams from around the country will be competing at rAge across eight different video game titles: Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, League of Legends, Dota 2, Rocket League, Hearthstone, Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare, Battlefield 4, and Overwatch. This year the DGC seats 400 competitive gamers, and teams will battle it out for the R215,000 prize pool that’s split between the eight titles.
• The ESL Africa Season 2 CS:GO Grand Finals sees the top two North African teams up against the top two South African teams for their share of R2,000,000.
• The ESL Africa Season 2 Hearthstone Grand Finals sees the top four Hearthstone players in Africa competing for the title of Africa’s Hearthstone Champion.
• The Kwesé Hearthstone Fireside Gathering will be hosted for the community on 7 October from 10:00 until 18:00 on stand 53.
• Visitors can purchase imported ESL merchandise from the ESL stand near the ESL main stage.
• ESL Africa and Kwesé are bringing two international casters to the event. Moses and Pansy will be live on stage and available for signings/interviews on 8 October.
• On Saturday Bravado Gaming will be on the Incredible Connection stand from 12h00 to 13h00 where they will be posing for photos and signing autographs. The first 500 visitors to the meet and greet will also get exclusive signed Alienware gifts.

Competitions & Giveaways

To properly celebrate #15yearsofawesome, rAge’s organisers have also added a little extra to the mix by offering a massive prize giveaway for visitors. Details on this “once in a rAge lifetime” experience are available on the NAG website.

• The seventh annual rAge Cosplay Competition will be hosted on the cosplay stage on 8 October from 14:00 to 16:00.
• Codation will be running a random giveaway over rAge weekend, where any purchase over the value of R1,000 gets you an entry to win a custom water-cooled Mini-ITX PC,
  designed for maximum portability and easy transportation to and from LANs. The system is valued at R25,000. The winner will be notified Sunday afternoon.
• Airsoft HQ will have a tactical pistol shooting range (with a timed accuracy competition – which costs R20 per entry) just outside Entrance 1. The overall winner (highest score and shortest time) will get a WE Beretta 92 airsoft pistol.
• GINX Esports TV, together with DStv & Supersport, will be challenging gamers to set their fastest lap on the PS4 consoles on stand No. 10 to win fantastic prizes including a PS4 Console, a DStv Explora 2 Decoder, a GINX Esports Gaming Chair, a Kaizer Chiefs Replica Football Jersey, a FIFA 18 game, GINX Snapbacks and GINX T-Shirts.
• Silver Spire will be running two raffles to win some of their unique hand-crafted sterling silver jewelry.
• Mattador Starfish will be running scavenger hunts throughout the weekend.
• RIG wars is happening on the Plantronics stand each day where visitors can play against one of the professional Pulse Gaming players and win prizes.
• Central City Comics will be offering discounts and prizes to those worthy of lifting Mjolnir with the might of Thor. Additionally, Central City will be giving away rAge-exclusive badges.
• WestudioGames will be running a competition with their game Tapp ITT, where they’ll be giving away R1,000 every day for the three days of rAge.
• Matrix Warehouse are running a fastest-lap race to win a Logitech G29 Racing set. Visitors are also encouraged to take pictures at the Matrix Warehouse selfie wall, post it on Instagram with the hashtags #matrix #rage2017, and the best picture will win a prize. Any purchases made at the Matrix stand over R200 will be in line to win a PC.
• ABSA will be hosting a three-day virtual reality gaming competition, with a grand prize of R20,000 up for grabs. They’ll be showcasing their facial detection and recognition software. There will also be a hacker games website hosting an hourly cipher challenge and a vulnerable virtual machine. The virtual machine is loaded with vulnerabilities and can be hacked to win prizes including Digispark ATTINY85’s, Raspberry Pi’s and an ASUS tinker board.
• Throughout the weekend, the Kwesé Gamer team will host a number of giveaways and prizes – keep an eye on social media for more information.
• TFG Tech will be offering various giveaways and competitions, with the prizes including drones, phones and various other tech products. You can also enter a “Subscribe and Win” competition at their stand.
• Eurasian Entertainment will be running competitions throughout the weekend with an arcade console up for grabs.
• Highbury Media and Frontosa will be hosting a competition to win a Logitech G230 Headset.
• Visit the Incredible Connection stand, take a selfie in the Alienware frame on the stand and post it using #ALIENWAREGAMEFACE and @DellEMCSADC for a chance to win one of the awesome Alienware prizes on offer – including an Alienware Vindicator 2.0 Backpack, Alienware TactX Headset with Adaptor, Alienware Vindicator 2.0 Messenger Bag and Alienware hampers.

rAge is shaping up to be an unmissable event for geeks and gamers everywhere, with a long list of activities, AAA games and specialty stages to keep the whole family entertained. Tickets are still available, so make sure you book yours now!

Floorplan

For the full list of exhibitors, visit http://www.rageexpo.co.za/exhibitor-hall/.
For more information on rAge, please visit the rAge expo website.
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