The 17th Annual @Vodacom @rAgeExpo Brought Fans Another Year of Awesome! #17yearsofawesome

Hi Friends, 

Vodacom rAge 2019 saw four days of setup, 69 solid hours of LAN gaming, an entire day to break down and many kilometers worth of fibre, network cable, power cables, and steps walked all over the Ticketpro Dome, as well as over 30,000 cold drinks and 1,635 kgs of chips consumed.

From robotics and other cutting-edge tech to celebrity appearances and action-packed esports tournaments, Vodacom rAge 2019 had it all. The atmosphere was electric (in some cases, literally), and like-minded fans from all over South Africa came through en masse to dress up, shop, play and take in the fantastic sights.

South Africa’s biggest annual video gaming, computer, technology, and geek culture exhibition once again transformed the Ticketpro Dome into a 17,483sqm galaxy of geek over the weekend of 27-29 September. With an increase in visitor numbers, 35 615 people found their happy place among the stands, stalls, and stages.

The creative genius of Artists’ Alley showcased its share of amazing South African creative talent, including Steampunk and cosplay fashion designer Sin-Bin, local author Chantelle Roberts, and one of SA’s international comic art sensations, Warren Louw.

There were many firsts for South African gaming and geek culture this year. The first-ever NAG LAN Super Pass was introduced, allowing 150 die-hard gamers early access on Thursday evening, before the rest of the LANners joined them early on Friday morning.

There was also an exclusive Streamers’ Zone – an online sharing hub for fans to broadcast up-to-the-minute video and content in streamer booths. For the younger members of the family, there was the vibrant Kidz Kage play area.

Counter-Strike: Global Offensive fans got to see South Africa’s CS:GO elite competing for a prize pool of R 150 000 and the ASUS ROG Invitational Trophy. Eight teams played their hearts out, but only one could emerge victoriously. And after one of the toughest challenges ever, Goliath Gaming walked away with the ultimate prize in front of a capacity crowd.

For the first time ever, the World Robotic Olympiad (WRO) came to the expo and brought together some of the smartest young minds in the country, to show off their amazing brain power and problem-solving skills at the WRO robotics competition. Locally, five provincial events took place and the top-nine national qualifying teams who won across the different categories at Vodacom rAge this year will head off to compete at the WRO International in Hungary.

Over the last 17-years, the annual NAG LAN has become one of the most anticipated events at Vodacom rAge, and this year’s turnout to southern Africa’s largest BYOC (Bring Your Own Computer/Console) event once again proved that.

NAG LAN sponsors Nutanix, MWEB, Aruba and My Sky Networks made sure the NAG LAN was consistently connected and glitch-free. Collectively, 3,252 Counter-Strike: Global Offensive games were played for 2,925 hours, 1,838 DOTA games were played for a total of 2,281 hours and 645 Playerunknown’s Battleground games were played for 522 hours over the weekend.

Exhibitors at Vodacom rAge this year saw record attendance and sales at their stands.

Imran Sorathia, Managing Director, from premium computer and gaming supplier Evetech said, “It has always been an absolute pleasure to exhibit at the Vodacom rAge Expo. At Evetech, we pride ourselves on establishing relationships with our customers, not seeing them as just a ‘target audience’.

“Vodacom rAge is the perfect opportunity for us to not only get a better understanding of what our customers enjoy but also to gain some insight into what they expect from us.

“Evetech made the decision not to sell any products at the Vodacom rAge Expo 2019, as we wanted to emphasize the real gaming experience, allowing people to test all the peripherals and to get a sense of what they enjoy using. It was a unique opportunity for customers to “try before they buy”, which is quite rare.”

Belinda Marais, Marketing Manager from Acer Predator commented, “Vodacom rAge Expo 2019 was every gamer’s dream! The energy was electric, and the gaming experiential stations were world-class. Predator will definitely be back next year!”

Cosplayers came out in full force to show off their impressive and detailed costumes on the Cosplay Stage and in Sunday’s Cosplay Parade. The Best In Show for the Vodacom 4U Cosplay Contest this year went to Maoukami Cosplay who cosplayed as Katsuki Bakugou (My Hero Academia).

Overall, the Vodacom rAge Expo 2019 was a colossal success, with gamers, geeks, cosplayers, fans and supporters going large at the Ticketpro Dome this year. Vodacom rAge is going strong and the organizers are looking forward to another great expo next year.

Thank you to Vodacom and all the sponsors and exhibitors for their part in Vodacom rAge’s #17yearsofawesome.

Cheers!!!

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#SouthAfrica Favourite #NAGLAN Raises The Bar @rAgeExpo #rAgeExpo2018

Hi Friends,

The much-anticipated NAG LAN is back at rAge this October, and tickets go on sale on Saturday 28 July 2018 at 09h00, both online and at Computicket outlets. As SA’s most popular LAN, tickets to the NAG LAN are expected to sell out mega fast, and this year – as promised – the organisers are delivering an even more impressive event and experience!

“For the first time ever, gamers will be able to pre-select their preferred experience in three dedicated LAN areas when purchasing their tickets. Two of the areas will be fully carpeted, one area will have padded chairs, and two areas will be quieter and more secluded from the noisy expo show floor, ensuring that the NAG LAN experience is more tailored to everyone’s individual tastes and levels of comfort,” says Michael James, Owner and Project Manager at rAge.

In addition to this, gamers will now be able to take forty winks at, next to or underneath their tables and will not be disturbed by security.

The more good news is that the changes to the NAG LAN also mean a bigger rAge show floor, making for a more interactive and spacious visitor experience, with more exhibitions and activities on offer this year.

The NAG LAN is Southern Africa’s largest BYOC (Bring Your Own Computer/Console) LAN event. Gamers from all over South Africa will travel to rAge with their gaming rigs, laptops and consoles, where they’ll then game for 52 solid hours! 2018 sees big name sponsors on board to ensure an impressive experience. Nutanix is sponsoring the servers, with Aruba supplying the switches and MWEB Fibre providing broadband connectivity.

“Not only is rAge a must-attend event in the calendar for gamers, but it also brings together a host of young talent who may well pursue a future in software development or IT. The sponsorship, and provision of the server architecture for the LAN, provides us with the perfect platform to showcase Nutanix as a next-generation platform for who we believe will be the future IT leaders of our digital economy,” states Paul Ruinaard, country manager Sub-Saharan Africa at Nutanix. “Furthermore, we have architected the NAG LAN platform to run virtualisation for a high-volume traffic environment, a step away from the bare-metal architecture they have used in the past. We are looking forward to seeing the benefits this yields for the gamers in a live environment.”

This year’s NAG LAN will prove to be an unforgettable experience for any gamer wanting to spend a weekend filled with meeting new friends and reconnecting with old ones, as well as non-stop gaming 24/7.

Tickets cost R700 per person, which includes access to the expo all weekend, and will go on sale on Saturday 28 July at 09h00 at all Computicket outlets and online.

For more detailed information on the changes to the NAG LAN, as well as plans showing the new layouts and location of the three areas, go to the NAG website.

 

Cheers!!!

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15th Annual #rAgeExpo2017 Reveals An Industry Of Momentous Growth @rAgeExpo #aGalaxyofGeek

Hi Friends,

A rollercoaster decade-and-a-half culminated in the celebration of #15yearsofawesome at 2017’s really Awesome gaming expo (rAge), which took place between 6 October and 8 October. It revealed an industry that is not only thriving, but is here to stay.

Despite adverse weather conditions, the Ticketpro Dome in Johannesburg saw 35,845 visitors going full-geek over the weekend, with over 130 exhibitors hosting the finest in gaming, technology and gadgets.

“I was a little concerned when looking at the weather conditions before the show, but our fans proved their dedication by showing up in droves to support the expo,” says Michael James, Senior Project Manager for rAge.

An undisputed highlight of the year, the 15th rAge celebrated its growth and success with VS Gaming as the headline sponsor and OMEN by HP sponsoring the NAG LAN. The event was bigger and better than ever before (a fact reflected in the record-breaking attendance), with the weekend featuring competitions, esports tournaments, exhibitions and – of course – an array of geeky paraphernalia. Uniting gaming and popular culture, rAge is also proud to have hosted everyone from the most dedicated of gamers to the most casual of fans.

The NAG LAN was equally exciting, with over 2,000 gamers burning through bandwidth at a record rate. Our internet partner, MWEB, reported a massive 130TB was downloaded at an average rate of 5.6 gigabits per second, with a peak of nearly 8 gigabits per second. MWEB, along with Intel on server duty and Aruba on network duty, made this year’s NAG LAN one of the best in recent memory.

“We saw 527 media accredited over the weekend and 45 one-on-one media interviews conducted. The social engine behind rAge is unmatched, with thousands of social posts hitting social media sites over the weekend as everyone excitedly posted pictures, video and stories of their experience at the show,“ commented Michael.

With massive prizes won over the course of the weekend, some of the best games in the industry revealed and launched, the top gadgets and products on display, as well as a unique platform developed for South African cosplay and game development, rAge continues to be a pioneer in creating a fun, interactive and inclusive environment.

Michael says: “I’m very happy with the turnout, the variety of exhibitions this year and the amazing things that are happening in esports. There are three things that make rAge exceptional each year: the exhibitors, my incredible, dedicated “nothing is a problem” team and of course, the visitors to the show. The rAge team is already discussing everything that needs tweaking based on feedback from exhibitors and visitors, and thinking about what we’ll be doing for rAge 2018. This is largely driven by many of the newer exhibitors asking questions about more space, and how they can expand their offering next year. I want to say thank you to everyone who makes rAge possible. The future of this expo is bright.”

#agalaxyofgeek has earned itself a permanent space in the universe. Don’t miss out on the 2018 rAge expo, which will take place from 5-7 October.

For more information visit www.rageexpo.co.za

 

Cheers!!!

 

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