Full Circle Digital Magazine October 2013 | Page 26

C Y B E R

C I R C L E

cyber
circle
The expo that smashed
its own records

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r A g e

2 0 1 3

rAge
2013

rAge 2013 broke its own attendance records, with 32,626 gamers, tech consumers
and computer fanatics swarming through the expo.
That’s just under 13% more than in 2012! But we’re not surprised.
rAge is the only place on the African continent where gamers got the opportunit
to hold the controllers of unreleased consoles in their hands for the very first time –
including the Xbox One and Sony’s PlayStation 4.

rAge 2013 broke its own attendance records, with 32,626 gamers, tech consumers and computer fanatics swarming through the expo.
rAge is also the only place where brandspanking new games are laid out for
gamers to sample, even before they’ve
been released overseas. And this year,
the games that had gamers drooling in
anticipation included Battlefield 4, Need
for Speed: Rivals, Drive Club, Batman:
Arkham Origins, Ryse: Son of Rome,
Forza 5, Dead Rising 3, Final Fantasy XII:
Lightning Returns and Assassin’s Creed IV
Black Flag – to name a few.
At the NAG home coded Make Games
SA stand, local game developers
showcased their own games, proving
that local talent is rising fast... Giant
Box Games’ Pixelboy and retrofuture’s
zx Hyperblast were among the games
wowing experienced gamers.

Meanwhile, more than 2,100 gaming
enthusiasts converged with their PCs,
keyboards, sleeping bags and energy
drinks into the Coca-Cola Dome to take
part in the 52-hour BYOC (Bring Your Own
Computer) LAN. The super-fast Internet
connection provided by Internet Solutions,
gave these gamers the means to play
online, with the mighty Intel powering the
servers and HP switches connecting them
all to one network. More than a few gamers
went home with “headphone hair”, but if
anything, this only fuelled their passion!
Ultra-competitive programmers battled it
out at the Entelect R100K Challenge – the
tournament hosted by Entelect Software
and NAG Magazine. Pierre Pretorius, the
winning software developer, walked away

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with R100,000 in cash after the gruelling
challenge.
And what would rAge be without the
cosplayers who take their passion for
game characters, comic heroes and
movie villains to the next level? This year’s
cosplay competition (hosted by Legion Ink)
attracted 87 entrants – up from 70 in 2012.
In fact, the original judging schedule had
to be scrapped, since there were so many
entrants!
These incredible experiences were among
many on offer at rAge. The exhibitors,
sponsors, contributors and organisers who
made this year’s expo so successful have
a challenge on their hands: how to top the
2013 expo next year?

FULL CIRCLE DIGITAL MAGAZINE OCTOBER 2013