Like a flash, the Rage Expo 2019 weekend passed.
It’s hard to put into words what it’s like to attend an event that has been the highlight of every South African gamer’s year for the past 17 years. Being able to experience it for the first time ever in person makes it even more difficult! Throughout the years I kept my gaming obsession super quiet and only family knew I preferred playing videogames rather than going out with friends. I was lucky enough when I saw the Rage event on Facebook and after watching some videos about the event I knew I had to go. I was well and truly aboard the hype train ever since I got my first taste of it!
Sitting in the car as we waited for the doors to open we watched as the lines grew longer and longer, the faces of everyone waiting in line beaming with excitement. The four faces inside our car were as well! That’s right, I wasn’t at the biggest and best gaming convention of the year by myself! With me, I had, my sister (who is not so much into gaming) her fiance (who is a killer shot on CoD) and my BFF (who is probably one of the best OW players I know). Hearing the crowd talk about previous events, how things have changed since last year’s event, what stands they were going to hit up first, you know, casual gamer small talk.
When the doors opened I was somewhat expecting a slower line movement, thankfully that was not the case as we saw the line drift closer to the opened door. As we stepped inside and moved past the security point it was like a scene from a movie, my head tilting upwards taking in the ceiling… the building was MASSIVE!! Not only was it my first Rage event but my first time visiting the Ticketdome. Fun fact! You can squeeze up to 3293.5 elephants into the Dome. Now you can imagine how much stuff they fit inside!
Excitement clearly seen on many faces as people rushed by to get to their desired stall. This weekend I was lucky enough to have gone with three others as I doubt I would have survived on my own. After reading about others experience they all say that you should keep good company as it helps improve the experience! Seeing as all four of us have never been to a gaming event before we had no real idea of what to expect. With this being our first ever gaming con we all had a buzz of excitement about the unknown. Being able to experience it together made it all the more enjoyable. Especially since I got to drag my sister to a games event!! It’s nice to be able to do something new with my friends and family.
With so many things to see we all were kinda lost as to where to start. We tried to apply the same rules we set up for Comic Con. Our game plan was simple. Explore everything, then go back and enjoy it all for real! Did it work this time? Kind of… but not really. We all have different tastes in the stuff we enjoy. For instance, my sister’s fiance was into PUBG mobile. Like reeealllyy into it. We could leave him to play, come back 45 minutes later and still see him having fun. While I wanted to explore and experience as much as possible to gather information for the blog!
Over in the games testing area I got to experience my first Overwatch match on a monster of a PC (I don’t have a clue when it comes to gizmos and gadgets so I have no idea what the specs were) but I was so happy to play a game that was so clear and unbelievably smooth. It really makes me want to build a gaming PC of my own some day!!
PS – I lost 2 to 3 but it was still fun!
We got to try out new mobile games and one game called Voetsek (from game developers Surge), in particular, had me “Raging”. Despite losing I can see how this game would become very addictive while playing it during my breaks at work. Afterall me and my friends went back 3 times to try an beat the game. The objective was simple, get 15 points and you win a prize. Neither I or my friends managed to get the 15 points :( But we all managed to laugh as we tried to reach the goal and watching each other fail horribly.
Overall the experience of the Rage expo has been something I’ll never forget, I got to see live competitive matches as teams battled it out to move to the next round. For the first time, I got to see how the teams friends and family cheered them on, waving flags around. The match we watched was a semifinal round and I remember a redhead lady loudly cheering on her boyfriend. My sister and I made a small bet to see who would win. As the rounds continued we realized that betting on the outcome of these matches was impossible as everyone was so evenly matched!
What I liked about Rage was that we were allowed to take in snacks which helped a lot since the food court lines never seemed to end, and honestly who wants to stand in the food line all-day when you have so much happening around you all at once. The whole feel of the expo was electrifying, everyone was hyped and active. I do however wish that the event had some more art shops and a few more events and incentives for cosplayers, as that would really elevate the expo and bring a whole extra dynamic to the show.
I do feel that both Comic Con and Rage were a bit much (for my wallet) in one month and considering it was my first time attending both, it has been so much information to take in. Although my brain might be tired I already find myself imagining next year’s events and how much fun it’s going to be to do it all over again!! I can’t wait!!
Lots of Love
Glad to know the experience was a great one. Really cool to see an event that allows fans to come out and show their appreciation and desire for gaming. Awesome read!