But not all was lost!

When I was living in Cape Town, I used to dream of flying up to Johannesburg for the weekend when rAge was on, spending a day with my friends who live in the region, then going home armed with the latest and greatest that could be found at such expo’s and fairs. Then, when I finally moved here and got to experience the event for myself, I must admit that I was left with a feeling of disappointment… though to be honest, if asked, I would not be able to pin it down to any one ‘thing’. But, nevertheless, it was an opportunity to see what the gaming community had to offer and spend some time with like-minded friends.



Anyway, when I saw the signage go up for this years expo, I debated not going, as I have done once before since moving here, but the lovely mascot Roxy worked her 2D charms of my geeky soul and I settled for going on the last day, reasoning that it would be less crowded than the Friday and Saturday which cater largely for the LAN events.

I met up with Rozz for breakfast, wandering around Northgate mall for a bit until the doors at rAge opened to the surprisingly long queue of people that were standing out in the sun, waiting to be let in.

As with most of these types of expo’s, rAge is an assault on the senses. Large screens playing footage from the latest games vie for your attention while the noise becomes a cacophony of bangs, whirs, screeches, gunfire, roars and background music, over which announcers try to make themselves heard.

The visitors mill around, wandering from stand to stand, looking for specials and handouts, signing up for competition after competition, collecting pamphlets at random from the assortment of kiosk girls that run around trying to get your attention. Sadly, most of them are subjected to wearing somewhat demeaning outfits in the hope that the average geek will let hormones temporarily override his sense of judgement and buy hardware or games from this stand as opposed to the one next door. I’d thought to photograph some of them for you to see, but then I realised that they were probably tired of being harassed by geeks with cameras… so sanity and courtesy prevailed. Others, sadly, were not as considerate, from what I could see.

Speaking of outfits… I didn’t see much in the way of the usual suspects doing their cos-play routines. Maybe it was too early in the day or maybe they did it on Saturday, but those that I did see were… well… uninspired.

The stand that stood out the most for me was the XBOX Kinect stand. Not only was there a constant buzz of activity around the demo stations, with people trying the new technology out for themselves, but it had by far, the most flair. Sure, there were other stands out there with bigger screens and louder music, but it didn’t matter. People were drawn to this stand, to laugh at and with the players as they mimed the actions needed to play the dancing or sport games.

Some other stands of interest were the Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood and Dragon Age 2 stands, though the latter suffered from being situated next to the EA Sport arena where the announcer regularly drowned the demonstrator out with their PA system.

The remaining highlight of the day was meeting one of my favourite artists, Warren Louw ([link]), creator of the aforementioned Roxy and many other favourite characters (such as the AWX mascot, Eri)



I’ve been following his work for some time, at first via drooling over the limited edition prints being sold through AWX and the mascot banners in the store (which I practically begged them to allow me to buy one) and then later via DeviantArt once I knew who to look for.

I decided to buy a signed copy of one of my favourite pictures of his, Gia



(What can I say… I have a thing for girls wearing big headphones… hence my fascination with the works of artists like Stanley Lau and Range Murata). Now to go find a suitable frame…

Sitting next door was another familiar face in the form of Paul Loubser aka weaponlogic ([link]), who used to work at AWX’s Brightwater Commons’ branch and would often suggest new comics and graphic novels for me to read.

I remember him showing me some of his work a while back and I am glad to see that he’s taken it further. You can look him up on DeviantArt as well.

He is available for freelance commissions so if you’re in the need for some custom illustration, please consider helping this bright young talent grow.

In fact, that whole little section, in many ways, was the main stopover for our little tour of the place.

As small and as crowded as it was, it was more welcoming and friendly than all the other stands put together. They could have held their own little expo or comic-con and I would have been just as happy to attend and support them…

I know some folks look at the animation/drawing style and see nothing more than ‘comics’… But I see it as talent…

Maybe it’s a leftover of me helping start the dev-meets (DeviantArt regional gatherings) in Cape Town, where I met and worked with a variety of talented individuals, but I can no longer sit back and dismiss something as being non-artistic.

No matter the medium, no matter the viewers perspective, something that someone pours their heart and soul into, as one does when we create something new, becomes an artwork, even if only in the eyes of it’s creator.

I bought a limited edition comic (Gun Gear) done by South African comic artist, Vengi and his dynamic sales team whom I have since dubbed Team Awesome because of their enthusiastic sales pitch and obvious passion for the man’s work.

Looking forward to see where he takes the story and watching his drawing style evolve. His characters remind me of a mix of Sluggy Freelance, 2000AD and Warhammer 40K, thrown into a blender and set to HIGH!

Apparently there will be a web-comic version in the near future. Way to go, buddy… good on you for embracing technology as part of your plan to show the world your work. Samples of his other work and collaborations can be found at [link]

Lastly, there was artist Stephen Cloete, whose chosen medium is clay. He makes custom figures and even offers classes to those wanting to try their hand at making their own.

You can look him up at [link] He works in 2D, 3D and in clay and is working on a comic book featuring his own creations.

Not much else to write about, to be honest. I left the show around 12 o’clock and headed home before the real heat of the day set in. I have a feeling that this summer is going to be a scorcher.

Now, time to go through all the pamphlets, business cards and brochures and sort the wheat from chaff to see what is worth following up or not.