media update’s Adam Wakefield was at rAge to take it all in over the weekend, and noticed that “geek” culture is far closer to the mainstream than most people realise.

Geek is opposite of fringe

The first aspect of the rAge Expo that strikes you is its scale. Finding a parking near the venue is a tall order if you do not come early, with even the parking allocated to those attending the NAG LAN full by 11:00 on Friday. It would stay that way till after lunchtime on Sunday.

Upon walking inside the Ticketpro Dome, you are greeted by a myriad of exhibition stalls, each focused on a particular nuance. From games to gadgets, VR to coding, to e-sports and board games, if an expo attendee had a particular interest that got them there, that interest would have been fulfilled.

Prior to this year’s expo, its senior project manager, Michael James, told media update that they expected close to 40 000 people to come through the turnstiles. Based on the sea of bodies that constantly filled the gaps between exhibits, particularly between 11:00 and 15:00 on Saturday, it would be surprising if James and his colleagues did not reach their target.

Those doing cosplay were pulled aside by attendees for selfies as they headed towards the cosplay stage. Cheers could be heard from the main stage in between digital gunfire and the insights of commentators as the CS:GO tournament played out to a captive audience.

Games and the power of brand

Being a gamer, whether it is on PC, laptop, or console, means staying up to date with the latest iterations of the platform you use to play games and, most importantly, the games itself.

FIFA 18, the latest version of the FIFA juggernaut produced by EA Sports, hit the shelves a week before the expo. Expo-goers queued to play it at the stand dedicated to it. The queue to play Far Cry 5, produced by Ubisoft, was even longer with the game only being released in February next year. Call of Duty: WWII, the most recent game in the Call of Duty franchise, is being released in November, though the queue to play it at the expo suggested the release date was much further away than that.

As a market, gamers are discerning, highly knowledgeable, demanding, tech-savvy and, given the high entry costs and costs of games (FIFA 18 will set you back approximately R800), are people of means.

In 2015, PwC’s report, Entertainment and media outlook: 2015 – 2019: South Africa, Nigeria, Kenya, projected South Africa’s video game industry to be worth R3.1-billion in 2017, and R3.6-billion in 2019.

The gamer market is a potential boon for non-gaming brands and, with energy drinks being one sector that has firmly established itself within the gaming community, the opportunity is there for brands to make an impact – if they do so in the right context.     

NAG LAN and a sense of community

Ring-fencing the expo on one side of the Dome, and taking up the most room on the upper level, was the NAG LAN. Held every year alongside rAge, 2 000 people brought their own PCs, laptops, and consoles and made themselves at home from Friday morning through to Sunday. Most did not leave the venue the whole weekend, apart from perhaps the odd trip to Northgate Mall to get food different from what was available at the LAN. Tickets for the LAN sold out within five minutes when they were released at the end of July, with some participants queueing since Thursday night to enter.

Gamers either slept at, under, or near their tables, armed with not only their machines but stretcher beds, mattresses, blankets, pillows, duvets, and sleeping bags. The hours between 03:00 and 05:00, particularly on Saturday, as those who had pushed through Friday succumbed to the need for sleep, was when it was quietest. By Sunday, many were noticeably wearing the effects of a mostly sleepless 52 hours, as they packed up their gear and headed home.   

Nick Bradfield, a software developer, had gotten to the LAN on Friday morning. What brought him to the LAN, and by extension the expo, was the sense of community that comes with participating.

"Everyone is in their element, and we are all here to enjoy ourselves with age not a factor," Bradfield said. He would have spent the entire weekend at rAge were it not for an "inconsiderate" friend having his wedding on the same day. He returned on Sunday morning to participate in the cosplay.

Ross Adams, a VR analyst, said mode and the LAN are a place where everyone can just be themselves.

"No one cares who you are, how you dress, or how you look. We are all here to enjoy ourselves and it's just a fun way to spend a weekend." Adams played 22 games of Dota 2, a multiplayer battle arena game, over the weekend and won seven, with each being between 30 minutes and an hour long. The last three wins were his last games at the LAN, which were particularly satisfying for Adams, given how “rough” Friday and Saturday were.

For the likes of Bradfield, Adams, and many, many, others, rAge is a place where all who attend are the mainstream. However, just one look inside the expo, those who attended it, and the increasing emphasis on technology in our day-to-day lives suggests rAge’s place in the cultural pantheon will get blurrier as time passes.

For more information, visit rageexpo.co.za.

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The rAge Expo was initially started as an event to promote NAG Magazine, but it has become so much more. Read more in our article, Reaching the tech market means selling an experience