Releases aplenty at rAge 2011

This year visitors to rAge will be among the first South Africans to experience the year's most anticipated games, yet to be released in 2011/12. Various exhibitors, including Megarom, EA, Ubisoft, Nintendo, Xbox, Sony and more, will be releasing playable code on games such as Battlefield 3, Dead Rising 2, Streetfighter vs Tekken, Assassins Creed Revelations, Mass Effect 3, Final Fantasy XIII-2, FIFA11 and Batman: Arkham City. Rocksteady Studios' Dax Ginn, the developer of Batman: Arkham City, will be at the NuMetro Entertainment stand on Friday and Saturday to give the lowdown on the sequel to Arkham Asylum.

As for gaming gadgets, Nintendo are going big with their hand-held 3DS marrying 3D and portable gaming. The Wii U Tablet, which only releases commercially overseas in December, and Sony PlayStation's new portable device, the PS Vita is also expected to create a stir at this year's rAge expo.

"Home Grown" competition

The Indie game development scene in SA will come to the fore at rAge 2011 as Learn 3D, a local tertiary institution specialising in 3D animation, will be presenting the "Home Grown" competition. Games produced by Learn 3D students will be put to the test as rAge visitors game-off for top honours and prizes throughout the show. Check out www.learn3d.co.za/HomeGrown_Competition.html to download and practise your favourite game - and vote for your favourite on The Verge FB page (www.facebook.com/TheVergeNews). Check out The Verge on 21 September for the announcement of SA's favourite Indie game!

For the more technically inclined rAge-goers, Frontosa will be pushing the limits of various PC components, particularly the latest and greatest processors on the market. As PC drag racers know, when the safeguard on these components are bypassed to increase the voltage and see what they can really do, temperatures soar. So, to ensure the processor isn't blown in the first five seconds, the experienced Frontosa team will use copious amounts of Liquid Nitrogen to cool the components; approximately 10 litres per day for the duration of the expo.

The team at NAG are levelling up their stand at rAge this year. Teaming up with The Verge, they say that their stand is going to be nothing short of awesome.

Prizes, give-aways and specials

As always, there are loads of great prizes, give-aways and specials. If you have a thing for virtual racing, go to Kaspersky Lab's interactive stand to test your hand-eye with the Ferrari Virtual Academy and you could be the winner of two VIP tickets to the Formula One in Sao Paulo in November!

rAge regulars add their usual alternative flavour. Renowned for recreating our favourite anime and gaming characters, this year the creatives at Legion Ink are making it official with a Cosplay Competition. Another rAge regular that deserves at least a peek is the NAG LAN @ rAge. Anyone who has endured the 53-hours of adrenaline-charged gaming that is synonymous with the NAG LAN @ rAge will testify to fact that this is no feat to be snubbed.

For the first time, rAge expo tickets are available pre-sale through Computicket now.

Dates: 30 September - 02 October 2011
Show times: Friday: 10:00 - 18:00 | Saturday: 09:00 - 18:00 | Sunday: 10:00 - 16:00
Venue: Coca Cola Dome, Johannesburg
Admission: Day ticket: R50.00 | Weekend ticket: R80.00 | Family ticket: R150.00