No gaming expo would be complete without cosplay, and no report on a gaming expo would be complete without pics of people in their outfits. There seems to be a close affinity between gaming, anime and comics, and the Animeworx stand has been busy all day.

They ran a competition for the best dressed character, and we were there to snap a few of the contestants.

More pics after the jump…

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The first thing to strike me about rAge this year was the number of games which were on display and playable. To me to be able to play a game before I buy it, especially some of the anticipated titles which featured prominently, is a great plus factor. And it is here that this year’s event has excelled.

If you head towards the smoke machine and flashing neon lights, you will stumble upon the Nu Metro stand. Many gamers have been wondering what Nu Metro would be showcasing and the answer is quite simple…games! Most prominently featured is the Nintendo Wii which is on display where even some of the booth babes were trying their hand at Wii Sports. Directly behind this is a projector and a large comfy couch where you can take a well-deserved break while racing in Sega Rally for the PS3. The stand also features four booths which are showcasing Sega Rally (Xbox 360), Lara Croft Tomb Raider: Anniversary (PS2), Kane & Lynch: Dead Men (Xbox 360) and Final Fantasy X (PS2).

The Nintendo Wii display stands out in its simplicity - boasting eight demo units, seven of which are running Wii Sports and one The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, it drew crowds who were eager to try their hands at this innovative console. What really stood out was the dynamic stepping up to the plate, young and old alike, gamers and grannies. Decked out in Wii white, the stand really does it job - showcasing the console to an enthusiastic audience. Kudos to Nintendo for a great stand, down to the tennis court carpets!

Although the Xbox stand was noticeably smaller than last year’s, it still is well finished and stands out as well thought out. With Halo 3 launching in South Africa two days ago, obviously it was the major emphasis and we loved it! Featuring four Xbox 360’s running Halo 3 in elevated booths (with Halo 3 stickers adorning the 360s) and an eight player Halo 3 lan, Master Chief was the cherry on the top - in a somewhat creepily realistic costume. The stand was also running other games including Forza Motorsport 2, FIFA 08, Need for Speed Carbon, Medal of Honor: Airborne, Bioshock, Transformers: The Game and Skate - all on large HD screens of course!

The Megarom stand was perhaps the most impressive in terms of showcasing pre-release games. Gamers could practice their riffs on Guitar Hero III, kick flip on Tony Hawk’s Proving Ground, take aim in Haze or Call of Duty 4 or sneak around in Assassins Creed. Gamers could also try out Blazing Angels 2 and Naruto: Rise of a Ninja.

MI Digital’s stand also had a variety on display including Moto GP 07, Crash of the Titans, Stuntman Ignition, Virtua Fighter 5 and even High School Musical. EA were showcasing titles including Skate, Command & Conquer: Tiberium Wars and Medal of Honor: Airborne, Rugby 08 and the Simpsons. The stand also included a “4D theatre” which is worth checking out.

AnimeWorx again almost stole the show with its large selection of anime, comic and games. Complete with awesomely cheeky (and very knowledgeable staff), this stand is always a great hub of activity and you are sure to walk away from it with a number of large packets in hand.

This is a follow-up post on the Wii pricing with the addition of C.N.A. and Look & Listen figures. There is not much in it other than logistics and credit options when it comes to choosing a supplier. Buying from C.N.A. you can make excellent use of your Edgars card, Ebucks if you go with Look & Listen, otherwise the good old Visa/Mastercard will have to do for the rest.

Having had to import a Wii from overseas to review titles for EL33TONLINE.com you are getting a decent price for R2900. Importing is not all it is cut out to be once you add on shipping, customs and long waiting periods. I also had the additional expense of sending it back to the overseas supplier as the cd drive was broken. If you purchase locally you can avoid this pain and be ensured quick service should you encounter a hardware fault.

The Nintendo Wii is also available from these suppliers: Incredible Connection, Toy Zone and Toys ‘R Us. They were not able to confirm prices.

I was in for a treat today with Megarom delivering the goods and having Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare multiplayer bet, as well as Haze single player demo available to play.

I was immediately drawn to COD4 and jumped right into an intensive multiplayer scrap. There were some serious contenders in the match and I learnt quickly that you need to stick with your squad mates or suffer a quick death. It is beautifully rendered; the map was well sized for the number of players and all in all plenty of action with the necessary eye-candy to please all fans of the series. There was a bit of lag but it was probably one of the 1500 gamers on the LAN causing the issue. Unfortunately it was over too soon and I reluctantly handed over the controller to the next in line. I’ll have to swing by there tomorrow and give it another go.

With the adrenaline still pumping I edged myself into the Haze line and got my turn. The demo version has three scenarios and I got to play the first two. You start off in a jungle and use your Nectar to boost your natural abilities. It makes the enemies glow which is a must in the dense jungle terrain. It also improves your speed, aiming and ability to recover from damage. It looks simply stunning on the PS3 and only time will tell if the frame rate can be maintained in multiplayer mode.

The second section involved a buggy run through a rocky canyon. It took me a while to get to grips with the steering which seemed a wee bit unresponsive. Perhaps I am to blame having spent way too many hours on Excite Truck (Wii). This section reminded me of MotorStorm with added explosions … awesome! Lots of action, bullets and nifty ramps to propel your buggy over. Haze may just bring something fresh to the shooter genre and is due out in South Africa at the end of October 2007.

It was an encouraging sign to find such quality titles at rAge and congrats to Megarom for bringing these beta titles to the public!

After a full day spent at rAge 2007, it has definitely shown improvements on last year’s expo. The increase in the size of the LAN from 1200 last year to over 1500 this year has meant the amount of floor space available to exhibitors is actually smaller, but the quality of the exhibits is markedly improved.

The strongest evidence of this is the amount of pre-release games that are available to play on the floor. Games like Assassin’s Creed, Call of Duty 4, Haze and Guitar Hero III are all set up for anyone to get the feel of. I had to give Guitar Hero III a spin, and well, there’s not a lot to say except it’s a new Guitar Hero - frikkin’ awesome as always. I do prefer the new guitar design for the 360 - it’s a little more classic.

Microsoft is mainly hyping Halo 3 (obviously), and had an eight player LAN set up for any comer to enjoy. Meanwhile, Quake Wars is all over the place for the PC gamers among us.

Being a weekday, the expo was not all that busy today, but it’s likely to be packed tomorrow. We’ll have more pics, impressions and stories up soon.

So, other than the fact that the Wii is, in fact, here in South Africa, how has rAge impressed so far?

Among our team the consensus is that the expo is better than the last one. The Wii launch has obviously added some excitement to the event, but the 360’s showing is also better, with lots more demo units, lots more games - even a few upcoming games are playable. Most of the local distributors are here - with the conspicuous absence of Ster-Kinekor’s Sony titles.

There also seem to be more retailers (and quite a few stocked with Wii titles), so the choice for gamers is improved too. If you’re interested in seeing the latest crop of games, and even some upcoming ones, or if you want to see what the Wii hype is all about, rAge 2007 is worth a visit.

What I was most curious about upon arriving at rAge was what the Wii display would be like. We had heard it was going to be here, but were a little nervous about what kind of stand it would be. As it turns out, the stand is great! There are nine Wii consoles available for the general public to play on, with enough space for everyone to flail their arms about happily.

It seems Nintendo of Europe have come through in delivering enough demo systems to actually show the console off well.

Most of the retail shops at the expo are already selling the console, games and accessories. Considering the short space of time that has passed since it was confirmed that Core Group was going to be the South African distributor, it is quite an impressive display.

The Nintendo Wii was launched to the media in Johannesburg, South Africa yesterday and will be available to the public from the 28th September. So now that it has finally arrived all you need to figure out is the best place to buy it from.

To assist you on your quest we pulled together pricing information for the Wii Bundle, accessories and the legendary title Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess.

The recommended retail price is R2 899, which the suppliers appear to be going with. Kalahari.net is slightly cheaper but once you add in delivery charges and the pain of waiting for your Wii to be delivered you are probably better off picking one up from your local store. On the plus side Kalahari.net are having a special on the Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess which should be taken advantage of. You will be playing Wii Sports all weekend, first with the family, then the neighbors, so waiting a couple of days for Zelda is fine.

It is a bit late to pre-order now however BT Games and Kalahari.net are accepting pre-orders and Musica is working on a first come first serve basis.

The Nintendo Wii is also available from these suppliers: C.N.A, Incredible Connection, Look & Listen, Reggies, Toy Zone and Toys ‘R Us. They were not able to confirm prices.

If you are unsure of whether to purchase it and are in Johannesburg this weekend, you should get down to the rAge expo at the Dome. Who knows maybe there will even be show specials that you can cash in on.

So, you think you’re a gamer do you? Ever thought about what it actually means to be a gamer. Think about it for a minute or two - there are all sorts of kinds of gamers out there…hardcore gamers, casual gamers, console gamers, PC gamers…which one are you? Here is a bit of my gaming story.

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Microsoft has announced that Halo 3 has become the biggest entertainment launch in history, earning an estimated $170 million in sales in the US in the first 24 hours. The Xbox 360 exclusive overtook the blockbuster movie release of Spiderman 3 and the Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows novel.

Redefining entertainment

“Halo 3 has become a pop-culture phenomenon,” said Neil Thomson, Senior Regional Director, Entertainment and Devices Division, Microsoft UK. “Not only is ‘Halo 3’ setting sales records, it’s also redefining entertainment. Within the first 24 hours alone, we’ve seen more than a million Xbox LIVE members worldwide come online to play Halo 3 – that makes September 25 the most active Xbox LIVE gaming day in history.”

Retailers have been very happy with the sales so far. Bob McKenzie, Senior Vice President of Merchandising for GameStop Corp commented that, “With consumer demand for Halo 3 and related products, we expect it to be the biggest video game title generator in GameStop’s history.”

“The initial demand we’ve seen for ‘Halo 3’ has been astounding, and the game is on track to become the number one gaming title of all time. ‘Halo 3’ is a genuine entertainment phenomenon and our customers have responded very enthusiastically to the release,” said Jill Hamburger, vice president of movies and games at Best Buy.

Earning accolades along the way

Halo 3 concludes the Halo trilogy and brings fans up to speed on Master Chief and Cortana’s fate as they struggle to save humankind from the alien Covenant. For many the Xbox Live aspect of the game is its biggest drawcard but the game also features a Saved Films feature where gamers can save moments of the game as well as a map editor called Forge that enables players to customize the game.

More than 1.7 million copies of the game were pre-ordered in the US, earning it the title of fastest pre-selling game in history from its predecessor, Halo 2. Over 10 000 retailers in the US hosted midnight events to mark the launch on the 25th of September. Halo 3 has been released in 37 countries and 17 languages to date.

According to Enterbrain, the weekly publisher of Famitsu, the PSP Slim & Lite has sold over 300 000 units in Japan since its launch.

The new PSP model launched as part of a Square Enix promotion on the 13th of September in Japan, however, only limited quantities were available. Enterbrain has revealed that 75 943 of the 77 777 bundles featuring Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII have been tracked as sold.

The full launch of the new model followed on the 20th of September and 250 702 units were sold in the first few days of sale. This means that the PSP Slim & Lite sold around 326 645 units in Japan. The new model is also on sale in Europe and North America but the figures have not yet been announced.

Mr Resetti has joined the Super Smash Bros. Brawl prompting mixed responses from fans. Mr Resetti is a character from the popular Nintendo DS game Animal Crossing.

He earns his name from his role in Animal Crossing – to lecture players about resetting or turning off the game without saving, get it now…Reset-ti. In Animal Crossing Resetti will lecture you for a minute straight if he detects that you are trying to fool the gameworld by resetting or changing your date backwards etc.

Masahiro Sakurai played his cards straight by saying this to Smash Bros. fans, “I’m just going to come out and say it: when Mr. Resetti appears, all he does is lecture you. Whether you’ve reset the game or not, he just lectures.” Much to some fans disappointment (and other’s glee) Mr Resetti is an Assist Trophy, not a playable character. Sakurai commented “With Mr. Resetti, you can enjoy these terribly appreciated lectures even in Smash. He’s an Assist Trophy like no other.”

If you are still clueless about Mr Resetti’s role, check out this video from Animal Crossing to get a taste of why he riles so many players up.

After many gamers experiencing issues with Xbox Live, Major Nelson has advised that gamers should “keep an eye on the Xbox Live Service Status section of the support page.” This is the orange box positioned at the top of the right column, pictured below.

According to Major Nelson, “The operations center will be updating that throughout the evening until the issues of subsided.” Presumably these problems can be attributed to the launch of Halo 3 which no doubt led to Halo fans jumping in, perhaps a few too many for Microsoft’s liking.

Halo 3 was launched in the US yesterday and goes on sale in the UK and across Europe today.

For those of you who might not remember, Samba de Amigo is a rhythm action game that danced its way on to the Dreamcast way back when. Rumours have been flying to and fro that this popular game will be heading to the Wii and now 1UP is reporting that Sega of America has confirmed to them that Samba de Amigo is coming to the Wii.

It seems that the rumours have been fueled by the latest issue of Nintendo Power which appears to have the Samba monkey adorning the front cover. Apparently the magazine confirms that the game will be published by Sega and developed by Gearbox Software of Brothers in Arms fame.

The game relies on motion sensitive maracas so the Wii seems like a sensible choice for Sega because it could presumably use the Wii Remote and Nunchuck as maraca peripherals. But nothing has been confirmed confirmed, if you know what I mean.

Free Radical creative director David Doak has admitted that he would like to see TimeSplitters 4 on the Wii.

In an interview with Game Informer when asked whether he was thinking about putting TimeSplitters on the Wii as an FPS as well, Doak commented “I think it’s a good thing to do and I think we want to put it on the Wii.”

Looking after the family jewel

Dokes went on to confirm that TimeSplitters 4 is in development but not at a stage that would look like development to others. The features have yet to be decided but the concept art is quite developed. A publisher has yet to be chosen but according to Dokes, “it’s undecided at the moment. But it’s our family jewel, so we’re going to be careful with it.” He also confirmed that he was keen to feature game parodies in the latest installment of this successful franchise.

Although Doaks believes that the TimeSplitters game play can be adapted to the motion controls made possible by the Wii Remote, he warns against what he calls “the over ambition in its use.” Gestures should not be too ambiguous or noisy and features should not cause you pain. He believes that “It’s better to make a game that’s enjoyable to play than a game that’s got features that don’t work.”

In passing…

Nintendo fans will be delighted to note that Doaks also commented on a remake of Free Radical’s Second Sight. “Also, if you want to start a petition for remaking Second Sight on the Wii, I’d like to see that as well, because I think that game worked really well, [laughs] because of the manipulation stuff!” It remains to be seen whether Free Radical will continue their support of Nintendo consoles which could well mean that this is a grounded hint.