This is the best week in South African gaming history

This is the best week in South African gaming history.

A bold statement to make, but something that needs to be said, especially considering how much negative news has surrounded our little gaming community lately.

What exactly is so great about this, the first week of October 2016?

rAge Expo and eSports

Well, the upcoming Rage Expo 2016 at the Northgate Dome is taking place this weekend. If ever you needed something to point to those who say how “small” our community is or “how the best stuff never seems to come to South Africa” tell them to attend just one of the three days this coming weekend.

Yes, it’s hot and stuffy and incredibly noisy, but its also glorious and a true celebration of what gaming in South Africa is about.

This ties into the next point of what an exciting time it is to be a South African eSports fan.

It seems like every other day we are covering news of massive prize pools and South African teams traveling abroad, and it’s clear that we’re on the cusp of breaking into the international scene in a big way.

We’re not the only ones who think this way either, with international casters like Paul “ReDeYe” Chaloner taking a big interest in our scene.

Of course some our cynical readers will be quick to point out that it’s not all sunny in South Africa – especially due to our exchange rate taking a nosedive in recent months.

Games and Hardware

They are quick to forget that there was a time when it was unfathomable that we would receive Nvidia and AMDs latest releases at the same time as the rest of the world, or that we could pay for Steam games in local currency.

Yes, R1,000 games suck, but they are counteracted by a very healthy pre-owned market and incredible sales on our digital platforms.

It’s also an exciting time to be buying these games – the first week of October is the start of the holiday season, with marquee titles like FIFA 17 just behind us and the first of the big AAA-releases Mafia III just ahead.

There’s none of the cynicism that grips so much of the community after games have been released and we are forced to come crashing back to reality, we can simply look forward to games and what they may hold for us.

Finally, the only reason we can compare these prices or how good other countries have it is because South Africa’s internet is finally improving.

Fibre has finally become a reality for more than just a select few, and ISPs have show a genuine interest in introducing local servers too.

It’s also become more affordable to get a decent ADSL line up and running in recent years.

Things are on a continuing upward trend, and I have no doubt I may be updating this article in a few months time when we have another stellar week in gaming.