Whether you're an Xbox, PlayStation, Wii or PC gamer, this year's Rage expo will have a ton of awesome stuff to see.
First up, there's Microsoft's public showing and preview of both the Kinect wireless, controller-less gaming peripheral and Xbox Live for SA. The Kinect will hit shelves on 10 November this year, with a retail price of R1 999 for the kit on its own - expect to see it bundled with the new Xbox 360 S console, a redesigned, quieter-running version of the version originally released in 2005.
Pricing for the new console is R2 400 for the entry-level 4GB model and R3 200 for the range-topping 250GB model. Along with increased storage, the new console has some extra USB ports, a Kinect power port and built-in 802.11n wireless.
Obviously, Xbox Live is the big news. We'll have to wait until later on Friday, the first day of Rage, to get more information on pricing for the service in SA, along with what content will be available to local gamers and how the migration procedure will work.
Microsoft has been dodging the question of Xbox Live in SA since the console debuted here in 2006, so many gamers have resorted to creating accounts based in the UK or US as a way of getting their consoles online. The drawback of this workaround is that these accounts are locked to those regions, though Microsoft has repeatedly stated it will offer a way for them to be migrated to the South African region at launch. Watch this space.
The PlayStation booth will focus heavily on the recently-released Move controller. Sony's take on the Nintendo Wii motion controller is a bit different, with a lot more accuracy - click here to read my review.
The initial line-up of Move games is standard fare: some sports games, a pet simulator and the requisite Tiger Woods game with Move support, but others will be on show. Keep an eye out for the highly creative Beat Sketcher, which lets you paint music on screen.
Fans of the PlayStation's premiere racing game, Gran Turismo, can also look forward to getting some hands-on time with Gran Turismo 5. This five-years-in-development sequel is slated for release in the first week of November, if all goes to plan, and this is one of the few times members of the public will be able to get their hands on the game before its official unveiling.
Notable only by its absence is a Nintendo stand. Kate Kearney from Core Group, the Nintendo distributor in SA, says Nintendo never has its own stand at events like Rage, but the brand will be present at the stands of the various retailers. This means we'll miss out on a sneak peek at Wii Party, along with any teasers for the upcoming 3DS handheld.
Another noteworthy showcase will be at the Sapphire and AMD stand, where the Radeon 4870 6-edition will be hooked up to a super-expensive six-monitor setup. It's quite a sight, and will be hard to miss when you're browsing other stands on show.
Of course, the weekend will be about gaming. Rage is the only regular gaming fixture on the local expo calendar, so companies like Electronic Arts, Megarom, NuMetro entertainment and others have pulled out all the stops to bring some of the latest games, both release and pre-release versions, for the public to experience first-hand.
Expect a blow-by-blow report tomorrow, as things get unveiled and the show floor starts filling up with eager punters and LAN gamers.
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