#rage 2014

New Post has been published on http://ges-sa.com/cosplayer-month-november-2014-tatum-baker/

Cosplayer of the Month | November 2014 Tatum Baker

Our Cosplayer of the Month for November 2014 is Tatum Baker. We noticed her when she was kicking all sorts of butt at the ASUS stand at rAge 2014 and we spoke to Tatum to find out a bit more about her and her love for cosplay.

Profile: Tatum Baker

Age: 19 

Location: Johannesburg, Gauteng

Cosplayed as Lara Croft from Tomb Raider at rAge 2o14 

Tell us a bit more of yourself? How and when did you get started in Cosplay and why you Love it?

I’m Tatum Baker, I’m 19 and I study psychology at Tuks. I’ve always loved gaming especially on console. I decided to cosplay for the first time this year as I really enjoy getting involved in events. Asus hired me as a cosplayer this year and really inspired me to put some effort into the outfit.

What was the first Costume you wore for Cosplay and did you make it yourself?

Aside from game related 21st and Halloween outfits, this is my first official cosplay. I did make it myself with a little help from the dad for the more technical things.

What is your most difficult challenge in creating a costume?

For me, the most technical part was creating a bow that was similar to hers, that didn’t look like it was made by a noob like me in the garage.

Picture courtesy of Theo Muller – Muller Time TheOgraphy

What type of genre is your favorite to Cosplay?

I prefer gaming cosplays over anime or TV shows. I also prefer to cosplay RPG’s over cosplaying online games such as WOW (World of Warcraft)

Your best Cosplay moment so far?

It’s been really exciting being able to lose my identity for the weekend. I’ve been called nothing but Lara, since Friday. The picture requests are also a lot of fun!

Getting down with the fans at the ASUS stand at rAge 2014

Every Cosplayer has a favorite part of creating a costume or something they are really good at, what is yours?

I love doing the makeup and special effects like wounds, although by now mine have seem to almost disappear!

What costume are you planning on making or wearing next?

I am considering Tifa Lockhart from Final fantasy or Aela the Huntress from Skyrim; Elder Scrolls. I also thought about attempting a female Assassin’s Creed.

Epic Boss fight!!

How do you decide on what to cosplay?

It has to be a character I personally look up to. I like characters that are more badass and not just renowned for face value.

What Cosplay events do you attend and what do you expect from them?

Like I said, this is my first one but I plan on attending many more. I was nervous about how judgmental and scrutinizing some of the gamers and fellow cosplayers would be about the accuracy of my cosplay, but the entire cosplay community was really supportive, appreciative and encouraging. I intend on attending Geekfest, so please please join!

At conventions, events and locations are you usually approachable? Do you like it when people want to talk and discuss your art form?

The cosplayers having their way at the ASUS stand at rAge 2014

I love talking about it. I love taking photos and encouraging people to join in! I may appear serious at times, but that is just because it is the nature of my character and her gameplay. Anyone is welcome to just walk up to me and they’ll be greeted with an overexcited smile.

Tell us about your Top South African Cosplayers?

I enjoy Tayla Barter, Miguel Lima and Yamaki Yama

How do you feel about Cosplay in South Africa?

I feel like it’s a growing art. It’s a new and exciting community. I just joined and have loved it from the get go, so I think we should really try expand. Gaming is huge in SA so I think cosplaying should grow at least the same rate!

New Post has been published on http://ges-sa.com/ges-rage-interview-jack-parow/

GES @ rAge: An Interview with Jack Parow

rAge 2014 : An Interview with Jack Parow

Check out the awesome looking Singstar app on the Sony Experia phone that’s in Jack Parow and Francois van Coke’s hands

Shortly before rAge week-end the rumors started swirling that there were going to be a celebrity challenge at the Sony Playstation Stand on the Saturday morning and not long after it was confirmed that Jack Parow will be taking on his bud Francois van Coke in an epic sing-off at the Playstation Sing Star Stand. This week-end was also the first time the public could see the Singstar app in action on the Sony Experia mobile phones at the stand. Gone are the days of mics and flat  batteries, now you sing along to your favorite tunes via the app on your mobile phone. How cool is that?!

Jack Parow and Francois van Coke having a serious go at this Singstar battle

Being huge fans of both these artists we set out to secure interviews with them on the day and we were fortunate enough to get some one on one time with Mr Rap himself, Jack Parow. Jack is known as an avid gamer, having competed in several celebrity challenges this year so it was natural that we had to find out from him which games he enjoys playing and which features on the gaming consoles he likes the most.

New Post has been published on http://ges-sa.com/ges-rage-cosplay-blew-minds/

GES @ rAge : Cosplay That Blew Our Minds

GES @ rAge : Cosplay That Blew Our Minds

As per the dictionary definition, cosplay is the practice of dressing up as a character from a film, book, or video game, especially one from the Japanese genres of manga or anime. This definition makes it easier to understand why the cosplay participation at the rAge Gaming Expo is growing with leaps and bounds each year. rAge 2014 saw a record number of 97 entries into the cosplay competition, which is widely regarded to be the biggest competition of its kind in South Africa. This figure does not include the cosplayers who attended and cosplayed purely for fun. And this year GES was fortunate enough to get a behind the scenes look at the competition as we were invited by the competition organisers, Legion Ink, to be part of the judging panel. Stuff, from which bucket-lists are made up, let me tell you…

Being a first-time cosplay judge I knew I had my work cut out for me and when I found out that I would be judging alongside Baka Sakura and Yamaki, who were both celebrated cosplayers in their own right, I got even more nervous. I was wondering what they would be like when you meet them in real life. I mean, these ladies got a huge following on social media so surely they would be aware of their status amongst the cosplay community. How would they treat me, a muggle as far as cosplay is concerned? I was in for a treat though as both ladies welcomed me into the cosplay fold with open arms. They took their time to explain the criteria that we were using to judge the entrants by and when it came to the start of the competition they made feel like I was an important part of the judges panel and that my opinions counted just as much as theirs. Mind blown right there.

Linda, Baka Sakura & Yamaki

Some of the winners on stage at rAge 2014 as they were accepting their awards

You might have heard this before but we were blown away with the level of craftsmanship we saw during the competition. There were so many people who used recycled materials to make their costumes and we saw a lot of interesting combinations of different types of materials. We saw costumes that lit up at the flick of a well hidden switch (here’s looking at you Thor) and there were even entrants who made their own shoes. It was mind blowing and overwhelming at the same time but luckily we were working according to Legion Ink’s trusted judging spread sheet which made the judging a breeze to get through. I also have to mention how impressed I was by the number of novices (noobs in gaming terms) who entered this year. And the quality of their costumes was out of this world. Therefore I wasn’t too surprised when I saw that the novices dominated in the final results. They were literally that good, I can assure you.

The winners in the different categories were as follows:

For Anime/Manga

1st Brogan Norman as Uchiha Madara from Naruto Shippuden – Novice

2nd Nicole Nienaber as Fiona from Adventure Time – Novice

3rd Mauritz Gouws as Cloud Strive from FF7 Advent Children – Intermediate

4th Jeffrey Lu as No-Face from Spirited Away – Intermediate

 For Western Pop

1st Anre van Rooyen as Harley Quinn from Batman – Master

2nd Fanie Curry as Two Face from Batman: Forever – Novice

3rd Tiffany Zeeman as Lady Loki from Marvel Comics – Intermediate (tied with..)

3rd Jessi Ochse as Smaug from The Hobbit – Intermediate

4th Garth McCarthy as Eric Dravin/The Crow from the 1994 Brandon Lee movie: The Crow – Master

 For Gaming

1st Lauren Mutch as Muria from Darksiders 2 – Journeyman

2nd Tayla Barter as Jinx form League of Legends – Journeyman

3rd Raynardt Vos as a Tier 16 Druid from World of Warcraft – Novice

4th Jacques Joubert as a Sith Acolyte from Star Wars the old Republic – Novice

 Honourable Mention Best Newcomer (the highest scoring novice who didn’t place above):

Jia Lin Lu as Rukia Kuchiki from Bleach

 Honourable Mention for Best Master Skit (master division only):

Anre van Rooyen as Harley Quinn from Batman

Honourable Mention for best impression by a group:

Veleska as Inuyasha with Lidia as Sesshomaru from Inuyasha

For Costume Construction (held as a separate category this year)

1st Lauren Mutch as Muria form Darksiders 2 – Journeyman

2nd Raynardt Vos as a Tier 16 Druid from World of Warcraft – Novice

I also had the opportunity to chat to various cosplayers on the expo floor about their costumes and how they made it and we compiled a video report of what was happening on the Saturday at rAge. The cosplay section of the vid is up right at the beginning. Check out our video below:

I am very excited for the future of cosplay in South Africa. We’ve got tons of talent amongst our local cosplayers and we don’t have to stand back one inch for the international scene. True, we’re at an disadvantage as far as availability of supplies are concerned but I’ve seen people being very creative and innovative so I’m sure that they’ll be able to cope just fine. We’re looking forward to the next cosplay competition which will be held at Geekfest in November and even though I won’t be on the judging panel, I’ll definitely be there with my camera, staring wide-eyed at the cosplayers and their costumes.

We’ve got some pictures of the awesome cosplay costumes that were to be seen at rAge 2014 from all three days. Big thank you to Theo Muller and Wayne Engelbrecht for letting us use their pictures of the day, Hope you enjoy them as much as we did 

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Photo courtesy of Muller Time TheOgraphy – Theo Muller

Photo courtesy of Muller Time TheOgraphy – Theo Muller

Photo courtesy of Muller Time TheOgraphy – Theo Muller

Photo courtesy of Muller Time TheOgraphy – Theo Muller

Photo courtesy of Muller Time TheOgraphy – Theo Muller

Photo courtesy of Muller Time TheOgraphy – Theo Muller

New Post has been published on http://ges-sa.com/ges-rage-hot-toys-rage-2014/

GES @ rAge : Hot Toys at rAge 2014

GES @ rAge : Hot Toys at rAge 2014

If you speak to any action figure collector about his collection, the name Hot Toys will undoubtedly come up somewhere during the conversation. They’ll either tell you about their prized Hot Toys pieces in their collection or they’ll tell you about their dream of one day owning a Hot Toys piece. But what exactly is this Hot Toys that we speak of and why are they so highly sought after?

Hot Toys is a high-end brand that designs, develops and produces collectibles based on pop culture icons which features an astonishing likeness to the celebrity by which they were inspired. They only produce a limited number of items per series with no second or third editions being produced which makes them highly sought after by collectors. It’s one of those rare cases where it increases in value almost immediately after the original purchase and for many collectors it’s often their Holy Grail of action figures.

Hot Toys gets distributed throughout South Africa by Hobby Island and we got the opportunity to speak to one of Hobby Island’s directors Frankie Chow during rAge 2014. Have a look at our video interview we had with Frankie on the exhibition floor at rAge:

These are some of the Hot Toys pieces that were on display at rAge 2014:

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Bruce Wayne & Alfred

Man of Steel Jor-El

Man of Steel General Zod

Man of Steel General Zod

Iron Patriot from Iron Man 3

Iron Man III The Mandarin

Iron Man III The Mandarin

Rose Hill Tony Stark from Iron Man 3

From the Iron Man III Deluxe Set – Mark XXX Blue Steel

Iron Man III Tony Stark Limited Edition

Iron Man III Mark XLII

Iron Man III Mark XLII

Iron Man III Tony Stark The Mechanic

Hot Toys stand at rAge 2014

The Avengers Hulk

The Avengers Hulk

My prized Hot Toys figure – Eric Draven as The Crow

The Expendables Barney Ross

G.I. Joe Retaliation Storm Shadow

Predator 2 Elder Predator

About Hot Toys

Established in 2000, Hot Toys Limited is a high-end collectible brand, devoted to designing, developing and producing high quality and highly detailed collectibles with authentic likeness. Initially started the business from producing 1/6th scale military action figures, Hot Toys has since expanded its product scope to specialize in 1/6th scale collectible figures from popular movies, video games, comics as well as world renowned celebrities.

New Post has been published on http://ges-sa.com/playstation-south-africa-announces-jack-parow-francois-van-coke-rage-2014/

PlayStation South Africa Announces Jack Parow and Francois van Coke at rAge 2014!

If you’ve heard the rumours, we can confirm they’re true! Afrikaans ‘zef’ rapper, Jack Parow; along with side-kick and alternate rock Van Coke Kartel frontman, Francois van Coke, will be challenging YOU to some gaming fun with a difference on the PlayStation stand (37) at rAge this year!

Take on two of South Africa’s music greats in an exclusive sing-off with SingStar: Ultimate Party on PlayStation®4 between 11am and 1pm this Saturday ONLY; and challenge our ‘local is lekker’ duo to a choice of 20 of the hottest new tracks from global superstars Avicii, Ed Sheeran, Lady Gaga, Pharrell Williams and Disclosure. What’s more, you’ll have the chance to use a Sony Xperia™ Smartphone as your microphone!

So head on over to the PlayStation stand where there will be great spot prizes up for grabs, including a meet and greet with Jack Parow and Francois van Coke – it doesn’t get any better than this.

    SingStar: Ultimate Party will be available in South Africa on PlayStation®4 (PS4) and PlayStation®3 (PS3) from 29th October 2014 at leading retailers.