Esports and gaming authority Mettlestate, in partnership with Asus, RepVYBN Esportsublic of Gamers, Intel Gaming, Vodacom World and Ubisoft, hosted the Asus Republic of Gamers (ROG) Invitational III Grand Finals on 26 and 27 June 2021. All the esports action was broadcast live on Mettlestate’s Twitch TV, with highlights broadcast on DStv’s GINX esports TV channel (Channel 127) at 22:00 SAST on both nights. The tournament boasted an impressive prize pool of R 100 000, of which R 50 000 went to the grand prize winning team, VYBN Esports (@vybnesports) for a hard-fought victory over all the other eager, highly-skilled contenders. VYBN Esports remained undefeated throughout the ROG Invitational lll. 

The VYBN Esports team was made up of Captain @XhosaR6, @Figure_R6, @SxndeLs, @DrDropShot007, @elyk_gg, @WxstefulR6 and @Chill_R6. Bravado Gaming (@bravadogaming) took second place (25 000), Phoenix eSports ZA (@Phoenix_MGO) took third place (R15 000) and DNMK Esports (@dnmkgg) took fourth place (R10,000). 

Some of the biggest names in the South African gaming community were on-hand to provide their expertise and blow-by-blow commentary. These included: 

Sam Wright – @TechGirlZA (panel)

Brad Griffiths – @HangryCamel (panel)

Jayson van Kerckhoven – @JustTrinoc (caster)

Jacques Theron – @KanyeDefuse (caster)

Chloë Geraghty – @ChloGeraghty (interviewer)

Rachel Kay – @iamrachelkay (interviewer) 

South Africa’s best gamers spent their weekend going head-to-head in Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Siege, the tactical team shooter from Ubisoft that has snowballed in popularity since it launched in 2015. The ROG III Invitational was a tight competition from start to finish, with teams including Bravado Gaming, Phoenix Esports ZA, DNMK Esports and winners VYBN Esports taking the South African competitive esports stage up several notches and undoubtedly laying the groundwork for similar big events in the near future. 

The tournament was a fully digital, professional-level esports spectacle that delivered world-class spectator value and expert commentary, and proof that esports is fast gaining momentum across the African continent. Juan Mouton, Country Marketing Manager, Republic of Gamers, Asus, South Africa, says, “This was the third – and largest – event in the history of our partnership with Mettlestate and living proof that South African gamers have what it takes to elevate the profile of esports all over Africa. All the contenders played their hearts out over the weekend and VYBN’s win could not have been better deserved. Well done to everybody who took part. We look forward to next year”. 

Barry Louzada, Managing Director and Founder of Mettlestate adds, “Congratulations to VYBN Esports for playing so well. The turnout from fans was fantastic and the support the tournament received was overwhelming. We are so excited to bring South Africa’s close-knit gaming community more events to come and it’s incredible to see how, every year, the bar keeps being raised in South African esports”. 

VYBN Esports Captain, Rowan “Xhosa” Steyn says, “Our team only formed two weeks before the tournament started. Time was not on our side, so it was a very busy and hectic experience that needed more effort from us to catch up with the others. 

“When the tournament first started, ATK was very dominant, but now all the teams compete convincingly – it’s a matter of a coinflip. Competition is very tight. But there were specific players per team that really stood out for us, like DNMK’s Dan Da Man, Mystic and DVN from Bravado, with a special shoutout to Shadir from Phoenix. 

“In terms of advancing our gaming careers, this is massive. At the end of the day, if you want to become someone, you need networking. Now the team can add to their resumé that they won the biggest tournament in SA. This is something needed for the scene. Nothing can grow unless there’s financial incentive and support”. 

The ROG III Invitational’s success is a striking example of how, unlike many other sectors, esports continues to grow and flourish during the pandemic. This entertaining blend of competitiveness and escapism is rapidly gaining more followers as a professional sport with entertainment value akin to many other major sports the South African public enjoys. Keep your consoles, PCs and mobile devices tuned in to stay up to date with the ongoing rise of esports in Africa. 

Visit www.mettlestate.com or Mettlestate’s Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube and Twitch pages to stay up-to-date news on upcoming tournaments and to engage with South Africa’s gaming and esports community.

ASUS South Africa partners with Mass Mart retailer, DionWired to carry full range of Gaming Notebooks. 

Johannesburg, South Africa – A few weeks ago hardware manufacturer, ASUS announced their partnership with Mass Mart retailer, DionWired at the rAge Expo. DionWired will officially carry the entire ROG (Republic of Gamers) range of notebooks.

ASUS is a worldwide top-three consumer notebook vendor whose focus is to bring innovative technology to the consumer. “One of the main aspects which sets ASUS apart from other hardware manufacturers is the advanced design. Consumers of notebooks require a stable battery life (which lasts and offers outstanding performance) that doesn’t sacrifice modern design. ASUS aims to provide all consumers with state-of-the-art technology while still providing great value for money. Therefor ASUS remains the first choice for many who are looking for the perfect balance between features and style”, says Yolandi Venter, Marketing Manager for SYS at ASUS South Africa.

DionWired carries the ZenBook range and now stocks the ROG Range of Notebooks just in time for Christmas season. The ROG Notebooks available at DionWired include monstrous 17inch G752 range in variants armed with NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 and 1070M graphics with GTX1080Ms on the way. They also include the modestly priced yet beastly 15inch G552 range. 

Managing Director of DionWired, Nazim Cassim says that the retailer is looking to increase its gaming audience, and is offering a three-year on-site warranty on all new notebook and laptops sold across the ROG range. According to ASUS, gaming laptops now make up 2% of all laptop sales in South Africa, which may not sound like much but does account for a couple of thousand unit sold per quarter; this is double of what is was during 2015.  

ABOUT ASUS

ASUS is a worldwide top-three consumer notebook vendor and maker of the world’s best-selling, most award-winning motherboards. A leading enterprise in the new digital era, ASUS designs and manufactures products that perfectly meet the needs of today’s digital home and office, with a broad portfolio that includes motherboards, graphics cards, optical drives, displays, desktop and all-in-one PCs, notebooks, netbooks, servers, multimedia devices, wireless solutions, networking devices, tablets and smartphones. Driven by innovation and committed to quality, ASUS won 4,368 awards in 2015 and is widely credited with revolutionizing the PC industry with its Eee PC™. ASUS has more than 17,000 employees around the globe with a world-class R&D team of over 5,500 engineers. Company revenue for 2015 was approximately US$14 billion.  

ABOUT DIONWIRED

Their purpose is to simplify life by obsessively sharing the joy of technology. DionWired is the only retailer of electronics and appliances that really understands customers. By putting their needs and experience first, they use their obsession with technology to create an inspiring, multi-sensory environment and offer the consumer products and services to help simplify their lives.  DionWired is a subsidiary of the JSE listed, Massmart Holdings. Massmart is Africa’s third largest distributor of consumer goods, the leading retailer of general merchandise, liquor and home improvement equipment and supplies, and the leading wholesaler of basic foods. To visit Massmart Holdings Group website, click here – www.massmart.co.za 

NOTES TO EDITORS

ASUS South Africa

• ASUS Website: https://www.asus.com/za/
• ASUS Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ASUSza
• ASUS Twitter: https://twitter.com/ASUS_za
• ASUS Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/asus_za/?hl=en
• ROG Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ASUSROGZA/ 

DionWired

• DionWired Website: http://www.dionwired.co.za
• DionWired Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/DionWired
• DionWired Twitter: https://twitter.com/DionWired
• DionWired Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dionwired/    

ASUS Republic of Gamers Announces Oculus Ready ROG G752VS/VM

KEY POINTS

• Oculus has certified ROG G752VS and ROG G752VM as Oculus Ready .
• High-performance gaming laptops feature NVIDIA GeForce GTX 10-Series graphics, the latest Intel Core processors, and up to 64GB DDR4 memory.
• Both models join the ASUS G11CD and ROG G20CB gaming desktops in the ASUS collection of Oculus Ready PCs.

Johannesburg, South Africa — ASUS Republic of Gamers (ROG) has announced that the ROG G752VS and ROG G752VM gaming laptops are now certified Oculus Ready PCs. The announcement was made at the Oculus Connect 3 Developer Conference in San Jose, California.  

Both models are the world’s first gaming laptops to meet the recommended specifications required to power Oculus Rift, and feature NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 10-Series graphics, the latest Intel® Core™ processors, and up to 64GB of DDR4 memory. The VR-Ready NVIDIA GeForce GTX 10-series graphics cards provide exceptional performance and energy efficiency to give gamers incredible virtual-reality (VR) gaming experiences. These graphics cards also feature NVIDIA G-SYNC™ technology to reduce lag and stutter, and eliminate visual tearing to ensure the smoothest and fastest gaming visuals.

“Enabling the ultimate gaming experience for gamers is at the heart of ASUS,” said Joe Hsieh, Corporate Vice President. “We are bringing an immersive VR experience to gamers by expanding our collection of Oculus Ready PCs with the ROG G752VS/VM gaming laptops.”

The partnership between ASUS and Oculus™ is aimed at offering gamers a truly immersive gaming experience. With ROG G752VS and ROG G752VM joining the ASUS G11CD and ROG G20CB gaming desktops, ASUS expands its collection of Oculus Ready PCs.

The Oculus Ready badge is earned by only a select few PCs. All Oculus Ready PCs undergo stringent testing to ensure that ports, firmware, operating systems and other features are up to Oculus standards.  System hardware is put through 17 rigorous performance and reliability tests to ensure the system is fully Oculus Ready. This includes a 72-hour stress test, along with the repeated swapping of hardware ports to ensure connectivity and reliability. After a battery of over 100 tests, each Oculus Ready PC is graded out of 10 possible points to ensure full compatibility with the Oculus Rift headset.

Oculus Ready PCs: ROG G752VS and ROG G752VM

ROG G752VS features the latest NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 graphics card, an unlocked 6th-generation Intel Core i7 (‘Skylake’) processor and up to 64GB of DDR4 memory. The unlocked processor has an overclocking toolkit, allowing users to overclock the system to speeds of up to 4.0GHz. ROG G752VS has a display with a super-fast 120Hz refresh rate, and wide 178° viewing angles for superb image quality and contrast even when viewed from extreme angles.

The ROG G752VM variant features the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 graphics card, designed around the new NVIDIA Pascal™ architecture and delivers considerable performance gains over previous-generation graphics cards. ROG G752VM is also powered by a 6th-generation Intel Core i7 processor and up to 64GB DDR4 RAM, and has a backlit anti-ghosting keyboard with 30-key rollover for precise control and input during intense gaming sessions.

These laptops join the ASUS G11CD and ROG G20CB gaming desktops in the ASUS collection of Oculus Ready PCs, and fully meet the recommended specification for Oculus Rift. ASUS G11CD and ROG G20CB are powered by 6th-generation Intel Core processors and latest NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 or 1080 graphics for the very best gaming experiences imaginable.

AVAILABILITY & PRICING
ASUS ROG G752VS and ROG G752VM will be available from October 2016 in South Africa from DionWired, Incredible Connection and Evetech online stores. Please contact your local ASUS representative for further information.

ABOUT ASUS
ASUS is a worldwide top-three consumer notebook vendor and maker of the world’s best-selling, most award-winning motherboards. A leading enterprise in the new digital era, ASUS designs and manufactures products that perfectly meet the needs of today’s digital home and office, with a broad portfolio that includes motherboards, graphics cards, optical drives, displays, desktop and all-in-one PCs, notebooks, netbooks, servers, multimedia devices, wireless solutions, networking devices, tablets and smartphones. Driven by innovation and committed to quality, ASUS won 4,368 awards in 2015 and is widely credited with revolutionizing the PC industry with its Eee PC™. ASUS has more than 17,000 employees around the globe with a world-class R&D team of over 5,500 engineers. Company revenue for 2015 was approximately US$14 billion.

NOTES TO EDITORS

• ASUS Global Press Room: http://press.asus.com
• ASUS South Africa Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ASUSza
• ASUS South Africa Twitter: https://twitter.com/ASUS_za
• ASUS Oculus Ready PCs: https://www.asus.com/event/oculus-ready-pc/   
• ASUS South Africa ROG Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ASUSROGZA/
• ASUS ROG Twitter: www.twitter.com/asus_rog