Believe it or not, Comic Con Africa is once again upon us! It’s happening right now (24-28 September 2026) at the Johannesburg Convention Centre (NASREC) in South Africa. As you can imagine, the biggest question I always have is about what kind of presence Nintendo will have at the Con… and it’s often a bit of a hit and a miss. Last year, for example, there was a huge Nintendo display in the biggest hall. It was impossible to miss, and the vibe around the place was electric! Seeing so many fans playing Nintendo games, buying Nintendo games… it warmed this old fan’s heart. The year before that, however, the local Nintendo team told us they had made the decision not to be present. They were missed. And sadly, it looks like this year is closer to 2024 than 2025. Nintendo does have a tiny booth in the ‘Gaming and Experience’ hall, and I am glad that it exists (please go out and support the local team). However, after trying out Super Mario Bros. Wonder in 2023 before its release, and the epic experience that 2025 – I am bummed that it seems like, locally, Nintendo only really appears at the Con every two years.

With all that being said, one thing I know for sure is that local Nintendo fans are also big fans of lots of other weird and wonderful nerd and celebrity culture, and with that in mind, it’s definitely worth sharing what else you can expect at this year’s event. So, here are some of the highlights:

Otaku Town and Super Japan

This year’s event features even more Japan collaboration thanks to JETRO (the Japan External Trade Organisation). That means you can look forward to a huge 144sqm area of Japanese culture and business ventures, not to mention anime, fashion, art, and more!

Celebs!

I haven’t been super excited about any of the well-known celebrities that have appeared at the Con in years gone by (still waiting for Shigeru Miyamoto, of course!). However, the fact that Christopher Judge (Teal’c from Stargate, God of War), Richard T. Jones (The Rookie), and some big voice acting and comic artists are around this year – it’s definitely got me more interested. I do wish the autograph and photo ops were a little easier on the wallet, but given the strength of the Rand, we’re just happy when big names come to our side of the world!

Artists and Shopping

What really makes Comic Con worth the trip, though, is probably the huge number of vendors (selling a bunch of cool tech and geekdom items for every tast) and the simply gigantic amount of Artists. There are a lot of people that have put in a lot of work to present at the Con, and walking around admiring and (hopefully) purchasing that perfect nerdy gift for yourself or a loved one is definetly one of the highlights!

Will you be at Comic Con Africa this year? If so, we’d love to meet some members of our very awesome community – so if you see us walk by, please say hello!