Colours, cosplay and cameraderie bring the 1st eThekwini Regional Esports Championships at the Durban Gaming Expo to a close.

Wesley Smith (left) receives the eThekwini Sportsmanship Award from Johan van Breda, MSSA National Team Manager.

DEBBIE TURRELL

A hard-fought and exciting DOTA2 battle brought the Durban Gaming Expo (DGE) to a close on Saturday.

Three days of Hearthstone, Fifa 2018, CS:GO, DOTA 2 and Rocket League contests were live-streamed to Facebook, YouTube and Twitch, and projected onscreen at the Durban Exhibition Centre by Crosspond RSA, as part of Mind Sports South Africa’s (MSSA) 2018 eThekwini Regional Championships as hosted by the Old Edwardian Mind Sports Club.

The inaugural DGE has shown great promise for future events.

“We initially envisaged this as an annual event,” said Nialle Momsen, CEO of N-Tech Computers and organiser of the DGE. “But after these three days, positive feedback from the current set of sponsors indicates that we may look at doing this more often.”

On the final day, Clan Bacon (Juan van der Merwe, Jacques Westley, Bennie Olivier, Barend Botes and Pat van der Merwe) walked away with top honours in the DOTA 2 competition. Their win also netted each team member eThekwini Regional Colours.

Iron Branch took second place, and Cheeky Nandos with the Lads finished in third.

MSSA's eThekwini Sportsmanship Award was awarded to Wesley Smith, for his dedicated participation in various events at the Durban Gaming Expo, and for his generous mentorship of younger gamers during the various contests.

“Wesley truly represents the characteristics of a great e-sports athlete,” said Colin Webster, MSSA General Secretary.

The award puts Smith in the running for the MSSA’s National Sportsmanship Award to be adjudicated later this year. He also won the DGE’s award for Best Console Gamer at the DGE.

Haron Martins was named Best PC Gamer at the DGE, while Matthew Putter won the DGE award for Best Computer Design, and Douglas Hendricks for Cleanest PC at the DGE.

Prize-giving was preceded by a colourful cosplay competition that drew extra spectators from the nearby Geekville festival at the Durban Exhibition Centre.

Clan Bacon (Barend Botes, Juan van der Merwe, Pat van der Merwe, Jacques Westley, and Bennie Olivier) were the DOTA 2 competition winners on Day Three of the Durban Gaming Expo.

Douglas Hendricks (left) with his award for Cleanest PC at the DGE awarded by Nialle Momsen, CEO of N-Tech Computers and organiser of the DGE.

 Matthew Putter (right) was awarded the prize for Best Computer Design, by Nialle Momsen, CEO of N-Tech Computers and organiser of the DGE.

Haron Martins (right) was judged Best Gamer of DGE PC, by Nialle Momsen, CEO of N-Tech Computers and organiser of the event. 

Wesley Smith (left) was judged Best Gamer at DGE Console, by Nialle Momsen, CEO of N-Tech Computers and organiser of the event. 

Some of the entrants for the Cosplay Competition at the Durban Gaming Expo on Saturday were (back, from left) Wasp (Lauren Wiggill), Yuno Gasai (Bree Coetzee), Harley Quinn (Anouka Singh), Rey (Hayley Mackay), (front from left) Wonder Woman (Kashiefa Jacobs), Johnny Joestar (Kale Nisbet), and Kaneki Ken (Darren Badenhorst).

Keith Farr (left) from Crosspond RSA, capturing Yuno Gasai (Bree Coetzee) during the live streaming of the Durban Gaming Expo.

Captain Mayuri Kurotsuchi (Braiden Becker) at the DGE Cosplay Competition.

Harley Quinn (Anouka Singh) at the DGE Cosplay Competition.

Wesley Smith is awarded eThekwini Sportsmanship Award.

Wesley Smith who was the winner of Hearthstone at the 1st eThekwini Regional Championships is also the recipient of the eThekwini Sportsmanship Award.

The eThekwini Sportsmanship Award was awarded by Mind Sports South Africa (MSSA) to Wesley Smith, for his dedicated participation and helpful manner at the 1st eThekwini Regional Championships as hosted by the Old Edwardian Mind Sports Club, and for his generous mentorship of younger gamers during the various contests.

“Wesley truly represents the characteristics of a great esports athlete,” said Colin Webster, MSSA General Secretary.

The award puts Smith in the running for the MSSA’s National Sportsmanship Award which is to be adjudicated later this year.

Pretenders to the throne: DGE Day Two CS:GO results

The Pretenders (from left: Joshua Saunders, Thulani Sishi (Captain), Damond Osborn, Ethan Mills and Adeem Mansoor) were overall victors in the CS:GO competition on Day Two of the Durban Gaming Expo. The individual team members earned their eThekwini Senior Regional Colours.

BARRY DU PLESSIS

The CS:GO esports competition as played on Day Two of MSSA's 1st eThekwini Regional Championships as hosted by the Old Edwardian Mind Sports Club at the Durban Gaming Expo (DGE) ended with The Pretenders as the last team standing.

The Durban-based team was made up of core members Thulani Sishi (captain), Damond Osborn and Joshua Saunders, with Adam Mansoor and Ethan Mills brought in as substitutes for the competition. The three core members’ years of training together was apparent, and their coordination and well-matched skills saw them competing as a real team.

“We found it quite easy going throughout the day,” said Sishi, “but it got tough at the end.”

Sishi and Osborn have gamed together for 10 years, and together run multi-gaming organisation Big 5 Esports. Saunders began gaming regularly with the pair three years ago. Their most recent competition was at Rush in Pretoria at the end of June, where they placed third in the CS:GO competition.

At DGE the team walked away with prizes of:

• an Acer Nitro 5 gaming laptop  
• three MSI Thunderstorm aluminium gaming mousepads
• a Redragon NemeanLion Combo, and
• five Predator Caps.

All five team members were awarded their eThekwini Senior Regional  Colours by Johan van Breda,  the new National Team Manager of Mind Sports South Africa (MSSA).

RESULTS

Premier
1st: The Pretenders (and eThekwini Senior Regional Colours): Joshua Saunders, Thulani Sishi, Damond Osborn, Adeem Mansoor and Ethan Mills)
2nd: Preztige
3rd: Orion

The Pretenders (from left: Joshua Saunders, Damond Osborn, Adeem Mansoor, Thulani Sishi (Captain) and Ethan Mills) with their prizes of an Acer Nitro 5 gaming laptop, three MSI Thunderstorm aluminium gaming mousepads, a Redragon NemeanLion Combo, and five Predator caps.

Preztige (from left: Muhammad Khan, Anthony-John Osborne, Haron Martins and Brandon Hitmann) placed second in the CS:GO competition on Day Two of the Durban Gaming Expo.

Orion (from left: Max, Steven van der Schyff, Douglas Hendricks, Devan Conradie, and Dylin Niewoudt) placed third in the CS:GO competition on Day Two of the Durban Gaming Expo.

"Games make you sharper" - DGE Day Two Fifa 2018 results

Rodney Nxumalo was the overall Fifa 2018 winner on Day Two of the Durban Gaming Expo. Along with a PlayStation 4 Pro, Rodney was awarded eThekwini Senior Regional Colours, and qualifies for national team trials.

BARRY DU PLESSIS

Rodney Nxumalo won the Fifa 2018 competition at the Durban Gaming Expo at the Durban Exhibition Centre on Day Two of the event.

A Durban resident and matric pupil at Bluff Christian Academy, Rodney had to beat five other players under the Swiss system over six hours. His victory nets him the first prize — a PlayStation 4 Pro, worth around R6000.

Rodney started playing Fifa 06 on PS2 and switched to PS3 in 2012. In 2016 he bought a PS4 and moved onto Fifa 16, 17 and 18. He stopped playing in March this year to focus on his matric studies, but started playing again these holidays. Just one week of practice seems to have cleared out all the rustiness though, and was enough to see him move into first place today. He was excited with his win and the prize.

“Better graphics with the Pro make the games come alive,” he said, adding that he was confident that he wouldn’t let his prize interfere with his studies.

“I want to study actuarial science at Wits,” he said. “So far I’ve been accepted at UCT.”

 Rodney feels that “games make you sharper”.

 “They help with mental focus and strategy,” he says, adding that gameplay helps one prepare mentally for an exam.

He conceded that the competition at the DGE was “very tactical”.

“I noticed that one of the competitors was a professional Fifa e-sports contestant and felt I’d be happy with a second or third place finish today. In the fifth round, the last game, I had to face him. He needed only a draw but I narrowly managed to beat him 4-3 with a goal in the last 10 minutes.”

Rodney’s win automatically qualifies him for the national team trials.

RESULTS

Premier

1^st: Rodney Nxumalo (and eThekwini Senior Regional Colours)

2^nd: Preshen Sookraj (and eThekwini Senior Regional Colours)

3^rd: Sanveer Sookraj (and eThekwini Senior Regional Colours)

High School

1^st: Devash Ishwarlall (and eThekwini High School Regional Colours)

2^nd: Santhiren Naidoo (and eThekwini High School Regional Colours)

3^rd: Zahir Sayed (and eThekwini High School Regional Colours)

Primary School

1^st: Zakhele Ngcobo (and eThekwini Primary School Colours)

Preshen Sookraj (right), pictured here with MSSA General Secretary Colin Webster, won second place overall in the Fifa 2018 competition, and was awarded eThekwini Senior Regional Colours.

Sanveer Sookraj (right), pictured here with MSSA General Secretary Colin Webster, won third place overall in the Fifa 2018 competition, and was awarded eThekwini Senior Regional Colours.

Devash Ishwarlall (right), pictured here with MSSA General Secretary Colin Webster, won first place in the High School Fifa 2018 competition, and was awarded eThekwini High School Regional Colours.

Santhiren Naidoo (right), pictured here with MSSA General Secretary Colin Webster, won second place in the High School Fifa 2018 competition, and was awarded eThekwini High School Regional Colours.

Zakhele Ngcobo (right), pictured here with MSSA General Secretary Colin Webster, won the Primary School Fifa 2018 competition, and was awarded eThekwini Primary School Colours.

DGE Day Two: Gaming is good for you - and everyone else

Master of Ceremonies, Derek de Froberville, goes the extra mile to support the gamers at the Durban Gaming Expo.

DEBBIE TURRELL

IT'S Day Two of the Durban Gaming Expo (DGE), and the hall at the Durban Exhibition Centre has been filling steadily. This morning has featured rounds of CS:GO (Counter-Strike: Global Offensive). All the action between the teams on stage has been going live to screen and live streamed to the Durban Gaming Expo's Facebook, YouTube and Twitch, and much “Ooo!” and “Aah!” from the pit has kept the mood edgy in the hall. We’re guessing the same edge-of-your-seat excitement is being felt by the (so far) hundreds of people following the live stream across the world.

At the same time, the Fifa 2018 competition is continuing elsewhere in the DGE hall. To watch that though, you’ll need to get yourself down here, as EA rules prevent us from live streaming that for you. Sorry.

On another note, for parents who might worry that all this screen time might not be a good thing, here’s an interesting take. The latest research suggests that perhaps you should actually let your kids spend more time gaming — it could be better for your family and society at large.

This might seem counterintuitive and challenge many people’s assumptions about what we think we know. More gaming, especially violent games, can only create more problems, right?

But new studies reported on yesterday by the New Yorker's Alan Burdick ask an interesting question: how does what we view on screen affect what we don't do? It may seem obvious, but one thing we don't do while gaming and watching TV is commit crimes. And there seems to be a relationship between the sales of violent games, and a drop in crime rates.

In a University of Texas study, data from the United States’ National Incident-Based Reporting System between 2005 and 2008 compared the weekly incidence of violent crimes to the retail sales of the fifty top-selling video games. Researchers found that increased sales of violent games corresponded to slight drops in the crime rate, but the same was not true of nonviolent games.

Another study found that for every one-per-cent increase in the number of video-game stores in a given U.S. county, the crime rate fell by a tenth of a percentage point — a small decline, but not the increase that one would expect.

The idea goes by several names, such as the crime-substitute hypothesis, or routine-activity theory, but in a nutshell, Burdick concludes that “people have found better things to do than commit crime, and those activities involve screens”.

It’s an interesting perspective, and those interested in reading further can find the full article here. 

Fifa 2018 competitors on Day Two at the Durban Gaming Expo.

CS:GO competitors on Day Two at the Durban Gaming Expo.

Keith Farr from Crosspond, taking charge of the live streaming at the Durban Gaming Expo.

DGE Day One: Hearthstone, beasts and hard-core gamers

Wesley Smith was the winner of Day One's Hearthstone competition at the Durban Gaming Expo.

BARRY DU PLESSIS

DAY One of the Durban Gaming Expo saw a day of Hearthstone competition. The first of the “beast” gaming rigs arrived at the hall in the Durban Exhibition Centre and live commentary by Derek de Froberville accompanied the competition rounds, which were run under the auspices of Mind Sports South Africa. Live interviews with gamers, sponsors and even “Deadpool” were streamed to followers on Facebook, YouTube and Twitch.

Hard-core gamers arrived with sleeping bags, ready to dig in for the long haul over the next three days. Plugged into the 150-place LAN set up in the hall by F.R.A.G. LAN, many of these gamers played throughout the first night.

Wesley Smith won the Hearthstone competition on Day One. Second was Zoe Ayërst, with Devan Conradie placed third. All earned themselves Regional Ethekwini Colours as a result.

A great Master of Ceremonies.

Derek de Froberville at work, inspiring and motivating gamers at the 1st eThekwini Regional Championships.

The Old Edwardian Mind Sports Club and Durban Gaming Expo are fortunate to have an excellent Master of Ceremonies in the person of Derek de Froberville.

Derek is proudly a ‘Jack of Many Trades’, and has a strong interest in all aspects of IT.

Employed by Netelligent, Derek's interpersonal communication and Person-Centric skills are core interests that have lead Derek through a variety of environments from IT Distribution to large stage performances, to international collaborations.

His style and grace at MSSA's First ever eThekwini Esports Regional Championships held on 5 & 7 July 2018 is inspirational to the gamers present.

Certainly the organisers of 1st eThekwini Esports Regional Championships are lucky to have Derek  as part of an exciting team delivering a top class championships.

You know you want to watch it...

Watch the streaming of the 1st eThekwini Regional Championships - 5 – 7 July 2018 on https://www.facebook.com/DurbanGamingExpo/videos/277363516333881/

MSSA selects a new National Esports Team Manager.

Johan van Breda.

Mind Sports South Africa (MSSA) has just appointed a new National Team Manager (NTM) for esports in the person of Johan van Breda (ZAG Academy).

The duties of the National Team Manager includes preparing the national team, organising test matches (both online and LAN), overseeing coaching of the team, axing non compliant team members, and accompanying the team to events.

One such event is IESF's 10th World Championships - Kaoshuing to which MSSA has already entered teams to participate in Counter-Strike: GO, League of Legends, and  Tekken 7.

Thus the National Team Manager carries great  responsibility, for, it is on the NTM's broad shoulders that the national team's hopes and dreams are carried.

It is a hard position to hold, and it is not for the faint of heart, it is for those who want to go the extra mile.

It should be remembered that MSSA's rankings at IESF World Championships are:

Year	Venue	Position
2017	Busan –  South Korea	12th
2016	Jakarta –  Indonesia	14th
2015	Seoul –  South Korea	12th
2014	Baku –  Azerbaijan	13th
2013	Bucharest –  Romania	10th
2012	Cheonan –  South Korea	18th
2011	Andong –  South Korea	13th

Amanda Pakade takes the reins.

Amanda Pakade - MSSA's new President.

Not a single member on Mind Sports South Africa (MSSA) voted against the co-option of Amanda Pakade to the newly vacant position of MSSA President. The reasons for such support can be clearly seen in the calibre of the the person so co-opted as President for the period running up to MSSA's AGM in December 2018.

While at the University of Johannesburg (UJ), where Amanda studied sport management, Amanda became an excellent competitor. and besides having won a string of provincial and national awards, won silver in Morabaraba at the 2007 World Championships.
While at University, Amanda too became involved in the administration of MSSA and served as the Players' Representative from 2006 through to 2008. Amanda too earned a ranking as both a provincial and national umpire.
Amanda has too served MSSA as being a member of the current Selection Committee. Of course, being co-opted as President, Amanda now has to resign as a member of the Selection Committee as MSSA does not allow anyone to hold more than one position.
Today Amanda is a mother of two children, Inam and Hlumi, and is a network marketing Pro for Longrich health, wealth and beauty products as well as teaching group exercise classes at Virgin Active.

By being co-opted as President, Amanda is determined to make a difference in the competitor's lives - just as she does in the lives of all with whom she comes into contact. Amanda's personal hashtag is: #l was born to make an impact. Already, Amanda has identified four areas in which she intends to effect major changes before 1 December 2018. The four areas are:

• To ensure greater efficacy in regards to national team selection,
• To improve the inclusivity of MSSA championships,
• Oversee the award of all colours awarded, and
• Encourage greater gender equity and representivity.

There is no doubt that Amanda is indeed a valuable asset to MSSA, and that MSSA under Amanda's guiding hand will continue to grow and prosper.