For South African gamers, 2012 was kicked off with a series of awesome gaming events spread out across the country. Durban, Johannesburg and Cape Town all got in on the act and thanks to the efforts of the organisers, these cities all played host to wonderful gatherings of gamers.

El33tonline undertook a mission to attend four separate meet-ups taking place across these three cities and we’re pleased to say that our quest was a complete success!

Here’s our round-up of El33tonline’s coverage of these events:

DBNGamers Event

Our first stop was in Durban and El33tonline descended on the venue in force! Here is our report on the gathering with a few snaps:

• DBNGamers Level 2 Gathering: It’s all about the pizza. And Creme Soda.

JHBGamers and EA Communitiy Event

It was then off to Johannesburg as El33tonline Editor-in-Chief Lisa and I got to meet the great gaming enthusiasts from this neck of the woods and present ourselves to them.

Here’s what we had to say about the JHBGamers event (Hint: It was awesome):

• JHBGamers and EA South Africa host a fantastic evening of gaming!

CPTGamers Meet-up

The following day, Lisa and I flew down to Cape Town for the weekly gathering of Cape Town gamers, this time at Braza in Canal Walk. We had a great time talking nonsense with Dumidu and the gang:

• Hanging out with Cape Town gamers - El33tonline samples a gathering

2upGamers Third Encounter

The following day it was time for 2upGamers’ Third Encounter where pizza was eaten, drinks were… drinken, and prizes were given, while guest speakers kept attendees on the edge of their seats.

We had a fantastic time at Third Encounter and we had a lot to say about the event - here are our reports (with photos included!):

• The gamers of Cape Town’s Third Encounter revealed in photos!

• 2upGamers Third Encounter Report: Close encounters of the gaming kind

• TakeALot brings a lot to 2upGamers in Cape Town

• They Meet: El33tonline and GoW Wednesday players group up at 2upGamers

• Friends of Design are Friends Indeed: Cape Town gamers congregate on campus

Brad Pidgeon and his Community Message

The star of the show/s was EA Australia’s Brad Pidgeon, who travelled to South Africa especially to attend the meet-ups in Jo’burg and Cape Town and spread his message of community with us:

• Brad Pidgeon carries EA’s community message to South Africa

Big thanks go to Glenn Alexander and his 2upGamers team, Jarrod Lane, EA South Africa and Brad Pidgeon for making these events so enjoyable!

Thanks also go to Pieter de Bruyn (POItjie) for continuing to organise the Durban get-togethers, as well as Lisa for organising prizes and her future contributions to build on previous success.

We hope to do it all over again real soon!