Taking part in a video gaming league might be considered some people's dreams come true. It's a competition between some of the best players on the planet and features some of the hottest games around. With over half a dozen different leagues to choose from with prizes up to half a million dollars, the gaming league industry is a booming business that has grown massively over the past decade. From the PS3 league to the Xbox 360 league to every platform possible, there's something for everyone, provided they're willing to pay the entry fee and pass qualifying.
The Primary Video Gaming League
Major League Gaming (MLG) is one of the primary leagues available to players all over the world. Founded in 2002, they're bigger than most other leagues and host events throughout the world, allowing individuals to watch live games between competitors. For everything else, you can participate or watch online as the challengers and champions compete through some of the most competitive games available. Hosting between four and six game tournaments annually, Major League Gaming provides something for everybody.
To provide some level of standardization for players, Major League Gaming focuses on the Playstation 3 as their console of choice. For games that are exclusive to other consoles, their native machines are used. For example Gears of War is only on the Xbox 360 and, hence, would be played on Xbox 360s. Live events see that the participants are provided with all the equipment the player needs.
The Game Lineup
The Halo series made its debut back with Halo: Combat Evolved, which was used in the earliest MLG tournaments. Today, both Halo 3 and Halo: Reach have their own tournaments featuring four versus four team battles on varying maps. It provides high-intensity, twitch-based gameplay in a first-person shooter (FPS) format. Joining these two games comes the venerable Call of Duty series. Starting off with Modern Warfare, Modern Warfare 2 is the current Call of Duty game on show. It features similar gameplay to Halo, but in a more realistic setting and somewhat more depth.
Fighting games are coming in strong this year with Tekken 6 making the first of its series' debut in the Major League Gaming. While it didn't have a predecessor in the league, Super Smash Bros. Brawl did and it has now taken over. Both of these games provide good one versus one matches that require excellent coordination and reflexes. Starcraft 2's release saw booming sales, especially in Korea, where it's become a favorite pastime of the nation. Its own debut in the MLG tournament makes it the first real-time strategy game and a solidly backed one at that. It provides excellent support for competitions and is updated regularly.
Ps3 tournaments have featured the long-running World of Warcraft, Gears of War, Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Vegas and it's sequel, Halo: Combat Evolved and Halo 2, Shadowrun, Call of Duty Modern Warfare and Super Smash Bros. Melee. Generally competitors don't crossover to different games and only compete within their own tournaments yearly. Next year is likely to see some newer games, including the next Call of Duty: Black Ops.
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