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
It's safe to say that the Major League Gaming collective is probably the biggest gaming league in existence today. It's been going strong for eight years now and provides consistent, annual tournaments with the latest games, though never sacrificing quality. They hold live events throughout the world, but also provide online video and audio for those unable to attend such events. The tournaments act in a similar way, sometimes taking place live, but most of the time online. Major League Gaming hold between four and six tournaments on a yearly basis. 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.
Games
Halo's support for several game modes, up to sixteen players and its twitch-based combat means it's perfect for competitive cybersports. Today's tournaments see Halo 3 and Halo: Reach possessing two of the six tournaments to themselves in four versus four matches. The series is known for its first-person shooter (FPS) format and science-fiction setting. As a complement to Halo, Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 joins it to provide similar gameplay, yet a differing setting. These three games are part of a venerable series and provide excellent support for competitive team-based matches.
Fighting games have long been the focus of many gaming tournaments and with Tekken 6's debut on MLG this year, this is going to be no exception. Joining Tekken 6 is Super Smash Bros. Brawl, providing only slightly differing gameplay, but consistent rules. Unlike most of the other present games, Tekken 6 has never had any of its iterations present on MLG.
Marking Blizzard's second outing on the MLG circuit, Starcraft II is also providing the league's first real-time strategy title to mix up the tournaments a little. Starcraft's own past is deeply embedded in the country of Korea, where it's become a fantastically popular game that even has its own television channels. Starcraft II is looking to take up its predecessor's mantle with ease.
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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