Video game leagues are nothing new, but they're so unknown by the majority of the population that their existence is generally only spread by word of mouth. Only those that monitor such news channels or are very much into their gaming will know of such leagues, their titles and the sorts of games they include in their lineups. In actual fact, gaming leagues are extremely lucrative, both for the industry and for the competitors, with prizes worth up to half a million dollars being offered every year by certain leagues, such as the PS3 league Major League Gaming. The only requirement is that the player pays the entry fee and then they are given a chance to qualify.
MLG (Major League Gaming)
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 has become a very venerable series, especially with MLG who have featured these games from the start of their annual tournaments. Even today, they provide Halo action with both Halo 3 and Halo: Reach having two separate tournaments to themselves in four versus four team matches. The Halo series is known for its twitch-based first person shooter style based in a science-fiction realm. To complement this, MLG also include the Call of Duty series, grounding the topic to a more realistic environment, yet providing similar gameplay with Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2. Super Smash Bros. Brawl and Tekken 6 complete the fighting game section, utilizing one on one scenarios. The former game has been around, albeit in an earlier form, since the beginning tournaments and is a favorite of the veterans. Tekken 6 is brand new and hasn't been on show in any form in a MLG tournament before. 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.
Major League Gaming has provided tournaments for many different games, but also many of the earlier mentioned games' iterations. For example, Halo: Combat Evolved and Halo 2 were also part of the MLG tournaments. As was Call of Duty Modern Warfare and Super Smash Bros. Melee. Blizzard's first MLG game, World of Warcraft, was also part of the lineup. Other games part of the MLG circuit was Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Vegas and the sequel, Gears of War and Shadowrun. Next year is likely to see further sequels, such as Call of Duty Black Ops.
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