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.
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.
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. 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. 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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