Video game leagues aren't new, but they're also not widely advertised and it's likely that if you don't play games much or monitor the gaming scene, you've never heard of a video game league before. However, they've grown to much larger sizes of the years, with rewards reaching half a million dollars for the winners. Usually, events are held annually and focus on half a dozen or so popular games that emphasize competition. These events are held all over the world, sometimes live, while other times they'll simply be online. Some leagues utilize all the platforms, such as computers, Xboxes and PS3s, while others focus exclusively on a certain platform, such as an Xbox 360 league, for example. Those who qualify and pay entry fees can take part to challenge some of the best players in the world.
Major League Gaming (MLG)
Major League Gaming (MLG) is considered one of the largest gaming leagues in the world and provides yearly tournaments in some of the latest games available. However, they put competition ahead of new games and may even utilize older games due to the high-level of competitiveness they instill. Major League Gaming utilizes the Playstation 3 consoles if the game is available on all the platforms, but if they do use other consoles if the game is exclusive to those machines, such as Halo or Gear of War. MLG has been known to hold events all over the world as well as online events.
Halo, Gears of War And Call of Duty
Halo is the mainstay of many gaming leagues and the MLG is no exception. It provides close-quarter maps and large maps, both of which focus on twitch-based gameplay and either free-for-all matches or objective-based ones. This allows Halo to be one of the most flexible games in the tournaments and along with its massive player-base, it's perfect for most gaming leagues.
Call of Duty is another game of exceptional popularity and has also been used in several iterations. Modern Warfare provided a good deal of competitive gaming and features realistic scenarios in contrast to the sci-fi Halo. The gameplay is still somewhat unrealistic, however, and is still very much twitch-based. Modern Warfare 2 has also been used and the upcoming Black Ops is expected to debut next year.
Gears of War strays from the mold as it provides third-person cover-based shooting, but focuses on team-based play. It can, however, provide matches for free-for-alls and pairs and is a very good example of controlled competition. The sequel is currently in place with Gears of War 3 likely to be put in place when that is released.
Rules
Unfortunately, not everyone is beyond such practice. While cheating in an online, video gaming league might be somewhat easier, the console's low-level interface means it's a lot more difficult. However, cheating can be perceived in a number of ways. For example, perhaps the easiest method of cheating is purchasing a controller with macro keys. This button has a string of other button presses attached to it, so all you need to do is press it once to perform combination moves or something similar, which is inhumanly possible at such a speed.
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