XBox 360 League - The Major Organizations And Titles

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)

In existence for ten years now, it's considered one of the foremost and most venerable of video game leagues. It focuses on annual tournaments utilizing multiple tiers to filter out the champions. Within these tournaments, there are six major events to coincide with the six games in use. There are some games that have been part of the competitions since the start, only changing to sequels, and some are brand new to the tournaments. With Major League Gaming, the PS3 editions of games are usually used, but in the case of some exclusive games like Halo or Gears of War, the Xbox 360 is utilized. MLG hosts both online and live events around the world, depending on the event.

The Games

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 shares top place with Halo in terms of players as it has reached phenomenal levels of popularity over the years and provides the same pace and competition as Halo. Both Halo and Call of Duty are both utilized in their latest forms, with Halo 3 and Halo: Reach being used as well as Modern Warfare 2, though next year will likely see Black Ops being used. Call of Duty is a prime example of both team-based competition and free-for-all competition.

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 And Cheating

The rules of any video game league are not unlike sports leagues. Cheating, however, is a very subjective system for video games. While obvious cheating such as manipulating the game to provide an advantage will clearly result in an immediate disqualification, there are other types that occupy a grey area. Some controllers, for example, provide macro buttons that allow the player to simply press the button once and it will play out a prearranged combination of buttons at any speed the player wishes. This provides an inhuman advantage, but is hard to monitor and can be considered cheating in some courts.

Video Game Leagues, The Primary Societies, Procedures And Regulations

For some of us, playing games is a way of life and many of this demographic may often wonder at a life where playing games is actually productive. It would come as surprise for these individuals, then, to learn that there are, in fact, almost a dozen major video game leagues that have hundreds of attendees and competitors every year. Millions of dollars of prizes are given away annually to the winners, meaning it's not just a passing fancy, but a completely viable way of life, provided you're the best of the best. These leagues utilize some of the most competitive games around, not all of them new, and people from all over the world compete, both in person and over the Internet. The participants can take part as either teams or individuals, depending on the league and game in question.

The Major Leagues

There are several influential gaming leagues. The Cyberathlete Professional League (CPL) has been around since 2004 and has distributed over million in prizes. It's considered somewhat of a veteran and is where many go to compete in first-person shooter (FPS) games. The World Cyber Games are yearly events to dish out a serious amount of prize money ranging between 0,000 and 0,000. It features dozens of game types, so it's not strictly limited to a single genre. The Pro Gaming League (PGL) is also a primary contender though primarily in console games, unlike the previous leagues, and offers less prize money.

Competition

Video game competitions function like most major competitions. The competitors face off against other competitors in a bid to challenge the reigning champions. Once the competitors are weeded out and only the best remain, these then face off against the champions. If the champions defend their title, they are rewarded with the prize money, as are the competitors if they win. There are variations in each tournament, such as champions being consider competitors and facing off against the teams until only one team remains. The prizes are not always monetary. They can sometimes be physical items such as graphics cards, consoles and other items of varying monetary values. The following year sees the champions written in to face either returning or new competitors.

Rules

Obviously cheating has become a serious rule that no one is allowed to break. The actual means of cheating can vary from game to game, where some players may use 3rd party programs to manipulate the game's data or in other cases, the player might exploit certain parts of the game to give themselves a superior advantage over other players. Generally, there are always referees and judges to deem whether the players' conduct has been has been honorable or not. Hardware can also provide unfair advantages. For example, some controllers designs come with a macro button, which allows a series of button presses to programmed to a single button press. This allows players to do more within less time, usually more than is human possible. This is yet another form of cheating and these controllers are generally banned from such competitions.