XBox 360 League - The Major Competitions And Challenges

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

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.

What Games Are Used?

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 is strictly an Xbox 360 series, but has proven that good gameplay beats any limitations. Unlike the previous two entries, Gears of War is a cover-based third person shooter and revolves around players working either alone, in a pair or as a four man team trying to kill their opponents. It provides a high degree of competition and is perfectly suitable for such gaming leagues.

Rules

Cheating isn't favorable in any sport and video game leagues are no exception. While it's somewhat easier to do, cheating can become very subjective. There are controllers with macro buttons that allow the player to simply press once to dispatch a prearranged set of keys or combinations. This provides the players with an inhuman advantage, but as it's sold legally and not banned by online governing bodies such as Microsoft, many consider it to be fine, while video game leagues are gradually banning such devices.

Video Game Leagues, The Main Organizations Processes And Rules

It's become a fantastically popular dream to become a member of a professional gaming league. It allows you to play your favorite games at the toughest opponents and potentially make a good profit from doing so. Living your life playing games is somewhat of a Utopian fantasy for many, but outside of the savvy fans, there is little information in circulation. To gain some understanding about the video game leagues, you need to consider many different aspects of it. There is practically a league for every console and every one contains numerous games. For the most popular ones, there is usually an entire league dedicated to them and the participants might sometimes take part as individuals or as parts of teams.

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.

Competing

Generally, the leagues all have reigning champions who are teams or individuals whom have won the previous events. These champions are then challenged by amateur players and teams who have entered the league, usually paying a fee to do so. From here on out, it's a very standard competition, where the the amateurs fight amongst themselves until only the best remain, then they're pitted against the champions. There are variants amongst each league, such as the champions also competing within the tiers instead of facing only the winners. 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

Cheating is a serious issue as with any major sport. Unlike other sports though, gaming makes cheating a lot easier as there are practically thousands of ways to manipulate a game into making it easier for the player. Some may utilize 3rd party programs, while others might exploit game glitches to provide themselves with an advantage. To combat such irregular methods of play, referees and judges are sometimes present to supervise players.

Hardware has also come under flak, as it can provide players with the ability to do more than they're normally capable of. For example, some controllers provide a macro button, which, when pressed, pressed a series or combination of buttons, preventing the need for the player to do so. This translates as the player performing tasks usually impossible.