PS3 League - Cybersports, Competitions And Tournaments

Taking part in a video gaming league might be considered some people's dreams come true. It's a competition between some of the best players on the planet and features some of the hottest games around. With over half a dozen different leagues to choose from with prizes up to half a million dollars, the gaming league industry is a booming business that has grown massively over the past decade. From the PS3 league to the Xbox 360 league to every platform possible, there's something for everyone, provided they're willing to pay the entry fee and pass qualifying.

The Primary Video Gaming League

Major League Gaming has become one of the biggest leagues for console and personal computer gaming. It provides annual tournaments for up to half a dozen games with the lineup changing to accommodate the latest releases. It was founded in 2002 and has grown to be popular amongst many gamers, both with those who compete, but also with those who just wish to watch the live events and online shows. With both new and old competitors joining the fray regularly, the fans always have someone to root for. 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.

The Game Lineup

The Halo series made its debut back with Halo: Combat Evolved, which was used in the earliest MLG tournaments. Today, both Halo 3 and Halo: Reach have their own tournaments featuring four versus four team battles on varying maps. It provides high-intensity, twitch-based gameplay in a first-person shooter (FPS) format. Joining these two games comes the venerable Call of Duty series. Starting off with Modern Warfare, Modern Warfare 2 is the current Call of Duty game on show. It features similar gameplay to Halo, but in a more realistic setting and somewhat more depth.

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. The first real-time strategy game to be in any of Major League Gaming's tournaments, Starcraft II won't disappoint. A booming success in Korea, both its predecessor and the newly released sequel are created by the venerable Blizzard. It has excellent support for competitive gameplay and this will be no different.

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.