XBox 360 League - The Major Competitions And Games

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.

MLG

Founded in 2002, it's the foremost in video gaming leagues. It provides annual tournaments for people to compete in, usually with six major games. The most recent of the Halo series is always present with the latest tournament using Halo 3 and Halo: Reach. Furthermore, if the game is not exclusive to a single console, but instead present on at least the PS3 and any other one, the PS3 version will always be used. The tournaments take place both online and offline, with many live events held all over the world. However, these live events sometimes only apply to specific games, consoles or players.

The Games

The Halo series is an arcade-like first person shooter (FPS) that provides many close-quarters maps and levels for players to face off against. However, there are also larger maps with vehicles and differing objectives, making the series perfect to suit many different roles. With it's insane popularity and large fan base, it's perfect to be used as standard fare for any major gaming league.

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.

Cheating

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.