Slashdot Mirror
Domain: mlgpro.com
Stories and comments across the archive that link to mlgpro.com.
Stories · 7
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Pro Video Game Leagues — Another Economic Casualty
Anonymusing writes "Not long ago, professional video gamer Emmanuel Rodriguez earned a base $30K salary plus prize winnings in the Championship Gaming Series. However, with the economy suffering, sponsors like DirecTV and News Corporation are backing out, leaving Rodriguez with a more typical job for a 23-year-old: store clerk. After the demise of the CPL and the Championship Gaming Series last year, the only major pro gamer league left is Major League Gaming, though it expects to turn a profit this year — some of its players earn more than six figures from the $1 million in prizes given throughout the season, while others are putting off college to work on their gaming careers." A recent story in the LA Times discusses how the games industry slow-down is hitting game developers hard as well. Conversely, the used game market is seeing significant growth — it'll be interesting to see what publishers learn from this. -
The Good and Bad of In-Game Ads
Dyslexia writes "MLG takes a look at the emerging trend of in-game advertising and explores the ways in which it can prove to be both good and bad for the industry and consumers." From the article: "When done in a way that isn't consistent with the themes or purpose of a game, advertising can go terribly wrong--in extreme cases even crippling the gameplay, at which point it has gone too far. Advertising that draws the player out of the experience of their game rather than immerses them further into it walks a thin line and the benefits start to get outweighed by the detractions. The recent Counter-Strike debacle is an excellent example of in-game advertising going terribly wrong." -
The Good and Bad of In-Game Ads
Dyslexia writes "MLG takes a look at the emerging trend of in-game advertising and explores the ways in which it can prove to be both good and bad for the industry and consumers." From the article: "When done in a way that isn't consistent with the themes or purpose of a game, advertising can go terribly wrong--in extreme cases even crippling the gameplay, at which point it has gone too far. Advertising that draws the player out of the experience of their game rather than immerses them further into it walks a thin line and the benefits start to get outweighed by the detractions. The recent Counter-Strike debacle is an excellent example of in-game advertising going terribly wrong." -
On Single-Player Competition
Via Ars Technica, a post on the Major League Gaming site about the return of single-player competition (ala arcade games) with the likes of Xbox Live Arcade. From the article: "Once it stops being really enjoyable and just becomes work, you move on to another game and rarely come back. But imagining myself playing Resident Evil 4 with online leaderboards showing high scores in the missionary mode or a timed 'kill as many bad guys as you can' mini-game brings a smile to my face. I know for a fact I would be playing Super Mario Sunshine every now and then to try to get the fastest time for beating a certain level if there were leaderboards that everyone could plainly see after they beat a level." -
Father and Son Pro Gamer Team Wins Halo Tourney
theodp writes "What Matty and Moises Alou are to Major League Baseball, Poison and his 7-year-old nephew Lil' Poison are to Major League Gaming. Recently, the pair bested 550 Midway Mayhem contestants to take home 1st and 2nd place honors at the largest Halo tournament of all-time. The Chicago Journal reports that gaming prodigy Lil' Poison, who picked up a controller at age 2 and whupped his game-playing Dad into retirement, will be featured on 60 Minutes in January." -
The Story of a Halo 2 Champion
Sam Machkovech writes "My buddy Paul Kix of The Dallas Observer did some digging to uncover the life of Matt Leto (aka Zyos), whose track record places him in the top rankings of worldwide Halo & Halo 2 competitions. Professional gaming leagues are nothing new to those who know about the CPL, but this story shines a light at console-focused leagues like the MLG that may very well get the mainstream crowd interested in gaming as a viable sport, along with gamers like Zyos who buck negative stereotypes associated with hardcore gamers -- 'perhaps surprising, Leto's not a nerd. He's an athlete' -- while still kicking virtual ass. Show this article to your parents/spouses next time they harass you about your habit." -
Halo 2 Direct-feed Multiplayer Video Released
An anonymous reader writes "Bungie made an appearance at last weekend's Major League Gaming competition in Seattle, and they brought along a beta copy of Halo 2 for the contestants to play with. Major League Gaming recorded the games and gave some of that of footage to halo.bungie.org, who have turned it into a 122MB, 18-minute-long Quicktime video which is being distributed via BitTorrent. This is the first non-shakycam video footage of Halo 2 multiplayer to be released, and man, does it look good!"