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Major League Gaming hosts WoW competition
Major League Gaming, which is apparently the parent company of WoW Insider favorite MMO-Champion, have announced that there will be a new PC gaming circuit, featuring our favorite MMO. The circuit will have events in San Diego, from June 13th–15th; Orlando, July 11th–13th; and Dallas, October 3–5. Each event will have $22,500 in prizes -- it's no Blizzard Arena Tournament, but that's still a lot of money.The circuit will be played on HP Blackbird 002 computers, so I guess you won't have to worry about frame rates (that thing has 1 GB of VRAM). The competition will be 3v3, just like Blizzard's tourney. Only 32 teams will be allowed to register, and you need to have an account set up on MLG's site first; registration opens May 15. They say "more details on rules and the official format will be released on May 15th" -- maybe Blizzard will let them use a special tournament server? At any rate, it looks like Blizzard may have been more successful at turning WoW into an esport than we thought.[Thanks, Jeff]
Dr Pepper becomes official drink of Major League Gaming
Although it's taken for granted that Mountain Dew is the major brand soda staking claim to the gamer demographic, Dr Pepper announced today it is the official beverage of the 2008 Major League Gaming Pro Circuit. The deal is a "cross-platform partnership" which includes a "Dr Pepper Ultimate Gaming House" at MLG events and a co-branded online collegiate gaming championship.The Dr Pepper gaming house (an elaborate tent-like facility) will be present at every MLG event and includes various rooms "designed by premier gaming publishers" sporting the latest in gaming equipment. The house will also host pro-gamers and "high-profile entertainment and sports celebrities" to play against -- according to the press release -- "Dr Pepper fans." Do you have to bring a stack of Dr Pepper UPCs to prove allegiance or something?The online collegiate gaming championship will identify the best college gamers (via migpro.com) in the country and they'll vie for an award of their own and a chance to attend the MLG Championship. If Dr Pepper gets traction off this deal we're expecting Team Fortress 2, CoD4 or Counter-Strike branded soda cans.
Rainbow Six Vegas 2 shoots up MLG inspired map
Today Major League Gaming (MLG), the professional videogame league, announced that it would be collaborating with Ubisoft on the development of the upcoming Rainbow Six Vegas 2. R6V2, which marks the 10th Anniversary of the Rainbow Six franchise, features an "MLG Map" which depicts an MLG event at the Las Vegas Convention Center. MLG and Ubi Soft worked closely on the development of the map which was designed with competitive gaming in mind, wonder why that is.With news of the new map comes word that MLG will include Rainbow Six Vegas 2 in its 2008 Pro Circuit, including a special release event for the game in April. The MLG Pro Circuit 2008 kicks off on April 11 and will be covered by ESPN.com. Hopefully that means we'll be able to catch reruns of the event on ESPN 8: The Ocho.%Gallery-16873%
Free and Premium MLG content on XBLM
Xbox Live Marketplace has a couple of videos and a Gamer picture pack from MLG, or Major League Gaming. The pack costs 80 MS Points and the videos are free. One video is sort of an introduction into the world of competitive gaming, while the other sort follows around one of the top tier players, Walshy, and is a lot meatier than the former. The video follows him around and gives insight into the life of a "professional gamer", and does a good job of representing those who compete. To say the least, he makes a bunch of really cool t-shirt designs. Definitely worth a watch, if you're interested in seeing what MLG is all about.
MLG adds Gears of War to the 2007 season
In an unexpected announcement, Major League Gaming has added Xbox 360 hit Gears of War to its 2007 season, starting with June's event held at the Meadowlands. For the rest of MLG's 2007 season, Gears 4v4 tournaments will be held at every event with the total prize payouts reaching $140,000 and the finals awarding $25,000 to the team who topples the competition. If interested in competing, be sure to head over to MLG's website to register for events and to get all the details. Who knows, maybe you could be the next "big thing" in gaming.[Via Amped eSports]
Major League Gaming signs distribution deal with Flame Ventures
Major League Gaming has stepped up its efforts to gain mainstream media coverage, inking a deal with media development and production company Flame Ventures. The partnership is expected to expand the reach of MLG programming, bringing more competitive gaming events to television and mobile video. Could MLG be the next World Series of Poker? Place your bets.See also: Major League Gaming on your TV? Major League Gaming trumps other gaming shows
MLG signs gaming pros, shells out $1.75 million
The little gaming league that could, Major League Gaming (MLG) sent word that they've signed seven more professional gamers today. Halo 2 teams Carbon and the rest of Str8 Rippin (Tsquared, the fourth member, was signed back in June) all were granted professional status getting paid a big ole sum of $250,000 each. As of now MLG has signed three entire teams of four; Final Boss, Str8 Rippin and Carbon to long term contracts totaling $3 million. And now fellow fanboys is the time when we all wallow in self pity wishing we had mad Halo 2 skills. Damn you sniper rifle and those team strategies![Via Joystiq]
Major League Gaming drops $1.75 million to sign more pros
Major League Gaming has secured team Carbon, the four-man national Halo 2 champion, with a $1 million group contract, and signed additional $250,000 deals with three members of team Str8 Rippin. Having signed similar contracts with team Final Boss and Str8 Rippin captain Tom Taylor back in June, MLG now has exclusive rights to three of the nation's top l33t pro-gaming teams.You can currently watch these fine young lads do battle on USA Network's coverage of the 2006 Boost Mobile MLG Pro Circuit on Saturday mornings.[Thanks, Raymond]
Halo 2 team signs million-dollar deal
And mom said we'd never get anywhere with these games. Gamasutra is reporting that Major League Gaming has just signed the United States' top Halo 2 team -- Final Boss -- for 1 million dollars (cue Dr. Evil). The cash happy organization also signed MTV True Life stud Tsquared to an exclusive contract worth $250,000. According to one of the now filthy rich pro gamers: "It's a huge honor to be part of the first gaming team to get this kind of money," said David "Walshy" Walsh. "This kind of contract just shows how serious MLG is about building the League. Three years ago I never could have imagined that I'd be making more money than my parents playing video games!"This is actually pretty big news. It seems like it won't be much longer before we start to see competitive video gaming as a major TV event or big name players starting to be mentioned in the same breath as today's other sports stars. Our little video game baby seems to have all growns up.
