Major League Gaming's 2008 season kicks off live this weekend on ESPN.

[ldi222]

ESPN will be broadcasting live this weekend Saturday Night April 12 from 8:00-10:00 p.m. and on Sunday April 13th from 3:00-6:00 p.m for the championship of the first official Major League Gaming Halo3 tournament and the beginning of the 2008 season. The Major League Gaming (http://www.mlgpro.com) website will also be streaming live during this weekends event.

I am almost as excited by this as I am when the NFL is about to start because this year promises to provide the most professional coverage and analysis to date, will have a larger audience and competition pool than ever before and has a bit more history to go on when it comes to some of the biggest rivalries and talent of the top teams in the league.

Personally, Im interested in seeing if the top team from last season "Final Boss" will dominate in this early event as they have in the past. There is a lot of speculation about this from some insiders in the HALO community, some who think they have lost it and others who think they are just holding back to perform when it counts. I have started a project to cover this season and have begun a series of posts previewing the top talent to compete this year starting with Final Boss.

If you are interested in learning more about this years competition, I will be posting additional profiles of the best teams and players this week building up to the event @ http://vgsportswire.blogspot.com/

I hope this doesnt come off as a shameless plug, I am also opening myself up for some abuse as this place hasnt been too friendly for professional televised gaming coverage.

[Baron Samedi]

Should be worth keeping tabs on. Do you know if ESPN is planning on broadcasting any other MLG tourneys?

[CaptStu]

Parts of this should be news.

[bKangy]

It's not that I hate the concept of televised competitive gaming, it's just how overblown and cheesy it's presented to the viewer as. It just makes us all look terrible.

[Mdot23]

Is it true that they took out equipment for MLG competitions? I think that could have added such a great dynamic. I would have loved to see how some of the better teams use certain pieces to their advantage.

[ldi222]

Should be worth keeping tabs on. Do you know if ESPN is planning on broadcasting any other MLG tourneys?

ESPN will be covering the complete 2008 MLG schedule, here is a link. (http://sports.espn.go.com/videogames/news/story?id=3241119)

[Baron Samedi]

ESPN will be covering the complete 2008 MLG schedule, here is a link. (http://sports.espn.go.com/videogames/news/story?id=3241119)

Oh, so only console FPS :(

[ldi222]

Is it true that they took out equipment for MLG competitions? I think that could have added such a great dynamic. I would have loved to see how some of the better teams use certain pieces to their advantage.

Good question and unfortunately, the equipment was removed. Here is MLG's official explanation (http://www.mlgpro.com/playlist):

Each piece of equipment was removed for individual reasons. Here’s a short explanation of each one:

* Power Drainer – Too powerful: It is too easy to throw a power drainer into a room with a grenade and pick up easy double and triple kills.
* Regenerator – Too powerful: It is extremely difficult to kill opponents when they are sitting inside the regenerator unless a well placed rocket or sniper head shot is made.
* Bubble Shield – Slows down the pace of the game and promotes camping. Also unfit for objective games when a team is team shooting the objective carrier and he simply throws down the bubble shield to regain shields and either camps in it or runs away.
* Deployable Cover – Slows down the pace of the game. (see bubble shield)
* Portable Grav Lift – If we feel players should be able to reach an area with a gravity lift, we will create a way up permanently and not only once every three minutes.
* Radar Jammer – MLG settings all turn the radar off, so this wouldn't do you any good anyway.

[NationalKato]

I'd like to check this out, only if to support videogaming being added to a 'respectable' network - or any network at all.

I just hope the color commentary isn't filled with stupid 'in-joke' terminology and catchphrases. The point here is to treat it with as much respect as is possible and bring new audiences into the fold by including them, not talking above them.

[ldi222]

Im going to use this thread to post some "preview profiles" that Ive written about some of the most established professional teams in the upcoming Halo3 MLG coverage starting this weekend on ESPN. Ironically, the posts I haven't promoted happens to be the two part series that started my blog titled "Professional Gaming is a Sport" which by chance has been hyped up by gamefaq's on their most recent poll titled: "would you take performance enhancing drugs to be be better at a game."

Leaving that to ones own discovery, I am going to follow up this post with two profiles of two of the top MLG contenders leading up to this weekend's tournament in the Meadowlands. I hope the result is increased appreciation and enjoyment of the coverage and an evolving viewpoint on what defines pro gamers and pro gaming leagues.

[ldi222]

<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://bp0.blogger.com/_TA9X2gXVCBk/R_spHEbX-GI/AAAAAAAAAAY/ujMOiHRsgZw/s1600-h/vegas_fbisthegreatest.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; float: right; cursor: pointer;" src="http://bp0.blogger.com/_TA9X2gXVCBk/R_spHEbX-GI/AAAAAAAAAAY/ujMOiHRsgZw/s320/vegas_fbisthegreatest.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5186784597271640162" border="0" /></a><p style="text-align: left;"> </p><div style="text-align: left;">A lot has changed since the MLG hosted its first event in New York 2004 and since those early days every aspect of the competition has grown in size and stature. The early pro teams of those days are not intact as different players have faded in and out of the limelight or combined to form greater challenges to the leading competition however some of the most seasoned competitors of that era are still at the top of their game today and have become bonafide celebrities in this young sport earning a successful career in professional gaming. Among these top players and teams, if the MLG were to define its first dynasty, there is no disputing that its name would be Final Boss.

Throughout the course of the 2006 and 2007 seasons, Final Boss has finished first in 8 out of 13 events, has reached the finals in every one capping last season with a victory in the Las Vegas Championships. They have earned hundreds of thousands of dollars in prize money, inked a three year one million dollar contract with the MLG and gained multiple sponsors including NBA's Washington Wizard Gilbert Arenas.

FB has proven that they can adapt to different play styles and have pioneered innovative and effective strategies however, with a new season comes new adversity and there are a few factors this year which have some wondering, can they do it again?

It has been a rewarding and tumultuous offsesason for different members of the team. Strongside blogs of a relaxing family vacation in Florida, Ogre2 enjoys stylish clothes and condominium investing, Ogre1 mentions the perks of sponsorship such as "shoes, custom shoes, custom jackets, PS3's, and some Patron," and Walshy thanks his fans for support as he endures a difficult time which he describes as:
</div> <blockquote>"A fight outside of a bar that ended up in handcuffs? Friend from High School beaten to death downtown? Breaking up with my girlfriend of 2 years? Spinning off the highway at 60 miles per hour? Losing about four thousand dollars as a nice cherry to top it off? These last couple months have been a killer roller coaster ride"</blockquote><p></p>Further challenging FB's competitive edge is the debut of Halo3 on the professional circuit and with a new game comes subtle and dramatic changes with regard to weapon balancing, maps to learn, MLG specific rule tweaks (which have been fine tuned even over the last month) and brand new gameplay dynamics completely unique to HALO3. The MLG has also added another twist of its own with the launch of its "GameBattles" online ladder ranking system which is opening up the competition to a larger than ever talent pool and being used as the official seeding bracket for the 08 season.

This is a distinct break from the past as traditionally, the top talent might informally compete in custom online matches but generally the real preparation took place in person among the elite in more lag resistant LAN "scrimmages." The reason for the LAN preference is due to the "host" factor with online gaming as there will never be a fair playing field when dealing with latency over broad geographic areas.

It may come as a surprise at first that Final Boss is currently ranked 12th on the GameBattles Internet ladder and will not be seeded number one at this years April event, but upon closer examination, the leading indication is that FB takes their LAN practice far more seriously and with their formidable experience under pressure at live events will have no trouble proving themselves when it counts.

The most recent indication of Final Boss' current competitiveness is revealed in last weeks <a href="http://www.mlgpro.com/forum/showthread.php?p=3530171#post3530171">scrimmage results</a> over a 4 day series vs Team Classic. According to Ogre 2 on the official MLG forums, as of day three the tally was 52-35-1 in favor of FB.

As we approach the remaining days before the kickoff of this years 08 season, the stakes are high for Final Boss. Coming in as the team with the greatest legacy and most wins of any team to date, along with returning champion status, nothing less than first place will satisfy their expectations. The MLG promises ever improving coverage this season with live streams all weekend and <a href="http://www.mlgpro.com/?q=node/205376">Live ESPN broadcasts</a> starting Saturday night and continuing on Sunday afternoon. It has been almost half a year since Halo3 has been in gamers hands, and this weekend will finally begin to answer the question: Will Final Boss Do It Again?

<span style="font-style: italic;">FB takes on Team Classic in a recent King of the Hill scrimmage on Construct.</span>

<object height="345" width="420"><param name="movie" value="http://gameroom.mlgpro.com/v/dP3udeUbTDU"><param name="wmode" value="transparent"><embed src="http://gameroom.mlgpro.com/gameroom/v/dP3udeUbTDU" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" height="345" width="420"></embed></object>

[ldi222]

Unless you are already a fan of the MLG Halo Circuit, the names Legit, Tsquared, Neighbor and Elamite Warrior might not be familiar, but if you ask any serious HALO player, they will tell you these pro gamers that make up team Str8 Rippin are disciplined and determined going into this years Halo3 season and many are predicting their success in the Meadowlands.</p> <p>Originally formed in 2005, the only member remaining from those early days is Tsquared. Through his tenacity and leadership, he has managed to recruit and build the team as it is today and has been rewarded for his persistence and success with a <a href="http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/panasonic-projector-systems-company-partners-with-major-league-gaming-to-sponsor-pro-gamer-tom-tsquared-taylor">Panasonic Projectors</a> sponsorship. Gameindustry.biz lists some of Tsquared's achievements as &quot;appearing in the Wall Street Journal, ranked #1 by Stuff Magazine in the &quot;Top 20 Under 30 Power List&quot;, starred in MTV's &quot;True Life: I want to be a professional gamer,&quot; and featured on G4TV's &quot;XPlay&quot; gaming tutorial.</p> <p>Describing his recent success, Tsquared comments that &quot;This is my first endorsement/sponsorship that I've ever received, crazy right? After 6 years of dedicating my life to professional gaming I finally did it. A major company like Panasonic getting involved with gaming is one of the first step to this sport blowing up. It just goes to show everybody that there's no handouts in life and you have to work for what you receive.&quot; A long way from how he started by saving lunch money and hitchhiking to early MLG events, sleeping on floors, in cars and even on an air conditioner to compete. </p> <p>Despite a lot of adversity and considerable teammate swapping throughout earlier seasons and tournaments going into 2007, they finally came into their own as the team they are now by reaching the finals in Chicago late last season. Str8 finished second in that event but just reaching the finals was a feat that only Carbon and Final Boss had accomplished in nearly a year of professional play. Str8 Rippin went on to win the following Orlando tournament which was no easy task considering they had to face Final Boss twice. The Las Vegas Championships were somewhat of a disappointment for Str8 as they finished third and lost to Carbon ending the season with a taste of success but a thirst for more and a lot of time to wait. </p> <p>Legit who is known for his style of mental awareness and strategic adaptability describes the loss as &quot;We underperformed and can only blame ourselves. We had a strong mindset and got out done by Carbon, I wouldn’t even say out skilled, they used the mental game against us getting inside our heads. But it worked, so good for them.&quot; </p> <p>Proving that they can win the four teammates have gotten to know each others styles better during the offseason and have embraced the debut of this years online Gamebattle competition by winning the tournament bracket and getting seeded number one for the MLG Meadowlands. Their ladder record is a stunning 78 - 5 with a .940 winning percentage. Taking the number one spot on this ladder was a goal for them this year and while online success does not equal LAN success it has certainly demonstrated team chemistry and focus as they go into this event. </p> <p>Str8 Rippin has an aggressive posture but only one recent championship to back it up so far. Coming into this tournament ranked #1, a lot of attention is going to be on them to see if they can start the season off with a big win and define themselves as the team to beat in HALO3 or if they will finish strong but still struggle for the top spot. One thing is certain, no one is going to underestimate them.</p> <div class="wlWriterSmartContent" id="scid:5737277B-5D6D-4f48-ABFC-DD9C333F4C5D:cb7bb6cd-cc82-42a8-b643-89be4dcf872f" style="padding-right: 0px; display: inline; padding-left: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; margin: 0px; padding-top: 0px"><div><object width="425" height="355"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/5FsUl7Sx4hU&amp;hl=en"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/5FsUl7Sx4hU&amp;hl=en" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="355"></embed></object></div></div>

[Skull3r]

Did anybody actually watch the series? I actually had a lot of homework that I needed to pound away so I just put this on the computer screen while I was working. It was pretty epic. I think Ant and Legendz from team classic actually played very well throughout the entire series. FB's experience in the end help them make the comeback that they needed to win the series. I'm really glad that there are a lot more teams to watch this series.

Next time, someone should set up a chat server, or a vent server that we can all join while watching.

[ldi222]

I kind of let off of this thread thinking maybe it was presumptuous and didn't have any EA interest. I did watch the live streams over the weekend along with watching the MLG forums and will be writing an analysis for vgsportswire in the coming days however more on topic.

On Saturday night I was very let down, I had misread the ESPN coverage and thought it would be live on TV but unfortunately it was college hockey instead. The stream on MLGPRO.com was laggy, chirping and the audio was 25 seconds behind the video which made the coverage and the same looping commercials extremely annoying, especially during the series between Str8 and Carbon. I actually went to a friends house to watch it and it was so laggy it was unwatchable.

However, the MLG realized the problem and upped the streams considerably on Sunday and I had relatively lag free coverage that truly reminded me of the same experience I had when I watched NFL on Sunday. Watching Final Boss come back from the losers bracket to demoralize Team Classic was an example of skill, experience and teamwork vs raw talent when on stage for the final event. TC came out swinging and did well early but FB fighting from a series down by the end had them quiet, unconfident and not communicating while Ogre 1 proved how much of a beast he was even when Walshy had poor stats in some games. They really came together as a team and proved again their dominance in Halo3 as they have in Halo2 and Halo1.

Some are talking about how they had an advantage by their ability to realize the TC had talent (due to their online performance in the Gamebattles Ladder) and paid for them to visit and scrimmage for a few days before the Meadowlands event, along with FB's suite of 8 screens and unlimited Red Bulls which they hosted Instinct for practice during the event (the joys of sponsorship).

There are a number of lessons and insight to take out of this first tournament, one is that Final Boss is focusing on LAN's, can recognize the best talent ahead of time, will hold back strats (possibly during practice) and maintain composure on the front stage when it matters along with creating an environment during the competition to engage wth the best teams during the event itself.

As far as the coverage a lot of Halo fanboys talk smack about how the coverage was lame blah blah but I thought the commentary was for the most part outstanding if a bit unpolished. The saying "light a fire under their asses" was used throughout which struck me as a little odd but their advice to the amateurs about not chasing a kill or how to slay before taking position for KOTH or Oddball was on point along with their anticipation of switching to to the hot player when they were about to go on a spree was pretty spectacular.

The sponsored video of Blackout with the slam dunk sticky in the basketball hoop was pretty awesome as well along with the kick ass ESPN Top 10 with that one shot sniper overkill and cone barrel kill via well placed nade out of sight was was wild.

The conclusion that I came away with from this coverage is that while still in its infancy, there is no doubt that before long college hockey will not trump this sport and if you look at the activity of the MLG forums you can see there is a hardcore audience that thrives on this esport and a mass market waiting to be educated.

The results added credibility to online performance despite lag and host issues. The traditional teams like Carbon and FB still proved they are top tier by their LAN performance, but a story like TC which came from online only and just learned about MLG by ranking up and communicating with top players and finally gaining a paid trip to compete opens the door and legitimacy of any team that wants to take it to the highest level. When there were 3 top teams to watch in HALO2 there are 5 or 8 in Halo3 as the competitive environment and rewards expand. This is great for the sport and indicates a future that is unpredicatble and unrecognized.

The smartest thing for any team that wants to compete with FB is to emulate what they have proven works because right now with a game that seems so random they have proven incredibly dominant. Will they continue to dominate throughout the season or will another team learn that it takes a combination of online skill, hosted scrimmages and a productive practice environment to enable the composure and ability when on the front stage finals.
http://media.mlgpro.com/site/images/features/FinalBoss.jpg

[NationalKato]

Thanks for the coverage, ldi222. Keep it up!

[Skull3r]

I know we shouldn't be paying attention to the gear that the pro's use. Whatever works for them doesn't necessarily work for us. But we can see here, that all of FB's people are using sennheisers with the exception of Walshy, who uses another set of cans that i don't know. Team Classic and a lot of the other teams were using the astro gaming a40's. T squared was even complaining at one point that he couldn't hear the lifts in his cans. This might not be important to anyone else, but I was actually making the decision to get these headphones. I'm thinking I'm going to stick with my sennheisers 595hd's.