Major League Gaming in San Diego

MLG, the world's largest professional video game league, made its second 2008 Pro Circuit stop in San Diego this past weekend, June 21-23. The weekend turned out to be one filled with the usual excitement and exuberant atmosphere, but it was also the stage for surprises. As the weekend unfolded, fans embarked on an emotional roller coaster of ups and downs with new announcements from the league among other things.

The live coverage available at www.mlgpro.com was extraordinary as usual. MLG ESPN Saturday Night kicked off with a startling announcement from MLG's very own Chris Puckett announcing that Gears of War would make an additional appearance on the 2008 Pro Circuit at their next event in Orlando (which is approaching quickly on the weekend of July 11). Fans of the Gears of War series were thrilled, and were relieved to discover that their collaborative has finally been answered.

The excitement in the venue was soon raised as the Halo 3 Championship Bracket was underway. This would lead to one of the most incredible matches of the 2008 Pro Circuit - and possibly even of video game history. Final Boss - champions of the first 2008 Pro Circuit tournament in the Meadowlands and also the most established gaming franchise of all time - would test their skill against a seemingly unknown team from the Open Bracket in Round 3 known as Believe the Hype. The match would be a best of 5 series, and did not start off well for Final Boss or their fans as they suffered a quick loss in the first Team Slayer game type. Shortly thereafter, Believe the Hype managed to out-play and out-skill them in every aspect of the game and managed to be the first team in video game history to send Final Boss into the Losers Bracket so early on into the tournament.

Once in the Loser's Bracket, Final Boss would delay their ultimate destiny with a quick victory over team Breaking Point. From there they would advance to play against a favorable team in Trigger's Down. Keep in mind: Final Boss had never placed below 2nd place at an MLG event - until now. Perhaps their confidence had been rattled earlier on in the event, but that is no excuse for them to fall so early on in this tournament. Trigger's Down was able to capitalize on a situation that was seemingly unfavorable to them as they were forced to face off against the best Halo team of all time in order to keep themselves from going home early. Instead, they forced Final Boss out in 3 games; which would be seen as a monumental collapse for aforementioned team, and Final Boss would recieve their lowest ever placing at an MLG Competition: 7th place.

Although the weekend turned out poorly for team Final Boss and their fans, there was still much to be played. Team Str8 Rippin was ahead of the rest of the competition after winning the Winner's Bracket Finals Match and would eventually face off against previous competitors' team Instinct. Led by Mackeo, team Instinct had significantly less experience than Str8 Rippin going into the match, but despite that, they played fiercely. Inevitably, Instinct was out-played by Tsquared and the rest of the Str8 Rippin squad and settled happily for the 2nd place prize while Str8 Rippin was able to claim the 1st place prize of $20,000 for the first time since MLG's Pro Circuit stop in Philadelphia in 2005.

The weekend also saw the beginning of two new games featured on the MLG Pro Circuit in Rainbow Six: Vegas 2 and World of Warcraft. Teams MoB RAGE and Frag Dominant were able to claim victories in their respective inaugural tournaments. The San Diego live coverage also set unprecedented records for viewership.

• 270,000 total unique Male 12-34 viewers
• 81 minutes average viewing time per viewer
• 1.4 million video streams
• 360,000 hours of video consumed"

(Statistics taken from www.mlgpro.com)

All in all, the weekend was a large success for Major League Gaming and many of the competitors attending the San Diego event. The future looks promising with much to be had, and with Final Boss' collapse, it now seems that anything is possible in the gaming world. Expect the unexpected at MLG Orlando on the weekend of July 11-13.