Kurt Shintaku's Blog

OH YEAH.  The Major League Pro Circuit tournament episodes from 2007 finally got posted to Xbox Live Marketplace for $2/episode.

For the uninitiated, the Major League Gaming Pro Circuit is the most credible professional gaming league I’ve found out there on Xbox Live.  There’s actually serious money paid out to the winners and the tournaments are very professionally run.  Not to mention they’ve got serious sponsorship top to bottom.

And for the most part, it’s nothing but Halo 2.  As of this November, Halo 3 will be played.  And if I recall correctly, they introduced Gears of War too.  The Halo 2 tournaments are basically 4-on-4, with over 120 teams competing and only the top 32 get into the championship tournament at the end of the year.  It really has the electricity of March Madness, except it’s all about Halo.

In all seriousness, these games are not just well played by amazingly skilled gamers – the best in the industry – the shows are extremely well produced with great polish.  It makes you proud to watch the episodes and be a fan, it really does.

In 2006, they had little excerpts where they not only showed the competition, they talked about the players themselves, where they came from, and how they got to where they are.  This was particularly interesting because famous players like Tom "T-squared" Taylor, one of the most famous Halo players in the world is paid on a million dollar contract and you kinda wonder how he got there.  The famous ‘Zyos’ of original Halo fame is also a participant as is ‘Walshy’ & the ‘Ogre’ twins – 3 of the most dangerous team players in the world. 

And then there’s ‘Karma’, the est one-on-one Halo 2 player in the world… and he proved it by not just winning the championship one-on-one tournament, but NEVER LOSING A ONE-ON-ONE TOURNAMENT THROUGHOUT THE ENTIRE SEASON.  (7 tournament wins, no losses.  As in not a single player in the league ever won a one-on-one tournament other than Karma.  How good is THAT?)

And as a bonus, they usually show the secrets of some expert techniques.  Like the famous BXR move from Halo 2.  Or the ‘peek shot’ technique.  Or how to get rocket launcher in Battle Creek without climbing the hill.

If you haven’t checked out MLG’s web site, go there at http://www.mlgpro.com, then go download an episode of the 2007 season on Xbox Live.  You’ll be glad you did.