Pro Gaming: an oxymoron?

At first glance most people would not consider video games to be a viable outlet as a career or at the very best a pro sport. The reality is that video games are becoming more mainstream everyday, even becoming considered a pro sport. Recently ESPN began airing a monthly television show dedicated solely to gaming, even going so far as to air a “Top Ten” of halo plays. As with all pro sports, going pro in gaming takes a lot of dedication, practice, and skill. Pro gaming events boast prizes in the upwards of $10,000, and even have been known to include endorsement deals with major companies looking to market themselves to gamers. Halo 2 was originally the best game to get into if a person wanted to go pro and make the most money, Halo 3 has become the new standard of that. The statistics today show that there have been 792,192 unique players logging within the last 24 hours playing a total of 1,699,448 total matches logged in that same time frame. As Bungie rolls out their new matchmaking play list setup in a free-for-all tournament style, there will also be a tournament sponsored by the United States Army which will allow U.S. residents to compete in a tournament bracket with the finalists being flown to New York to vie for the $50,000 prize. Halo 3 was released on Sept. 25th 2007, so it is still a relatively young game but already there are contests and promotions that give the average casual gamer a chance to compete with their peers and win prizes. The casual gamer can even try their hand at going semi-pro or even pro by going to several of the tournaments of the gaming season hosted by the MLG or Major League of Gaming. All pro and semi-pro spots are already reserved, but by paying the $240 entrance pass fee, an amateur can compete and gain much needed exposure to further their career in gaming. As the gaming industry consistently proves that it is not going anywhere soon, and begins to out perform even feature films, gaming moves to the forefront and what once began as a group of people getting together to play games in their basement on the old black and white television, has become a pillar of modern entertainment today.

Music to game by

As any gamer knows, a good feature in any blockbuster game is the music. The most notable coming to mind would be the fine tunes composed by Marty O'Donnell of Bungie Studios for the Halo Trilogy which blends classical instruments with some electronica/rock elements. Music is easily a staple for any person at any point in their daily routine, and multiplayer gaming is no exception. Gamers choose music that typically gets them excited, pumped, or otherwise fired up to do what needs to be done.My personal preferences for music vary based on the game I am playing, and whether or not I need to hear the action in the game. While playing Halo 2 multiplayer, I compiled a mixed CD that had some of my favorite music on it which would get me excited, and some has even been included the machinima series "Shadowfall" that I am working on.The Outsider [resident reinholder remix] A Perfect Circle-Resident Evil Apocolypse Soundtrack {2004}Bloodwork- 36 Crazyfists - Resident Evil Apocolypse Soundtrack {2004}Passive- A Perfect Circle- Emotive{2004}Firestarter-Prodigy-Jock Rock 2000 {2000}Hypnotise-System of a Down-Hypnotise{2005}Whats it feel like to be a ghost-Taking Back Sunday- Louder Now{2006}Duality-Slipknot-Vol. 3 The Subliminal Verses{2004}Getting Away with Murder-Papa Roach-Getting away with Murder{2004}Breaking the habit-Linkin Park-Meteora{2003}I'm gonna get my gun-D12-D12 World{2003} Naturally there are more songs that could easily fit into this list, but these are the top ten that always get me fired up and ready to frag like a maniac.