Response to Hold Back to Block – Everything is a “Product”

I watched a video the other day, from a group that I’ve enjoyed a lot in the past – Hold Back to Block. If you haven’t seen it, they created a killer documentary on Killer Instinct that is almost required viewing if you’re a fan of fighting games. This is in addition to a ton […]

Confronting Labor Abuse in Communities

CW: Links to stories of sexual abuse An owner that doesn’t want to pay the staff that organizes for him, let alone refer to them as “employees,” because “then I have to treat it like a business.” Management that sacks an employee the day after booking them a flight to a foreign event, forcing them […]

Insert Coin to Continue

I heard a great story once: It’s California in the late 30’s. A lawyer, fresh out of Duke University School of Law, is trying his first case in the Los Angeles Municipal Court. It’s nothing too serious – a civil case over some money owed. But what should be simple turns sour when the lawyer […]

The Slippery Slope Arguments About FGC Issues Are Pointless Punditry

When did everyone become a pundit? I don’t mean the strictest definition, which is a so-called expert in an area giving their opinion to the public; I mean more so in how every argument is longer about defending or arguing for anything on principle, but defending or arguing for what the reaction would be by […]

Fighting the Rot in the Fighting Game Community Pt. 2 – Star Players and Power Imbalances

A couple weeks ago, I published the first of multiple blog posts which looked to examine how the fighting game community (FGC), as a whole, was uniquely served to set up situations of abuse and harassment, largely in response to a wave of incidents that have come to light in the recent month. The initial […]

Fighting the Rot in the Fighting Game Community Pt. 1 – Cronyism

Last time I wrote for the blog, I was covering my trip to the Evolution tournament in Las Vegas and the positives and negatives of that trip. As I was writing that piece, I found myself having to frequently amend it as the days went on because it seemed like there was a new scandal […]

Road Diaries – For Evo, It’s Always a Step Forward and Two Steps Back

Evolution 2019 was, as usual, the biggest tournament of the year so far, and once again I made the trip up to Sin City and the Mandalay Bay resort/casino in order to participate. Ever since I was first aware of the greater fighting game community, I always recognized Evo as it. The I-Ching. The sum of […]

Loose Screws – The FGC Should Be Hostile To Shady Organizations

One of the more heartwarming things I saw come out of the FGC in the past year was the Michigan Masters event that took place back in April. It was a regional event in Farmington Hills that was expanding, after a few years, to a 3-day event. While it was not without the usual trials […]

Fuudo for Thought: FGC Content Needs To Be More Critical

In the past few days, a discussion on Fighting Game Community content was started up on Twitter, which is a pretty cyclical topic that usually makes the rounds every few months. This time it was started by Japan-based commentator and streamer MajinObama: Been saying this for a while now, and it is tight to see […]

Loose Screws – 3 Years Later, Street Fighter V Still Can’t Escape Its Own Shadow

One of the joys of being in the Fighting Game Community is the long wait ’til December, when the Capcom Pro Tour for Street Fighter V finally concludes. The CPT is a nearly year-long odyssey for its players, who have traveled the globe and entered many tournaments in order to earn enough points to make it […]