An Outsider's Look into the Fighting Game Community ? Shoryuken

Ken Hannahs of Nightmare Mode recently made the trip to Final Round XV in Atlanta to experience the fighting game community first hand. While he admits he was a little nervous after the recent happenings on Cross Assault, he still felt it was important to offer his viewpoint on our community from the perspective of an outsider. Rather than being the lascivious snake pit the gaming media has made it out to be in the past few weeks, he found a thriving family that was a little rough around the edges, but completely accepting. His article is an endearing look at a group we?ve all known and loved for years, that speaks volumes on the culture from the valuable viewpoint of someone who was expecting animosity but instead found an open community, brought together by their devotion to fighting games. Here?s a little excerpt to get you started, but definitely head over to the full article to read the rest.

I?ve never seen a community this bombastic about their passion before. They?re so into this, in fact, that they will stay in or around the convention hall for sixteen hours a day (leaving only when the Westin hotel staff demands that they do so), three days in a row, just working on perfecting their strategy, debating the strongest anchor, and tier lists. ?To be among them is to sense a static buzz ? a mad diligence, the irreconcilable desire to win, an unstoppable drive for perfection ? that permeates the air and insinuates itself into the heart of even the outsider journalist. ?The FGC is all about the game.

Through actually going and attending Final Round XV, I have a new-found respect for these gamers that rest somewhere outside of the gaming proper. ?Unfortunately, this insularity spurs on a general misunderstanding of their gaming environment. ?I make no assertions as to whether or not there is a significant amount of players who are sexist or racist, but I can unequivocally state is that I do not believe the FGC is based on this assertion that Bahktanian made on Cross Assault. ?Indeed, there seemed to be an overwhelming sense of altruism and inclusion at Final Round, best described to me by Renzo ?DMG iPeru? Vigo, a veteran of both the first-person shooter and the fighting game community. ??The fighting game community is one of the most open communities ever. People come from all over the country, and some of them don?t even bring sticks. People will let you borrow their stick, even if they don?t know you. ?We all played to be here, why would we hate??

Source: Nightmare Mode, tip via DaRabidDuckie

Source: http://shoryuken.com/2012/03/13/an-outsiders-look-into-the-fighting-game-community/

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