hutna daily
New (mostly misguided) article on iplaywinner.com argues for the return of bad behavior to fighting games.
I grew up in arcades, where people waited to play and you never knew if the older guys behind you might take a swing if you actually beat them. People yelled, punched cabinets and generally let their emotions run wild as they took a break from class, skipped school or even had the day off from work.
I love arcades. I love the social aspect: the idea of a room devoted to video games where people of all types gather and compete/cooperate in the name of fun. The picture this quote paints is not one of fun. It brings to mind broken arcade cabs, anti-social jerks and thugs who are at the arcade not to play games but to be bullies.
And when players do lose nowadays, they should stop putting decorum above honesty. Mad you lost? Don’t be afraid to say something about it. Just because it’s not ‘good sportsmanship’ to yell obscenities out loud doesn’t mean it is not, at times, warranted.
Listen, Mr Superfx, if that is your real name, just because it’s not ‘good sportsmanship’ to yell obscenities out lout is EXACTLY WHY IT’S NOT WARRANTED. Like in most competitive environments the people who decry good sportsmanship are the ones who look bad and tend to disappear as more reasonable people take their place.
If I do not like something or someone I plan to call him, her or it out by name and put all that information out for the public to see. People may not like that, but I do not care… (,but) save the name-calling and email trolling for someone else, because all your spam will be deleted and I just cannot be bothered with it.
Do these two sentences even need commentary?
The one element of the article I DO agree with is that the fighting game community of the past had the advantage of everyone being in the same room when they played. Online matchmaking and the anonymity provided creates an environment where the kind of bad sportsmanship the article champions can flourish (rage quitting, bad language, pretty much everything short of the author’s odd fetish for player on equipment violence). With arcades becoming scarcer maybe it’s up to the publishers to hold weekly or monthly events and gatherings? If they don’t want the fighting game to repeat its own history I think it might be a good idea.
