thatdemoguy

Anybody watching the match could tell you that it was very obviously staged. We could all see that Daigo was intentionally sandbagging. He was allowing jump-ins, he wasn't attempting anti-airs, he was walking into throws. That may have been Daigo's name on the screen, but that wasn't Daigo on those sticks. He very clearly allowed Lupe to win. 

On one hand, it's cool that Daigo was willing to participate in this and humble himself for the greater good of the FGC as a whole. Make no mistake; what we all just watched was one big commercial for the game. 80,000+ people just watched Daigo lose to "one of us". And it happened an hour before stores across the nation are about to open their doors and start handing out copies of the game. The Internet is BLOWING UP over this event. This will sell copies of the game. It will potentially increase the player base. This will bring more attention to the community and the FGC as a whole, which currently has lots of eyes on it given the new eSports initiative. Daigo taking that one loss, which doesn't "hurt" him at all, has lit a fire under all those viewers who wouldn’t have otherwise ever touched the controller for fear of not being able to get past their mental barriers or for fear of always being outplayed by those players LIKE Daigo. So kudos to everyone involved in this production, especially to Daigo himself, for taking one for the team. The more I think on it, the more I have to look at Daigo and say that this "loss" makes me respect him even more. He literally flew across an ocean, just to help promote the game for a country and to a demographic that he will likely never have any contact with. If him donating his winnings at Capcom Cup last year didn’t already prove it, but this right here proves that man is truly a world class individual.

On the other hand, I am utterly disgusted at how shameless of a marketing ploy this is. So is the almighty dollar really worth the integrity of this ENTIRE community? Think about that for a second. This WAS staged. And only those involved going into it knew it was going to be staged. It was an entertaining set to watch, but it ultimately was a lie. A lie that’s being sold to all those consumers who will go out and buy the game, will travel to tournaments, and then end up having their money and time wasted because this whole thing just isn’t for them. And none of us who have been grinding for years to learn how to play these games get a single thing out of this. We aren’t getting paid for it. All we have to deal with now are a few months of these new "scrubs" jumping on the sticks thinking they can be the next Lupe....but not trying to be the next Daigo. Now think about that. 

The argument has been made that "we all watch WWE (wrestling) and know its fake, so what's the difference"? Let me answer that for you. First off, we know that WWE is staged. WE go into it every week knowing that before every match the outcome is already decided and the people participating in the match are just out there to perform for us. Kinda like this right? Well not exactly....those performers in WWE are PAID to do what they do. They are actors who are portraying characters that we are conditioned to love (faces) or to hate (heels). There are scripts written ahead of time to tell a story that we are meant to follow from event to event. And throughout the course of a season on WWE, characters can change from one side to the other on a dime. In the FGC, while we do have players with over the top personas and very marketable personalities, we are made or broken by our ability to play the game. Its about the PLAY....not the PERSONALITY. We get behind players based on this. That's our story that’s being told. 

And this event literally slapped that story in the face. Look at all the great rivalries over the years. Look at all the players who have climbed that mountain to face Daigo before tonight. Be it in victory or defeat, what we just watched was disrespectful to those guys and their journey. And what do they get out of it? NOTHING. 

So will the community grow? Probably. Was this worth it? That has yet to be seen. 

All I know is that I have to pick up my copy and start my own personal journey....

How do you feel about this? Do you honestly think this was a good look for the FGC? Will this temporary boost in popularity really translate to higher tournament attendance or a more robust player base? How do you HONESTLY feel about the match? Can you tell it was staged? Feel free to sound off in the comments here, or hit me with a tweet at thatdemoguy.