A Letter to Daigo

Current Fighting Games Fighting Game Discussion
#1

A letter to Daigo

A well known member of the FGC who shall remain anonymous has told me a rumor that somewhat saddened me. The rumor says that after your loss at EVO2011, you probably felt all the normal emotions a player would feel in that situation, but you also felt… relieved; That a huge burden was taken off your shoulders.

You felt like the fighting game community made you some sort of “villain” that we strive to defeat, a feeling that only got stronger after you started playing the overpowered Yun in the latest version of SF4, and you did not want to be in that role.
By looking at the usual comments you can see on the internet, in Youtube videos and even on SRK, one would think that your impression is indeed true.
For some people it may indeed be the case. For others, it may have turned into a competition between nations- USA vs Japan.
Frankly, I really don’t take those views seriously, and you too should shrug that off as lighthearted drama with sole the purpose to make things more fun and exciting.

But there’s more to it than that! There is a serious part to the story which you should know about and care about!

I’ll admit- I, too, wanted you to lose and I was very happy when it happened. But my reason is different.
I can only speak for myself, and for others who think like me, but this is the explanation:

To me you are not a “villain”. No player is a “villain” nor he/she should be.
To me you (like any top player) are like a mirror that shows us what we need to see; That sends back feedback on the performance in the game. You are the criteria to judge our skill by. You are the true test.

You need to understand where we are coming from:
The golden rule of fighting games since forever was that Japan will always be number one because they have a culture that cares more about competitive video games, arcades, and bigger scenes.
The lack of the above in the rest of the world are conditions that are set in stone, and we will forever be powerless to change them.
That’s why we are always accompanied by a depressing feeling in the back of our minds that no matter how hard we try, we’ll never be as good as the Japanese just because of where we live. We are doomed to be inferior in the genre we love so much and want excel at so much.
That is why the whole world was so happy to see you lose, mainly to Latif. For us it’s not “good vs evil” but the “the player with the arcades vs the player without the arcades”.
The result matters to us not just as SF4 players, but also as Guilty Gear players, Tekken players, Arcana Heart players, Super Turbo players, and players of every fighting game out there.

You see, when Latif won against a living legend, the #1 ranked player in Japan, the best of the best, IT GAVE US, PLAYERS ALL AROUND THE WORLD, HOPE!
IT SHOWED US THAT THE GOAL IS NOT IMPOSSIBLE!
IT SHOWED US THAT OUR HARD WORK WILL BE ABLE TO OVERCOME GEOGRAPHY!
Your loss gave millions of players out there the motivation to play harder, to strive higher.

So no, you are not a “villain”, but a “sparring partner” and a “companion” in the collective mission of every player to become the best he can be.
So I hope to see you next time, stronger than ever, “doing your thing” and encouraging all of us work even harder.

Signed,
Novril/tataki, a competitive fighting game player,
and all the competitive fighting game players around the world who feel the same.

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#2

…

Not sure this is the place for this

#3

Something I have always believed in FG Psychology is that your opponent is human. Since (I assume) you are one as well, you both have the mental capacity to succeed over the other. That’s why I always strive to become better than my opponents but never underestimate what they can/cannot do since we have the ability to defeat one another.

#4

Daigo is human, just like us. He strives to be great at something he does, just like us. I completely respect what Daigo has done and will do for fighters. I am not striving be like Daigo but I strive to do well at something I love. He is a competitor and so are most of us, especially in this community. The ‘Beast’ might have fallen, but the mighty always bounce back.

#5

I like your post…in fact, it’s what I think too. However, I don’t think a lot of the haters/shit talkers you see on youtube or here, are doing it for the reason you mention. They fall victim to jealousy when they see someone that consistently succeeds and gets recognition/praise for doing so…so much so that it develops into a deep hatred. That is harmful to the community.

Also I don’t know why people were having such high expectations for him at Evo…yes, he was one of my picks to win it but there were far too many killers this year so I was very uncertain he could pull it off…it’s gotten to the point where if Daigo doesn’t get first place, then he’s a failure and defeated (by the US or whoever). It really shouldn’t be that way.

#6

Like I said Daigo should shrug those people off, but I wanted my (our) voice to be heard as well.

#7

A lot of people say “I don’t respect Daigo ever since he started tier whoring and picked Yun” but you can also see it as Daigo respecting US by REALLY trying his best (which also includes picking the strongest chracter)

#8

About Daigo picking Yun…I’m hearing two different stories about that. Seth Killian was saying how Daigo was picking Yun because he was tired of the criticism he was receiving and wanted to show everyone how he was at his best form with the best character…but I’ve also been hearing that Daigo had decided to use Yun the moment the character was even announced…before anyone knew he was overpowered.

So which is true?

#9

I think anyone who wants to see a successful person fall is petty, and is probably a loser themselves (why else would they want someone to fail?). I think Daigo is the man, despite the upset, and he is a role model for all players in the scene. He doesn’t talk shit and he always keeps his cool in matches (probably his best trait). The only thing his defeat has shown us is that he can be defeated, but that doesn’t make him a lesser player. He certainly doesn’t deserve any hate for his performance.

#10

Guys we should be nicer to daigo, taking our money for the past 3 years must’ve been soooo hard on him. :rolleyes:

#11

It’s not even about Daigo himself. You totally missed the point.
His case is used an an example to explain a point of view that many western fighting game players share.
You can replace “Daigo” with “Ogawa” or “Knee” or “Chibita”. It’s still the same.

#12

Well said tataki, we need more of your attitude in the FG community, that is, people who focus on personal challenges and growth rather than those who’s only aim is to fling around sh*t talk for attention

#13

We are playing to win and that’s a part of a the game. “Playing to Win” in AE also includes learning to deal with Yun anyway so you can have a positive competitive approach about it, or have a scrubby bitter approach.

#14

That “letter” was the weirdest thing ever to read, sorry.

I respect Daigo’s abilities to the fullest, but at the end of the day he simply has talent and experience any other normal person can strive for. The real problem is that many players who hope to be that good get led astray by tons of random shit, stream-monstering, showboating and wanting to become part of the “drama” that happens behind SSF4 and other FGs, instead of sitting down, and learning how to play fully and/or mastering their characters (i.e taking the time to refine said person’s abilities with character(s)). That’s why you see a big difference between Japanese players and American players.

Many, if not most Americans waste their time talking about who’s better than who, who they hate in the FGC because of X number of reasons, why said character(s) are broken because of X number of reasons, or cheering/laughing at X champ-person for losing to Y person.

Many, if not most Japanese tend to avoid showing out and causing drama and instead learn from their various Grandmasters and Tourney Champions that play various characters to get their skills up. I remember reading Ryan Hart’s article a few months ago on Daigo in Japan-- people in the arcade actually stopped what they were doing to watch him play. It’s obvious people love Daigo, but I can bet you the serious players watch him to see what they can learn to push their game further. Of course, Japanese are human in the fact that they also stream-monster and talk shit, but they don’t spend all of their time doing as such.

Daigo’s composure is as such: He probably did not care as many people think he did when he got bodied at Evo 2011. Of course losing is a hit to anyone’s ego on some level, but Daigo is the type of dude whom would simply take it as a learning experience. Now he has more learned tech to use against incoming Seth and C. Viper players. All of us can do the same thing as well, instead of rage quitting and blowing up upon minor/major losses.

Latif didn’t give the real players hope. It just confirmed that Daigo is a human like we are and susceptible to the unknown factor eventually, despite being #1 in the world.

The “good vs. evil” bit was funny however. I’m sure Daigo does know that people see him as a “villain” and grins at specific moments when people blow up (or are about to) mid or after fight for this specific reason.

#15

I think you might be responding to another post or something…I’m just asking which story is true - did he choose Yun after knowing he was overpowered(the Seth Killian story), or did he plan to use him before the game was released. The reason is that I see a lot of criticism nowadays that he chose Yun for tier-whoring purposes and still lost, but I don’t think that was really why he chose Yun.

#16

I don’t know the answer to that buy my point was that the the backstory shouldn’t even matter.

#17

Like I said to the hearts guy, it’s really not about Daigo’s personal ability but about how our inferior world scenes fair against the leading japanese(/korean) scenes.

If you play other fighting games for example Guilty Gear or VF or 3S or countless examples, you should know, and “feel” how unobtainable the goal seems. And every time something like that EVO upset happens, it adds another crack in the armor because it shows us that it can be done even with smaller scene with no arcades.

#18

The only comment I would like to make about EVO and Daigo. Anyone else find his request for training stage during one of his matches to be a little underhanded? As Daigo has said he took the game seriously like a job. If you notice besides the obvious removal of potential lag on this stage there is another hidden element playing there. It’s easier to read positioning on that stage due to the lines and blocks. I would expect Daigo and other professional players to be exceptional dangerous on that stage. Personally I would have said no, and picked another stage to counteract what could be a slight advantage to him. Besides that he did play some great games, and you can’t be surprised he didn’t win another year at evo. Give the guy a break, the scene keeps getting bigger more players coming out, and you can’t expect to win all the time.

#19

Dear Daigo,
Stay Free
Sincerely, Everyone

#20

I wish I had as much time to think/write at length about such trivial bullshit.

edit: I just got trolled. 9/10.