Hiya!

Is it weird how all of the awards shows seem to bunch up in February and March? There’s the Grammys on the first week of February, the BAFTA Awards in the middle of that same month, the Screen Actors Guild Awards in the last week of February and the Oscars on the first week of March. So, why not throw in another awards show but one that’s dedicated to the fighting game community? I guess this was the genesis of the EVO Awards, which just happened over the weekend!

In all honesty, I was really excited for the EVO Awards as this is the very first video game awards I know of that is focused on just one genre. It’s not like Geoff Keighley‘s Game Awards, which I do like as well. However, the Game Awards is focused on video gaming as a whole. The EVO Awards, on the other hand, is squarely focused on fighting games and the fighting game community, which, despite my status as a bonafide scrub, I would like to think I’m still a part of. I even voted on who should be winning some of the awards from the show. Well, now that the first ever annual EVO Awards has come and gone, let’s go see if this is worth becoming a yearly event.

Like with any awards show, the EVO Awards also had some kind of pre-show show. It did something much more different than what you would see in other awards shows as there was no real red carpet treatment or seeing famous people saunter into the main auditorium. No, they did what should be done when you have a bunch of members of the fighting game community in one room: hold a tournament.

Okay, this wasn’t a full-fledged tournament. Rather, it was more of an exhibition and a celebration of one of the most beloved games in the fighting game community: Marvel vs. Capcom 2. They managed to assemble a cadre of legends to compete in a 4-player tournament. Even though it was small, it was hype and not without some controversy.

During the Winner’s finals between IFCYipes and Sanford Kelly, someone (I think it was IFCYipes) pressed the Pause button. This happened during Yipes’ match with Justin Wong as well and, while the match went on there, it didn’t with his match against Sanford Kelly as the pause did happen during a critical time in the middle of a Super attack, disrupting Sanford Kelly’s ability to block. Thankfully, no one’s feelings were badly hurt as Sanford Kelly did claw his way back from Losers to reset the bracket. Still, Yipes did win the tournament in a very close Finals.

This was pretty exciting but I do wish it was controversy free. I also do wish the commentators clarified what happened instead of just brushing it off as comedy. I know it was just supposed to be an exhibition showcase just for fun but viewers like me would really want to know the details and if there was legitimate salt or not.

I also do have to question their decision to put the Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves exhibition near the end of the awards show. I didn’t watch the show live so I just watched the archived stream. When they put the Marvel vs. Capcom 2 tournament as part of the pre-show, I thought they would have the Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves invitational right after. That didn’t happen and I was left wondering if it happened earlier and it was cut out from the saved video.

When it did occur later on, it just felt out of place. That’s mostly because there wasn’t any fanfare nor did they up the production value for it. I also had some trouble following what was happening. I can’t really blame the show or the commentators for that. It’s just that I’m not familiar with Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves’ game mechanics nor the characters they chose. So, when you describe things like Just Defense and you see Vox Reaper performing weird special moves, it’s difficult to figure out how good these things are.

We then get to the EVO Awards itself and, as someone who does dabble in the fighting game community, I enjoyed it. It didn’t have the glitz and glamor you would expect from your traditional awards show. In fact, the entire thing came off as very non-conformists and, dare I say, more intimate for the target audience. This was a show meant for the fighting game community so it did have a kind of grassroots feel to it. Everything felt very informal. Heck, there were only a few people who got dressed up for the event! I kind of liked the more casual tone.

Unfortunately, the rather informal setting did make me think this could be a problem as well. The fighting game community can be rather insular and not exactly mainstream. This made the entire EVO Awards come off as more for insiders only. We get the context for some of the jokes and we know all of the personalities as well. So, if someone who doesn’t follow fighting games would watch the show, it can be difficult to really grasp why people like fighting games. That’s not necessarily a terrible thing but it not exactly going to be enticing new people to join the community as well.

I also do have to comment on how the EVO Awards select who wins which category. It is a good idea to have the fighting game community vote in who should win what. That, however, does lead to a problem regarding if the person who gets the award actually deserves it as it will come down to a popularity contest. Take Hayao sweeping all of his awards for example. Despite me voting for LilyPichu beating HARADA in Tekken 8, I’m fine with Hayao getting more votes for Moment 38 as it was indeed special.

I will disagree how this won Match of the Year, however. While Hayao’s gameplay was brilliant, I don’t really remember much of the match. That’s in sharp contrast with the Street Fighter 6 EVO finals between Punk and Big Bird. This was a much more nailbiter of a match, with Big Bird resetting the bracket and it going to the final game and final round! This was a classic and a fantastic match.

While I appreciate Hayao’s skill, it didn’t have the gravitas of Punk vs. Big Bird in the Street Fighter 6 EVO finals. However, Hayao still won as it was the more meme-worthy match. I can’t really say how to fix this as having the fighting game community vote will always feel much more in-line with what the fighting game community wants. Still, I do believe we need to not lean too much into popularity contests as well.

In the end, I did enjoy the first ever EVO Awards but that’s only because I like fighting games in general. It’s not going to be for mass consumption and, honestly, that’s okay. Not everything has to be for everybody. Things can be a little niche also. I do hope they do add a little more pizzaz to next year’s EVO Awards just to make it feel a little more legit.

Byee!

Have you seen the first ever EVO Awards? What did you think of it? Let me know in the comments section below!