Two competitors sat side-to-side, hands jittering around their equipment as they waited to prove, in the heat of competition, that they were the best fighters. A live audience, cheering and heckling, watched on a giant projected screen above. The sounds of grunts, punches and a little soft jazz ran through the speaker system. Tucked in the corner, two broadcasters provided colorful commentary for an online audience of over a thousand watching from home.
The competition wasn’t boxing, but a fighting video game, “Marvel vs. Capcom 2: New Age of Heroes,” with the tournament taking place last weekend in the Junior Ballroom at the Westin Lombard in a west suburban mall. Almost 4,000 competitive gamers and superfans in total from all over the United States had gathered, with attendees paying $100 or more just to compete in a single event.
The gathering, titled Frosty Faustings XVII, was part of the world of competitive video gaming; this year, the convention hosted some 25 game tournaments over three days. Among those games, “Marvel vs. Capcom 2” holds a special place. First released in 2000 and re-released this fall, it is blazingly fast and complex, a niche but popular game.
Head-to-head fighting games were born in the heyday of American arcade culture in the ‘90s and there were competitions even then — usually meetups at the local bowling alley or arcade or basement. Now they take the form of a double-elimination bracket played at a conference center.
“I ain’t never thought we’d be in some (expletive) like this,” said Michael Mendoza, also known by his gamer tag and alias “YipeS,” to his livestream of fans. “Stages and production— trust me when I say: this was not planned, baby.”
In the ‘90s and 2000s, gaming arcades were life-changing for people like Mendoza, who grew up in Washington Heights in New York and is now a well-known figure in the gaming world. He frequently travels to work as a commentator or organizer at events like these. Mendoza and partner James Chen, wearing mics headsets, sat at a commentator’s desk and broadcast over Twitch, the Amazon-owned livestream platform devoted to gaming.
Competitors played on controllers with a balltop joystick and an array of buttons — just like in the arcade days. Several of the Marvel and Capcom characters on screen — Iron Man, Spider-Man, Street Fighter’s Chun li and Resident Evil’s Jill Valentine — have debuted in superhero movies since the game’s initial release, gaining more mainstream appeal. A crowd of spectators, which would have been standing around a game in an arcade, sat and watched with interest.
But the egos of the arcade were still there.
Sergio “Player Unknown” Valadez wore a green glove on his right hand to prevent blisters; it made him look like he was moments away from becoming the Hulk himself. He and his opponent, Jose “DJ Vest” Dominguez, would frequently turn around to taunt, joke or celebrate with their friends and rivals in the audience. After he was eliminated from the tournament in seventh place by Valadez, Dominguez could be seen yelling in the front row, alternating between English and Spanish directed at the players still in the competition.
“During the arcade days, you would not only (expletive)-talk, but you’d yell at whatever you see on screen,” said Dominguez, a surgical tech originally from California.
“I was hyping (them) up,” he said when asked if he was heckling. “Everyone was having a good time.”
The game series “Marvel vs. Capcom” has found a wave of new players since being re-released on a wide variety of game consoles. In September, “Marvel vs. Capcom Fighting Collection: Arcade Classics” was the third most downloaded game on PlayStation 4. At Frosty Faustings, the game had about 80 registered players — including this reporter.
“I remember when Frosty was the size of half this ballroom. Just a couple of dudes,” said Valadez, a Roscoe Village sales engineer who eliminated Dominguez and eventually placed fifth. “It means so much, man. There’s such a large community to this game — it’s an opportunity to share it with people who have never seen the game.”
David “GREEK” Hionis, a tournament organizer alongside Victoria Hionis and founder Mike “ElvenShadow” Boczar, said this year in Chicago “Marvel vs. Capcom 2” was a main event for the first time.
I spent grade school afternoons hanging around the “Marvel Vs. Capcom 2” cabinet at my local arcade. I squeezed hours out of a handful of quarters by defeating increasingly irate adults in fighting games. The only place to test my skills was at my local Aladdin’s Castle. There was no feeling better than a crowd forming behind me as I defeated opponent after opponent.
But eventually, I played someone I couldn’t beat and I realized the ceiling was much higher than I knew. I was led to the world of competitive video gaming, or “esports,” as it is now sometimes known. Nearly two decades later, I finished last weekend’s event at a respectable 17th place.
The dingy, raw feeling of the subculture has faded somewhat — the majority of American gaming arcades have closed down — but the community has maintained its spirit. Online gaming has become the default for most social gaming but fighting games, including “Marvel,” still use in-person meetings for most of their tournaments.
Carpentersville’s David “Dave Blaine” Thacker is from a newer generation of players in Chicago’s community. He began taking “Marvel Vs. Capcom 2” seriously around 2014, though he said local meetups don’t happen very often.
“When we do show up, we try to put on the best show we can,” said Thacker.
One notably missing attendant at Frosty was Marc “MadBooFace” Ansay from Glenview, who might be the most successful “Marvel Vs. Capcom 2” player from the Chicago area. Ansay placed fifth at the largest national tournament, Evolution, in 2009.
Ansay resided in Skokie during his youth, when he was mostly devoted to the game.
“Just like you, I thought I was hot stuff and very good at the game,” he said in a recent interview. Then he met his rival and future friend, the late Ari “fLoE” Weintraub.
“He beat me down for a good hour or two. At that point, my ego was crushed,” said Ansay.
After that, Weintraub and Ansay would find other rivals at arcades on the South Side, including George “JuicyG” Fed, who was at one point known as the “King of Chicago.”
During the arcade era, Ansay said the North Side and South Side of Chicago frequently battled to prove which region was better.
“It’s like the rivalry between the Cubs and the Sox,” said Ansay.
Frosty Faustings this year had a similar vibe, with Thacker attempting to defend his home region against out-of-staters like eventual first-place winner, Atlanta’s J. Alexander “Shakira” Martinez.
“It’s very underground and raw,” said Ansay. “I kind of compare it to a skate scene.”
Like a skate scene, it also brings together people of different backgrounds. What unites them is a respect for skill.
Even if Ansay competes less these days, he said “Marvel Vs. Capcom 2” is a lifestyle.
The next chance to compete in a national tournament will be the event Combo Breaker in Schaumburg on May 23-25. Thacker hopes that newer players will continue to come.
Thacker was disappointed he wasn’t able to keep the trophy local to Chicago, but he’s hopeful for the future and plans to keep training.
“Like any discipline, you make the necessary sacrifices to get to where you want to be,” said Thacker. “Playing fighting games helps me improve at the game, but also in … decision-making and problem-solving, in all sorts of different aspects of life.”
