Thardus

Sincerity is a weird thing to express, especially when someone is trying to be critical of another's work. It's a lot easier for someone to express how they truly feel when it is about something they really support or love or when they are opposed to or just flat out dislike something else. When your feelings fall somewhere in that middle ground, it's hard to articulate your opinions or have any form of conviction.

I know quite a few people who are reviewers of various forms of media. Music, games, movies, etc. They are vastly different mediums, but each person has explained to me their struggles to find the motivation and the vocabulary to describe those middling pieces. Hell, even with the little bit of blog and review writing I've done myself in my spare time, I can see how frustrating it can be.

So what does this have to do with anything? Well, this story reminded me of the time I met you at PAX. Or at least, almost met you.

I watched your animations a lot in early high school and always loved each new short burst of weirdness and hilarity. Now, however, I'm most of the way through university and I'm finding a lot less time in my life to watch silly things on the internet. I think Sequelitis is pretty great, but don't quite understand the appeal of Game Grumps and haven't really been feeling your animations lately. Maybe I just don't put in the effort to appreciate what you do or maybe I Quote Unquote outgrew it (if that's possible) or maybe my tastes just changed. But while I respect and support what you do, I'm not really what you consider a "fan" of your work.

So when I found myself a few people behind you in line to buy an early copy of Wonderful 101 at PAX last September (the line right by that big Wind Waker boat), I didn't quite know how to react. The kid from almost a decade ago inside of me wanted to run up and meet you and ask for an autograph and be the super excited fan that I'm sure can get super annoying. The "adult" inside me, on the hand, just spent the past week going to talks about game development and networking with other game developers and he saw no point in even talking to you. What would I even say? "Hey, I loved your stuff back when I was in high school but I don't even try to keep up with your work today because I'm just not interested?" Yeah, because that's encouraging. That's a positive experience for both of us. And why would I get something signed? I have like four things in my whole life that I actually care about because they are signed (two of which, weirdly enough, I got signed that weekend. Because when else am I going to meet Inafune or Kamiya?).

So while that awkward internal struggle between teenage fanboyism and "adult" rational thinking continued, I noticed two things (at least, if I remember correctly). One was that you were with a friend (or maybe just a chatty fan). So even if I went over there to shake your hand or something, I wouldn't be adding anything to your life. The only thing I would accomplish would be to subtract time from you two talking.

The other was when, almost on cue, a quite excited and a lot younger fan came up to you. I don't remember if there was autographs or pictures or what, because I stopped paying attention. I just smiled and focused on something else. I realized that neither of us had anything to gain by talking to each other during that busy, hectic convention. I couldn't offer the enthusiasm and vibrant support that one kid could give you. I couldn't offer the comfort and subtle support you felt talking to your friend. And what would I get out of it? A handshake? A high five? A short story to tell that I didn't care about much myself? My life would, largely, continue on, unchanged.

tl;dr Instead of insincerely walking up to you at a busy convention and taking up your time, I decided to be truthful to myself and sincere towards you instead.

For a real question: Divekick seems to be a great way for people who don't understand fighting games or have little exposure to the genre to jump into the more subtle elements of fighting games, such as spacing and reading your opponent.

Do you think that those new players drawn into the genre and the FGC by Divekick can make a jump into more traditional fighting games? Or do you feel that, as accessible as Divekick is, there is still a gap that must be filled for those people to also play games like Street Fighter?

I know this is something that you wait until near launch to announce, but are you aiming to have cross-buy with the game (Buy one copy, get it on both systems)?

Well, maybe I was too quick to judge my interaction as having little merit, but you can't change the past. Yet, even though I'm new to game development, I've already realized how small the world of content creation can be. I'm sure we both have many years ahead of us of heading to conventions that intersect animation and video games, whether as part of the public or as content creators promoting our work. Next time I manage to run into you, I'll be sure to strike up that conversation. :)

Keits, do you fear any long term medical effects based on your prolonged exposure to the Lang Zone?