Professional gamer Justin Wong discusses the community behind video games

Justin Wong wasn’t always good at fighting games. His humble beginning started in the now defunct Chinatown Fair Arcade in downtown New York. He became engrossed in the camaraderie and competition that arcade culture offered. After he cut his teeth, Justin was encouraged to enter his first tournament, where he finished fifth. The thrill pushed him to play in more tournaments which eventually lead him to where he is today — one of the top professional fighting game players in the world. His success wouldn’t have happened if it weren’t for the community’s inviting and encouraging disposition.

“Even if you’re not good at all, you’re gonna find someone that’s gonna be your friend, that’s gonna show you the ropes,” says Wong.

Wong was a featured guest at Edmonton’s inaugural Trading Card and Electronic Gaming Convention that took place last weekend. The tabletop and card game event showcased a plethora of fighting games, which occupied a substantial part of the event floor, creating a cacophony of button mashing, cheering and jeering. Edmonton’s ardent gaming community filled the halls of the Edmonton Expo Centre to revel in the atmosphere that such events provide.

Wong shares in the adoration of these events which fuels his devotion to the gaming community.

“The best part about pro gaming and going to so many events is just meeting new people, making new friends, making connections. It’s like our own little world,” expresses Wong.

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Video game culture is proliferating rapidly, and events like TCEG provide an outlet for the growing number of gamers to consolidate around their favourite hobby. The open-participation and competitiveness that the fighting game community promotes creates an experience that is as raw as it is entertaining.

At Fighting game tournaments “ … you hear screaming, a fight’s going down — it’s kind of like 8 Mile, you’re watching 8 Mile go down…” quipped Wong, describing the excitement.

This rapid growth, however, has lead to misconceptions in the minds of some non-participants and much of mainstream media. Having been ingrained in the scene for so long, Wong is well aware that these misconceptions are misguided. Onlookers who only get a glimpse of the scene are quick to judge it as time-wasting. Older generations are often prone to disregarding video games as time wasters, or even mind-warping celebrations of violence. From his earliest steps into the world of video games, Wong himself has dealt with these notions. His parents discouraged him from playing video games which led him to hide his gaming career from them for ten years.

Wong offers an optimistic perspective on the scene and has experienced the opportunities it provides first hand.

“With fighting games you just show up and play. I think that’s really cool because even if you lose, you meet so many people, and they’ll play with you until the events over. That’s the type of experience, you get like that family experience when you come to a fighting game tournament. So we always welcome new people,” says Wong sincerely.

Video Games’ inherent interactivity is matched by the way gamers interact with each other. It’s a hobby that brings like-minded people together in a setting that breeds companionship and support. For many it’s more than a hobby, though. It has informed who they by surrounding them with lifelong friends — after visiting TCEG and talking to Justin Wong, that’s obvious. Wong is inextricably connected to video games, and that’s not going to change anytime soon. He recently started a position at the graphics hardware company, Nvidia, so he can stay involved in the scene and continue going to the thirty-plus events he attends each year. If that wasn’t enough, he also streams on his Twitch profile, EG_JWong, where you can check him out most weeknights.