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I recently had the opportunity to sit down with James Chacon, Co-founder of Video Game tournament organizer and streamer 2GGaming. 2GGaming has been around in some capacity since early 2010, but has been building momentum with competitive gaming communities that play games like Super Smash Bros. Ultimate for the past 5 years. Our conversation was focused on the new DLC fighter for Smash Bros. Ultimate, Terry Bogard, and his importance to a specific segment of the Smash Community. Full disclosure, 2GGaming is a Co-sponsor of Weeabuds.com, and I have previously worked with their group in their early years as an interviewer and graphic design.

Tristan Grigoleit: Thanks for coming out James. It’s been a bit since we talked directly about 2 Good Gaming. You are one of the co-founders?

James Chacon: Yeah, I am. We actually changed the name from 2 Good Gaming to 2GGaming.

Tristan: Oh ok, I’m a bit behind, I guess!

James: We figured 2 Good Gaming is too, cringe… (laughter)

Tristan: Too good… Gaming.

James: Good times. It was great back then, like 2009, 2010, but its 2G Gaming now.

Tristan: Does the G stand for anything?

James: Nope, it stands for whatever you want it to be. There are memes about that now.

Tristan: Could it mean 2 Gangster Gaming?

James: Could be…

Tristan: So, just for interview purposes, what are your responsibilities for 2G Gaming?

James: Well, I wouldn’t call them responsibilities but the main things I do include managing the YouTube channel, Instagram page, and responding to email inquiries and stream related questions. I spend time training some of the 2G Gaming team how to stream when needed. I also focus on the financial and legal portions of the group, including insurance related things linked to tournament safety.

Crowd at 2016’s 2GGT ZeRo Saga Tournament

Tristan: Sounds like a step up from 2010 when I was working with you guys. I remember doing interviews out front of tournaments hosted at California State University Long Beach.

James: Those videos are still up there, you should check them out sometime.

Tristan: I probably should. Well, once again, thanks for talking to me today. As you know, Terry Bogard just released this week. Have you had a chance to play him?

James: I haven’t, I really want to but I’ve been busy uploading videos. But I really want to, my inner Mexican is telling me to.

Tristan: You’re inner Mexican? Oh, I guess we’ll get into that in a moment. Do you think Terry will play well?

James: The analysis and reviews I’ve seen point to him being top-tier minimum, but he has a high skill cap. So, you may know how to use him but it may take time to master him. I hear he plays similar to Ryu in that his moves vary in strength based on whether a button combo is inputted. A lot of Smash players, especially younger ones, haven’t played classic fighting games so they don’t know the command input style from games like Fatal Fury, King of Fighters, and Street Fighter. Execution of Terry’s strong moves benefit from a familiarity with that mechanic.

Tristan: Do you think players will find him fun to play?

James: Yeah, he can fly in the air with this one move, I forget its name, its been too long since I’ve played a game with him in it! He’s going to be fun though.

Tristan: Just to give you a heads up, before this interview me and Mike spent a half-hour with Terry. He seemed pretty dynamic and had a lot of variety to his play style. My gut feeling is that I’ll like him more than Ryu.

James: Yeah, Sakurai said players should have fun with the character before anything else, that’s the most important thing. Prioritize player’s entertainment when designing a character.

Tristan: That’s good ‘ol daddy Sakurai for you! Sage advice for sure. So, just for the record, how long have you been playing the Smash Bros. series?

James: I’ve been playing Smash Bros. since Smash 64. Just recently I somehow remembered playing my neighbor’s copy. Besides that, I started playing competitively with Melee around 2004. This was probably when I started “training” and intentionally trying to get better as a player.

Tristan: Compared to back then, Smash doesn’t seem as casual as it used to be. It has grown a competitive following that is bigger than during the peak Melee competitive scene. Would you agree?

James: Definitely.

Tristan: Overall, how well do you feel Terry will fit into Smash Ultimate and the Smash community?

James: I think since he comes from a fighting game, he will fit right in. A lot of his attacks were altered for Smash Ultimate’s inputs and mechanics, but I think he is a good addition. He is a very niche character in the sense that the general population doesn’t or hasn’t played an SNK game. He is a good representative of that genre and type of game. I think he’ll fit right in.

Tristan: Have you played any SNK games in the past?

James: Yeah man, Marvel vs. SNK 2 is probably my favorite fighting game of all time. Before that, I played a lot of Arcade cabinets whenever I’d visit family in Mexico. I vividly remember going to laundromats and liquor stores on corners and they’d have a cabinet or two.

Tristan: Are arcade cabinets popular in Mexico? At least, were they?

James: Yeah.

Tristan: James, it is probably relevant at this point to mention that you are Mexican American.

James: Yes, I am Mexican American. (Laughter)

Tristan: So, you’ve probably seen the Terry Bogard memes making fun of how he’s popular with Latin Americans?

James: Definitely! (Laughter)

Tristan: Is there any legitimacy to these memes?

James: There’s no hate, they’re true. Its 100% true! This is common in fighting games, there are characters that resonate with one group more than others. Games like Tekken have those fighters as well.

Terry Bogard is loved

Tristan: Well that sounds interesting, I’d love to hear about Tekken at a later time. (Laughter) So there may be some legitimacy to these memes after all. What are the reasons that Terry is more popular with say, Latin Americans or Mexican Americans?

James: Probably both groups but I can speak more for Mexican Americans or Mexicans that were in Mexico in the late 90s or early 2000s. At least back then there were cabinets everywhere: in a random restaurant, on the side of the road, in a liquor store, and of course laundromats. These were where you would go to play these games. It was cheap, way cheaper than owning a console which a lot of times you couldn’t even do because of the difficulty of importing. It was a good way to keep you out of trouble. Cabinets also had the bonus of serving as babysitters for parents doing laundry, they could send their kid over with some pesos and that would keep the kids busy.

Tristan: Do you think the situation was similar in the United States?

James: I think so, but I think in Mexico the cabinets were kept up for a lot longer. Even as late as I can remember like 2010 you could still find these cabinets pretty regularly. I’m aware that in places like Guadalajara and the surrounding area they started having actual arcade or game centers like we do in the United States. Even so, I still feel you could still find the cabinets scattered around over in Mexico more often than here at that time.

Tristan: Do you think there would be differences in the perception of Terry’s popularity with Latin Americans depending on if a player is Mexican American, Mexican, or from another Latin American country?

James: I think there will be a funny differential with it. I think there might be jokes about a 100% Mexican having a better Terry than a Mexican American not from Mexico. I could see some rivalries. (Laughter) Even though Japan had a big Neo Geo scene, I can’t say how much they like Terry, whereas I know in Mexican culture you could see there being an affinity toward him because of the exposure to SNK games. I can see some friendly rivalries happening for sure.

Everyone has their hero

Tristan: Now that Terry is out, do you think his popularity will grow with either Mexican American or Latin American Smash players?

James: It probably is dependent on how accessible SNK games will be to players going forward. I know on the Switch you can get Neo Geo or SNK games but only select titles. I think Sakurai mentioned it on the stream, without accessing the previous games it will be hard to really connect with Terry and what he’s really about. This is different than other game series that people might be more familiar with or can find copies of easily.

Tristan: Well this information has helped me get a better grasp of Terry’s popularity. I’m pretty excited to see where the Smash community takes him. Thanks for making the time to meet.

James: Thanks for having me.

You can find more information about 2GGaming on their website, YouTube, twitter, and Twitch channels.

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