For many, pride is the most important resource of all in competition, even more so than any dollar amount. Pride is a resource that is slowly earned, but can be quickly lost. In the fighting game community (FGC,) pride can be earned by winning sets, tournaments, or being a leader within the community. But sometimes it’s not quite enough to win in video games. Sometimes, we need more.

That’s where competitions like rock-paper-scissors, footraces, and more come into play. It’s not enough to be the best at one thing, many in the FGC have to be the best at everything, especially when pride is at stake. Of course, it doesn’t hurt to have a little cash thrown into the equation, but most times it’s not required for these competitions to be intense. We’ll examine three of the FGC’s favorite things to do when they’re not playing fighting games.

Rock-Paper-Scissors (Shoot!)

The classic children’s game is also one the most hotly-contested fighting game side contests. Practically every fighting game tournament has some RPS presence, either for cash or for pride. RPS has become so ingrained into fighting game culture that there are even tournaments for the game at fighting game events! Take for example this clip from NorCal Regionals, where Kenneth, “KBrad” Bradley faces off against Nemo as part of a RPS tournament:

Another group that takes their RPS very seriously is one very close to my heart - my friends. We all came together playing fighting games at the student lounge and have since become lifelong friends. However, you’d best believe the most serious competition among us is rock-paper scissors. The group scribe, Cris R., details the origins and the stakes of our most sacred battlefield.

“Years ago, [the group] went to a tournament where they were playing RPS on stream, and we thought about doing that with the group as a joke.” he said. “Then fast forward to like 2 years ago and somehow. we started playing RPS to see who was the nicest. Random challenges got thrown out here and there, and eventually, we settled on a few ground rules to make it less hectic:

1) The highest rank is Grandmaster, and there’s only one Grandmaster at any given time

2) To challenge on nights like this, you have to run the gauntlet all the way up to GM

3) It's only one game to decide the winner. No best of 3 or anything like that

Nothing was safe, nothing IS safe. A challenge can happen anywhere. We could pull up out of nowhere and challenge you for your food, and you can't back down - you gotta accept.”

See? I told you we were serious.

Playing For Pride Here? No Dice.

One game the FGC plays often that isn’t played for pride is dice. We all know how to play dice, and we all know it happens, and we all know what the wager is. However, to protect the innocent, we won’t reveal names, just because of the nature of the topic at hand.

When I asked one New York-based FGC member about dice, they laughed, and said “Look, you get that many dudes from New York in one place and there’s bound to be a game of dice. I’ve seen some games that people are betting up to a few hundred dollars a piece, but the real heated ones are over like, 20 bucks. It’s wild.”

We had a good laugh at the story, but apparently dice has been a part of the New York fighting game communiy for years. Luckily, my informant and I have never heard of any violence or exchanges of something more than words due to shooting dice at events, and hopefully it stays that way.

Races Keep the FGC Running

This one’s real simple, but tends to attract the most heat out of any of the other contests - the old fashioned foot race. When no victor can be decided on the sticks, we take it to the streets, and figure out who is supreme. This historic clip below shows off the races that took place at the the 8 on the Break arcade in Dunellen, New Jersey (NSFW Language):

Based on the amount of restarts, it’s clear these guys took these races very seriously. In some cases, the races take on a bit more of an “incentive” as is the case in this classic clip between two men who certainly have a great initial burst of speed, Joey “Mr. Wizard” Cuellar and Ari “Fl0e” Weintraub:

Unfortunately, Floe bit the dust rather early and as such we missed a great race, but what did he really expect to happen when he raced in flip-flops? Should’ve taken the sandals off and ran barefoot, like our cavemen ancestors did all those years ago.

If you have any examples of awesome FGC extracurriculars, let us know! We’d love to cover more of the wild non-fighting games these hyper-competitive people partake in. If you’re looking for more “traditional” fighting game community coverage, check out our look at some lesser known fighting game communities!