Calling the Shots
A big part of esports is the personalities that carry it. Top players and ace teams give the aspiring player an idol to look up to. However, those who call the action add just as much flavor and fun to the experience. They are the ones who bring the hype, read the plays on the fly, and give a face to whatever game they represent. One such prolific caster is Evan Hashimoto, or Wonder_Chef as he is known within the gaming community, whose esports commentary credentials go as far back as Mortal Kombat X ESL Pro League in 2015. We caught up with Evan to see what he’s been playing during this time of social isolation, how casters are adapting to COVID-19, and his thoughts on the amount of exposure the esports world is experiencing and the effect on the titles within the space. Check out the interview below:
Thorne Stone from Duel Screens: Great to hear from you Evan! What have you been playing during this time of social isolation?
Evan Hashimoto, “Wonder_Chef”: Hello! I’ve got to tackle a lot of my backlog actually! Mostly Indie Games such Hollow Knight and Outer Wilds, along with some Shadowverse TCG and competitive Pokemon.
DS: Ranked Pokemon definitely seems like a good idea for this time. Are you still playing that regularly?
Wonder_Chef: Unfortunately the entire competitive season got cancelled, but I’ve been able to turn to the grassroots community for some tournament action. I was actually fortunate enough to do some commentary for Pokemon recently! I did the commentary for “Team Beast Coast,” who has been running leagues for the community.
DS: In the past online commentary was not considered adequate due to network delay and other factors that interrupt communication. Has that changed in the wake of this pandemic?
Wonder_Chef: It has definitely been hit or miss in the past. Once all of this started, though, I feel a lot of companies and people scrambled to make this work. I mentioned I was able to do commentary for Pokemon, I was also able to remotely do an official show for the Shadowverse TCG esports League. It works surprisingly well, which is a relief since this is how things will have to be for a while moving forward.
DS: The growth in interest for esports during this time is undeniable. Do you feel this mainstream exposure through outlets such as Nascar will result in people sticking with esports even after this situation is over?
Wonder_Chef: To me it highlights the accessibility of the platform. Everything shifted over almost immediately. Like there was no backup plan, but this was the backup plan. I don’t know how many people will stick with esports after this is all over, but what I can say is that it is proving to be an incredible asset for competitive online titles and proving that they are an alternative that is both satisfying to watch and easy to participate in yourself.
DS: You mainly come from fighting games, casting titles such as Pokken and Injustice. The switch to online is devastating for the competitive nature of these games. What is your take on this current situation and where do you see the competitive scene following a return to normalcy?
Wonder_Chef: First of all the biggest issue, even before social distancing, is that fighting games are much less competitive in an online-only environment. Even games with a great netcode need to deal with factors that can hamper performance across the board. These problems are even worse today with everyone being at home and enhanced stress being placed on Internet Service Providers. Depending on how much longer we are in this situation, I do think that Fighting Games will be pushed aside by the competitive gamer. The interest will just not be there in the wake of titles such as Valorant and other, more accessible esports that are not hampered by playing online.
On top of this are all of the event cancellations for the fighting game community. Nearly every big event is community run and can’t simply be put off to next year due to the grassroots nature of their production. Michigan Masters is an unfortunate casualty in all of this, as after this years’ cancellation they have decided to not run any further Michigan Masters events. This is a huge blow to the community since even more high-profile tournaments that are being cancelled may not come back, or come back in a much smaller capacity. This will hurt fighting games a lot.
DS: The Fighting Game Community is attempting to adapt to these big changes. Have you entered an online tournament such as Wednesday Night Fights? If you have, how was your experience?
Wonder_Chef: I was able to enter Wednesday Night Fights’ online bracket for Granblue Fantasy: Versus. While it is locked to a certain region, lag still proved to be a factor in my tournament matches. Certain matches were nearly unplayable, regardless of my opponents proximity to me. While this is definitely an option, it is not the same as entering tournaments in person.
DS: Thank you for answering my questions today Evan. Did you want to give any shout-outs or recommendations before we wrap it up?
Wonder_Chef: Thank you for having me! I could talk forever about this subject in this uncertain time. As for recommendations, everything I’ve mentioned here today is worth a play. Also always have to give a big shout-out to Pokken Tournament, really fun and accessible fighting game with a great netcode.
