I spent the majority of the afternoon and evening watching Tundra Bowl X, the new national championship of Tecmo Super Bowl. Being three years removed from playing any game of Tecmo, it was nice to watch competitive games again, seeing some familiar faces, and seeing new competitors emerging from the tournament. I got to see the camaraderie I once cherished through the player camera, along with the talk and pictures in Discord. It warmed my heart, brought a smile to my face, and even got me thinking about playing again. I even made a promise to my old friend regulator088 that I would attend next year's Tundra Bowl if he was able to win the tournament. As the tournament played out though I was quickly reminded as to why I quit playing competitively in the first place.
Part of the reason I withdrew from playing competitive Tecmo was what I like to call the "commercialization" of Tecmo. Around the time of the final Madison Tournament under the Holzbauers' leadership, there was a change in the way these tournaments were perceived. ESPN played a major role in blowing up the exposure of these tournaments. Personally speaking, I believe that led to unnecessary issues in covering and broadcasting these tournaments which only turned-off people who came for nostalgic experiences with like-minded people. The fun atmosphere became more intense and the pressure to perform changed. It became more about how many states could represent the tournaments, how many years the tournament could survive, come to this tournament rather than that tournament, and who is better than who. Before this exposure, it was about leaving your family for a weekend, meeting up at a reunion of sorts, showing people what you could do in a game we all played as youngsters, and reminiscing about failed games and situations from past experiences. While some of that still remains, the commercialized parts feel to be more ingrained in the landscape.
While I was watching yesterday I saw flashes of the old mixed with this commercialization. The biggest turn-off for me was the back and forth in the Twitch chat and the talk about legacy from the announcers on the broadcast. To be clear, the announcers did a great job calling the games and added to the viewing experience in a positive way. The tournament also appears to encompass those old experiences of Tecmo too. So I am not bashing individuals or tournament directors (in fact I know most of those guys and they are amazing people). I am more bashing the societal change that has brought on this commercialization of the past-time I once cherished.
Here is the problem with all the water cooler talk: it negates more than it assists. Just like the Jordan vs. LeBron debates it only divides fan bases and takes away appreciation of player contributions to the respective sport. As a society we tend to say things and act upon things in biased ways to be "right". I saw a great deal of back and forth between new players and old players in the Twitch chat during the broadcast. It also didn't help when announcers were adding fuel to the fire. If anyone is able to take constructive criticism anymore I would like to see less talk about who is better than who and more discussion about what players are doing THEMSELVES to make Tecmo enjoyable to watch.
You cannot have G.O.A.T. discussions period. Reason being is when you say ALL TIME you then have to mix players from from different eras. You simply cannot do that. Here is why: DPS obviously is one of the best Tecmo players around. No question. That was evident by the way he played yesterday and apparently by him winning tournaments over the last year or so (sorry I don't keep up as much anymore to have the specific examples). The problem with comparing people who play Tecmo now versus people who played before is that playing Tecmo is not the same. The easiest way to say this is that there is no DPS, if Gats doesn't win three Madison tournaments in a row. There's no Gats training and proving to dominate Tecmo if there is no Chet-Regulator rivalry. There would have been no rivalry if people like Regulator did not discover online Tecmo, learn from the Repository and receive game knowledge from the likes of brudogg.
You just don't know and will never know what it would be like to take 2023 DPS and have him play 2008-2012 Chet, 2011-2015 regulator088, or 2016-2018 joeygats. So to hear announcers and chat talking about G.O.A.T. is really just fantasy. Here's why:
No one could plan for Chet because he only played console. You rarely could test your experience with him, and when you did it was when it counted only. You couldn't scout him on streams, you couldn't design matchup traps against him, until regulator088, you couldn't outtap him. Out of every player I have ever played more than one-time, Chet is the only player I never beat.
2011-2015 regulator088 was in every final four. I mean like every tournament. Most of those tournaments he was in the title game, and with the exception of Chet the first couple times, he was winning them. During regulator088's rise people feared him. I mean elite level players would openly say things like well I only have a chance if Tecmo helps me. Regulator088 had the best natural, raw, unprepared controller talent of any player that ever played Tecmo. What I mean by that is when he first started playing he didn't have to train or learn to be good at jukes, tapping, pass progressions, etc. he was naturally good and didn't need to learn "new techniques ". That's not to say he didn't prepare or enhance these abilities as time progressed. Finally, let's talk about how many online titles regulator088 had in the early days and how many live titles he could have had if he didn't have one too many. To think back on this is incredible.
Joeygats is arguably the biggest name in Tecmo for two reasons. One, I bet there is no single human that has played more games of Tecmo Super Bowl in their lifetime. For all the new guys clamoring about how the new era would dominate older era players, oh how I wish they could have participated in the old Tecmo Player's Circuit. When playing as Player 2 wasn't knowledge and you learned by taking your lumps. Joeygats delivered those lumps more than anyone and in the rate of the tens of thousands types of doses. When I say tens of thousands that's not hyperbole. So when someone says he doesn't need reps, I personally feel that is ignorant. Joey's career has been nothing but reps. Just like these new era players Joey trained and got better. He was at two Madison tournaments where he was bounced in the round of 64 and round of 32. The following years joeygats trained, dedicated is whole purpose to being the best and then did the unthinkable of three straight Madison championships.
The bracket at Madison was a grind. To say that big tournaments between 144-300 people are watered down is a very naive statement. Yes, there were players that got throttled in pool play, but after the 2011 Madison tournament the pool play got better every single year. Big name players lost in pool play and every year a top seed player failed to make the elimination bracket. That statement alone caused me to write this post. As time goes on I think people tend to forget the details and the magnitude of things: recency bias if you want to call it that.
So back to this comparing eras thing. History would tell you that DPS would not have had slide tap in 2011, and according to the announcers last night tapping matters. DPS also wouldn't have had years of tutoring with Mort, personal experiences losing with certain matchup calls in tournament play, less opportunity to play live tournaments back then, few to no streams to scout and plan for trap calls and matchups against certian players, etc. Here's another ridiculous example: I am 2-0 against DPS in tournament play. When I played him I was definitely not in my prime, had not played consistently for about a year and a half, and did not get to call either matchup (I was player 2 both games). To say DPS was a better player than even someone like me in 2018 would be silly, and to say I would beat DPS right now is even down right stupid. Let's look at the same things that made the aforementioned players great.
DPS outapped regulator088 in every isolation, but one time last night. That's the same regulator088 I talked about before, but the era and style of play has changed. The regulator088 of 2011-2015 is not the same as the regulator088 in 2023. Many of his abilities are still in tact (I think his decision-making abilities have declined), but the landscape around him is different. He even said it himself. There used to be a time when absolutely no one could outtap regulator088, like ever. Now if DPS is playing 2012 Chet, 2015 regulator088, or 2018 joeygats with the knowledge/skill that he's acquired now that completely changes things.
There's a different strategy now. DPS appears to be a master of that. To think if he is always winning tosses and cannot use the same matchups, yet he still has a way to make you uncomfortable late in a tournament with the teams involved? Chet could have never done that in 2012 and that would have forced many elite players to change the way they played. DPS forces regulator088 to completely change his style of play because he is going from winning every tap to winning little to none. DPS is beating competition now because he is better than everyone and will continue to do so unless a new regulator088, new joeygats, or new DPS shows up.
Since several of the players of the golden era of Tecmo (2010-2016) no longer play, or do not have the desire to relearn new strategies, or have the time to invest to keep up with this "commercialized" water cooler talk debate you are never going to be able to definitively know or be able to even justify who the Tecmo G.O.A.T. is. What I do hope to see is people acknowledging greatness because the likes of the people mentioned in this post are truly special and they have done so much to contribute to the world of Tecmo. Would I like to see 2015 tecmopsycho play 2012 Chet? Would I like to know what 2015 tecmopsycho would have done against 2023 DPS? I think everyone knows that answer, but unfortunately it will never happen. Even though Mount Rushmore discussions are just as toxic, I think we should kill the G.O.A.T talk and just settle with all these players are some of the greatest to ever do it and enjoy the game as we have always done before.
I also want to point out that DPS is one of the better humans I have ever met. He's perfect to be carrying this torch right now. On par with that his game is an artform and exciting to watch. Congratulations Daniel! Love seeing it happen for people like you!
All being said, this post was not me taking a shot at anyone for what was said last night, but a simple reminder that we need to be better in a society that already has its ridiculousness with religion, politics, and hatred.
I miss all of you. I would love to meet these new guys. My competitive desire just isn't there (despite getting itchy last night). Maybe I could still come next year and play D2 😆?
Until next time,
Long Live Tecmo
