https://www.wired.com/story/super-smash-bros-sexual-misconduct/
From the most celebrated Smash Twitch streamers to longtime tournament champions and local heroes, the Smash community is reeling from a series of dark revelations. Dozens have come forward on Twitter to describe alleged grooming, sexual assault, and statutory rape they’ve experienced from Smash pros and commentators, some of whom have hundreds of thousands of followers on Twitch and YouTube.
The allegations come amid a broader reckoning over sexual misconduct in the videogame industry. But in interviews with WIRED, competitive Smash players and fans say the community’s informal structure, egalitarian ideals, and multigenerational appeal have all inadvertently contributed to an unsafe environment. Others say a culture of hero worship and a fear of social repercussions have allowed misconduct to fly under the radar for years. As the Smash esports #MeToo moment persists, those closest to the game are taking a biopsy of its rotten tissue.
The rabbit hole goes deep, deep, deep.
Smash bros. is the absolute pinnacle of depravity. The players aren't great, but the commentators and fans... they are impressively toxic, even in Twitter standards.
Anything tailored for children has been compromised by twisted, and frankly smelly, individuals -- all confused in their gender. They're the first to say something overtly racist while also being the first to interpret something factually not racist as racist.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TiOcz8ebyws
Anyways, I just thought I'd shed light on a decrepit part of the internet MAGA folks might not realize exists with such large backing.
I'm not sure what you think of MAGA folks, or what they are but let me tell you about myself and my experience:
I have been playing JRPGs, 2d fighters, and Japanese games in general before it was anywhere near the mainstream in the US. I was watching anime before Cartoon Network existed. Not trying to be a hipster, but I want you all to know that when I speak, Im not someone who just showed up to the scene in the last 20 years. I've been there pre-internet. Not only was I a young teenager on the internet in the 90s, but I've also been a Trump supporter since Day 1.
I've been watching the communist infiltration happen in games from the ground up. Companies always cater to the rampant consumers, and thats why many pieces of art in the industry get shoved into the back corner in favor for something stupid and easy thats popular.
You've seen the same thing in movies, TV, anime and TikTok throughout time.
So uh, now that you know a bit about me in my recreational hobby, let me get to my point - gaming has been getting more popular, and with that we've been getting more people which the industry has to cater to their wants. They dont care about art or the consumer, they just want money. I feel the PS2 generation was when we were really sliding, but after that we went speeding downhill towards including more outsiders with bigger budget, and movie quality production games.
As we got more people into games, we got more dregs of society. More maladjusted people that couldnt balance real life and playing games as a hobby. More people that flipped out and threw tantrums over games. Normally we called these people "retards" or "faggots" and didn't give the bad behavior a positive enforcer.
Then the internet gaming started, that brought on its own degeneracy, but it wasnt until social media was fused with gaming that the degeneracy really got out of control.
I noticed this pedophile shit started showing up in the past 7 years in the Facebook groups when fetishes were going rampant on the internet (Nintendo Switchposting, anyone?). People started sharing pictures of peoples feet, or censored hentai and random dumb shit to offend people, then before you know it, everyone is talking about foot fetishes, now people are curious, now someone finds out they like it. Its a slippery slope, but its something harmless like feet. Now it's not uncommon to find someone into feet, whereas before when I was a teenager, it was something you'd get laughed at in school for talking about. Thanks to the internet, this was normalized. (I'm not a foot guy, and I dont care if anyone is, fyi) Farting, and Furries followed (I'm not joking) (but then again, Furries existed prior to MySpace. This was back when it was called Yiff, and people in high school walked around saying it. I digress.)
Then came in the pedophiles. People showing pedophile pictures of video game characters in Facebook groups to freak people out for shock value. It was harmful, and it followed the same pattern of repetition that the other fetishes did before it. Now people know it exists, now people are curious, now someone finds out they like it. It started out as fringe, until before you know it, it was ALOT of people debating for it then there ever was.
Thats when the grooming followed. Facebook and Twitter are totally responsible for this, because even if you reported the pedophile content, it wouldnt come down for a while. If there was a mod that was against it in a group, they usually were on top of banning it (like Switchposting was).
Now its become a part of a culture. A culture I never wanted from people I never wanted in my hobby in the first place.
Well, I hope that gave you all more perspective of how many of us feel when we see this shit in a past time we enjoy.