LAS VEGAS -- Daigo Umehara is the greatest fighting game player in history, housing a collection of trophies and awards dating back to 1997. At 37, Daigo has experienced it all, traveling across the entire world to play Street Fighter, the game he has loved since he was just a bright-eyed adolescent growing up in his hometown of Tokyo. No one in the world of esports knows the feeling of victory more than the man nicknamed "The Beast."
And yet, sitting down at his 14th Evolution Championship Series, following a nap to wake up from an early morning of qualifiers, Daigo doesn't mention any sort of iconic moment or title victory as his fondest memory. For Daigo, the memory that stays with him is from a decade ago at Evo, where after the finals, the Street Fighter pros from the United States and Japan got together at a bar to celebrate, drinking their way into the Vegas night.
"Back [a decade ago] I was not a pro gamer, so it was more so an extension of leisure of hobby," Daigo said. "My passion towards Street Fighter hasn't changed, but since it's my profession now, my approach to gaming has changed. That would be the biggest difference."
It's an interesting time for the most recognizable face at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center. After a couple of years when it looked like it might have been the end for Daigo the player -- his personalized brand growing to feature memorabilia from shirts and caps to a manga portraying his early years growing up in the Tokyo arcades -- the veteran, who won his first major Street Fighter championship 20 years ago, enters this year's tournament as one of the favorites to win it all. Daigo won his first big tournament of the year at VSFighting in Birmingham, England, last month, positioning himself as the No. 5 player on the Capcom Pro Tour rankings heading into Evo.
When you watch Daigo now, nothing takes him by surprise. As he walks through the venue half-asleep from his nap, eyes dart toward him as the crowd realizes who they're walking next to. It's like if Babe Ruth walked around the concourse of Yankee Stadium.
Before a video interview, he closed his eyes, relaxed as can be, having gone through the process for years, interviewers from across the globe wanting to know his story. It doesn't faze or impress him. This has been his life for over half his life at this point, and Daigo has come to accept the role as the face of Street Fighter and other fighting games. All that matters to him is that after all the interviews and autograph signings, he can return to the place he feels most at ease: on stage, fight stick on his lap, and the white noise of the crowd bustling in the background.
"At a global level, I think my fame has become more popular than ever, but back when I was in my 20s or a teenager playing in Japan only, people still recognized me as the leader of Street Fighter," he said. "I've been at that level and people recognize me as such, so it's not really a burden."
Nowadays at fighting game competitions, there are players going up against Daigo who weren't even born when he entered his first tournament. Pro gamers from across the world can point to Daigo's diligent parrying and mastery of Ryu as the moment they wanted to start playing Street Fighter. Daigo, who isn't fluent in English or other languages, wishes he could talk more to the younger generation who come up to him at events, but he feels pride for laying the groundwork for the next kids playing in an arcade, scrounging up a few loose coins to play in hopes of possibly one day entering a tournament to test themselves.
Evo itself has matured over the years along with Daigo. There once was only a small huddle of viewers in the background, peering over the shoulders of the world's best playing on a wobbly wooden table and a beat-up CRT television. Now, while those tables and television still have their place at Evo during the qualifiers, the main event is held at the Mandalay Bay Events Center, where thousands will be watching from the stands as the top eight in Street Fighter play on the glitzed-up stage painstakingly crafted by the organizers.
Evo and the The Beast, intertwined, along with other top names like Daigo's eternal rival and friend Justin Wong, have brought Street Fighter and the fighting game community as a whole to somewhere no one ever expected.
"[Evo] is a really impressive event," Daigo said. "It has turned into an impressive tournament. Year by year it has grown, and it has been just so enormous."
In the world of competitive games, the word "old" is designated to players who have hit their mid-20s. If you're nearing 30 and still playing games professionally, you're considered an anomaly. Nearing 40, Daigo, is playing some of the best Street Fighter of his career and showing no signs of slowing down. His technical skill and knowledge of the game outpowers the raw speed and potential of some of his younger rivals.
To win Evo would be an accomplishment, but it's not what Daigo is searching for. He has won enough trophies and plaques for two lifetimes.
No, for Daigo, winning on the grandest stage in front of the largest audience imaginable will be his way of sending a message to every person out there who believes they're too old to play video games. He wants to prove that it is not physical age that makes the player, but the age of the spirit the player exhibits.
"How I prepare myself for a tournament and how I improve myself in the end is what matters so much to me," Daigo said. "Winning a particular tournament is not that important. I want to keep improving myself. That's my ultimate goal. But, realizing that it is important for some people -- especially for those people excusing themselves because their age is the reason they can't win -- if my winning gives them a message that age doesn't matter and you can pursue your goal no matter how old you are, then it'll mean a lot to me. I want to win for those people."
When Daigo walked away from his interview, unclipping his mic as he has done so many times, the attention of the convention hall converged on him once more. While a match continued on the main Street Fighter stage, the icon of the game cast a giant shadow in his wake back to his resting room, flanked by his interpreter, manager and team. Rubbing his tired eyes and fixing his messy dark mop on his head, Daigo was in his own world, maneuvering through the swarm of bodies and whispers swirling around him with the ease of someone who has done it a thousand times before.
On Sunday, as he ambles his way onto the stage that feels like his second home, all you will see is a boy with the same love for the game as he had when he walked into an arcade for the first time, confident that, regardless of how old he gets, his spirit will remain young forever.