Retro gaming enthusiasts proclaim “Enough is enough! Include Karate Champ or get the hell out of Vegas!”
EVO, the fighting video game tournament begins later this week in the former Las Vegas Hilton. Thousands of people will throw caution into the wind as they attempt to show the world that they are the best at some of the most popular fighting games. The problem is a small contingent of retro gamers feel the event should include the Data East Classic: Karate Champ.
Featured in the movie Blood Sport with Jean Claude Van Damme, Karate Champ is often considered the original VS fighting game. Its design was submitted as evidence decades ago in a trial where Capcom accused Data East of copyright infringement believing Fighter’s History was a rip off of Street Fighter II. Data East countered, and showed that Street Fighter II was a rip off of Karate Champ. Karate Champ didn’t help the case because Capcom lost the suit anyways but that has nothing to do with this story.
On Paradise Boulevard in the shadows of the Las Vegas Strip, five protesters walked the route they intend to use to picket the event on Saturday. The protesters who asked not to be photographed or quoted could be seen giving the finger to a group of young adults who may or may not be early arrivals for the event.
