Imagine if an NBA game was stopped just a few minutes before halftime because the refs noticed the baskets weren't regulation height. And then the players were forced to repeat the whole game.
The equivalent of that situation took place Sunday night at the North California Regionals, a professional fighting game tournament, during the Ultra Street Fighter IV championship brackets. After four rounds of play, during which several pro players were sent to the losing bracket, a player noticed they weren't using the correct version of the game.
During a match between Ricky Ortiz and Darryl "Snake_Eyes" Lewis, Ortiz noticed that Lewis' chosen character, Zangief, had a much more powerful attack than he should have. One version of Zangief's Banishing Flat attack, a pyrotechnic punch that does a ton of damage, had been toned down in the recent patch -- version 1.04 -- of Ultra Street Fighter IV. (The move is usually called "green hand" for the accompanying flash.)
Was not about to let that Green Hand rock! #1.04— Ricki Ortiz (@HelloKittyRicky) April 6, 2015
The match was suspended once Ortiz pointed this out. Then tournament organizers realized they were running the wrong version of Ultra Street Fighter IV: version 1.03. The version matters; a new game changes the power level of certain moves, and players only practice on the latest versions.
Should have let that green hand rock haha!— Darryl S. Lewis (@Snake_Eyez_) April 6, 2015
I would win the tournament free— Darryl S. Lewis (@Snake_Eyez_) April 6, 2015
The change meant four matches had to be replayed completely, which was somewhat unprecedented at a tournament this prominent. North California Regional's Ultra Street Fighter IV matches are sponsored by the game's publisher, Capcom, and the winner is guaranteed a spot in its annual tournament, the Capcom Cup, along with prize money.
The set-up duty usually falls to the tournament organizers. Even the commentators, James Chen and Seth Killian, were clueless about the mix-up until it was resolved, but told the crowd and viewers watching the stream that the wrong Xbox 360 had been set up, with an older version of the game.
Some matches retained the same outcome, like Justin Wong's battle against Bruce "GamerBee" Hsaing.
If we need to rematch, I have to take the chance, no matter win or lose I feel sorry for @JWonggg— Bruce Hsiang ゲマビ (@GamerBeeTW) April 6, 2015
Fuck that shit I'm staying in winners— Justin Wong (@JWonggg) April 6, 2015
But some matches totally changed outcomes. Originally Ryoto "Kazunoko" Inoue of Japan knocked out U.S. player Du "NuckleDu" Dan in a close game; in the rematch, NuckleDu's Guile handily defeated Kazunoko's Yun.
To translate @kazunoko0215 's last tweet: "Ugh, I ended up showing my anti-Guile strats (but still lost) ... (>_April 6, 2015
In America, you get a 2nd chance. pic.twitter.com/AbqlEaRBIs— Mistah Juice (@Juicebox_FGC) April 6, 2015
NuckleDu speculated on Twitter that the new version changed the outcome.
Previous version yun builds more meter and +1 on ex lunge— Du Dang (@LiquidNuckleDu) April 6, 2015
Because the top Street Fighter players often compete against each other several times a year, it didn't seem like anyone was happy about the mess-up.
Sigh. I'm sad. I'm not even sad about my loss. I'm just sad how everything went down. Practice for weeks for this to happen. Unfortunate. :(— Ricki Ortiz (@HelloKittyRicky) April 6, 2015
Kazunoko was later knocked out of the loser's bracket by GamerBee, who ended up taking second place despite his earlier loss to Wong. Japanese player Daigo Umahara took first in the tournament, granting him a spot in the 2015 Capcom Cup.