After spending my life with a vague fear of fightsticks and button combos, I now have more reason than ever to finally learn how to play a fighting game: so I can someday be even a tenth as cool as Hisako Sakai, the 92-year-old Japanese woman who won the title of Tekken 8 champion during November's 12th biannual Care Esports tournament (via Automaton).
Care's tournaments, which the Mie prefecture-based organization has been running since 2019, feature rosters of senior citizen competitors in an effort to promote elderly social and mental wellbeing by creating "an environment in which the elderly can casually participate in esports," according to its website. Currently, Care hosts its tournaments in Japan's Mie, Gifu, and Aichi prefectures, but the organization hopes to someday organize nationwide competitions.
Livestreamed on Care's YouTube channel, the tournaments feature professional broadcast production with live commentary. The November tournament, which you can watch embedded above, saw a roster of eight seniors—the oldest being 95 years old—battling online in what were likely the most seasoned matches of the King of Iron Fist Tournament that the world has ever seen.
It's a phenomenal show, complete with post-match interviews and stat sheets featuring the competitors giving their best battle poses. While the fighters displayed a technical mastery of fighting mechanics that would rival my own—by which I mean they mostly relied on mashing and spamming throws—there were still some moments of breathtaking hype. It's worth watching the standalone video of Sakai's championship match just to see the brutal combo she pulls off at 3:44. Evo could never.
I'll confess I was rooting for 74 year old Armor King player Kato Sadayuki, but that was mostly due to the thrill of seeing an old man piloting a wrestler wearing a jaguar head. We all have our biases. But as it always does, skill wins out in the end.
When presented with her trophy after masterfully dispatching her seven rivals, Sakai—a Claudio main—said she was "so happy." I think I speak for everyone at PC Gamer when I wish her a long and fruitful career in virtual combat sports.
