Update: Sky denies being in on the hoax but gives a detailed account of how it was determined at the event that something was wrong. It also appears D1 and other personalities had no knowledge of the marketing ploy. It is still unknown who was playing the game in a sealed white room behind the large LCD screen.
This weekend a GameStop in West Hollywood, CA held a event showing off the new Super Smash Brothers for Wii U. Despite little fanfare or forewarning to the competitive community, the event somehow garnered the presence of many top Smashers - and the special presence of D'Ron "D1" Maingrette who was among the commentators at the E3 Nintendo Invitational. During the course of the event, many competitive Smashers and some outsiders with a unusually high volume of Twitter followers began to speak of a 10-year old who had an uncanny handling of the game.
There was so much hope.
The 10-year old was labeled "Karissa the Destoyer" and reputable sites like Shoryuken, Nintendo Life, and Kotaku, all jumped on the story - eager to point to a child prodigy demolishing competitive Smashers. The narrative was exciting and unfortunately all to believable for many who are unwilling to acknowledge the huge skill gaps that exist in Smash or in competitive gaming as a whole. Some even savored that an unknown, novice at the game could defeat players with over 10,000 hours of experience and national-level tournament victories. The story only lasted a few hours before it began to unravel. The below was posted to an LA Casting agency site on November 3rd regarding putting ringers at the GameStop event:
The Casting Call for a Ringer at GameStop
In additional to the casting call, the sheer number of personalities from a variety of gaming backgrounds should have raised suspicion, along with evidence in the video itself where the ringer's hands aren't on the controller but the characters continue to move on screen.
Exactly which Smashers were in on it and which were innocent bystanders will likely be revealed in the coming days. Still unknown is who was playing the character on screen behind the curtains as well. The several thousand dollars that went behind this hoax likely paid off for a little while as the first video initially exploded to over 80,000 YouTube views. Who was behind the hoax - Nintendo of America or GameStop, also remains to be seen. You can check out Karissa's professional actor website here.
This weekend a GameStop in West Hollywood, CA held a event showing off the new Super Smash Brothers for Wii U. Despite little fanfare or forewarning to the competitive community, the event somehow garnered the presence of many top Smashers - and the special presence of D'Ron "D1" Maingrette who was among the commentators at the E3 Nintendo Invitational. During the course of the event, many competitive Smashers and some outsiders with a unusually high volume of Twitter followers began to speak of a 10-year old who had an uncanny handling of the game.
There was so much hope.
The 10-year old was labeled "Karissa the Destoyer" and reputable sites like Shoryuken, Nintendo Life, and Kotaku, all jumped on the story - eager to point to a child prodigy demolishing competitive Smashers. The narrative was exciting and unfortunately all to believable for many who are unwilling to acknowledge the huge skill gaps that exist in Smash or in competitive gaming as a whole. Some even savored that an unknown, novice at the game could defeat players with over 10,000 hours of experience and national-level tournament victories. The story only lasted a few hours before it began to unravel. The below was posted to an LA Casting agency site on November 3rd regarding putting ringers at the GameStop event:
"RINGERS / Non-Union / "GAMESTOP/SUPER SMASH BROTHERS" / Principal / Male or Female / All Ethnicities / 16-30
Looking for 6 gamers as planted people to compete against our girl. Looking for men and women, aged 16-36, all ethnicities. NEED TO HAVE familiarity and some skill at Super Smash Brothers the game. {The shoot is basically a hidden camera job where we have a little girl (RINGER/LEAD GIRL) play Super Smash Brothers against a series of opponents at a sneak peak before the launch.
Wardrobe: Casual
Rate: $350/10 HR + 20% 2YR BUYOUT"
Looking for 6 gamers as planted people to compete against our girl. Looking for men and women, aged 16-36, all ethnicities. NEED TO HAVE familiarity and some skill at Super Smash Brothers the game. {The shoot is basically a hidden camera job where we have a little girl (RINGER/LEAD GIRL) play Super Smash Brothers against a series of opponents at a sneak peak before the launch.
Wardrobe: Casual
Rate: $350/10 HR + 20% 2YR BUYOUT"
The Casting Call for a Ringer at GameStop
In additional to the casting call, the sheer number of personalities from a variety of gaming backgrounds should have raised suspicion, along with evidence in the video itself where the ringer's hands aren't on the controller but the characters continue to move on screen.
Exactly which Smashers were in on it and which were innocent bystanders will likely be revealed in the coming days. Still unknown is who was playing the character on screen behind the curtains as well. The several thousand dollars that went behind this hoax likely paid off for a little while as the first video initially exploded to over 80,000 YouTube views. Who was behind the hoax - Nintendo of America or GameStop, also remains to be seen. You can check out Karissa's professional actor website here.
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