Street Fighter IV from Capcom brought back the hype and buzz of competitive fighting games and with it Justin Wong quickly became the most recognized player and champion in America.  The ‘King of Chinatown‘ documentary from Calvin Theobald and Jordan Levinson is an independent production which takes viewer back a couple of years to witness the relationship that formed between the ‘Empire Arcadia‘ founder/manager Isiah ‘TriForce’ and professional gamer Justin Wong.  If this film had a three-act structure it would loosely follow Justin’s transition from up-and-coming gamer to sponsored professional gamer (with Empire Arcadia) and finally landing with top eSports professional team Evil Geniuses.  The path also involves Justin’s struggle to beat Japanese Street Fighter IV champion Diago Umehara who is also a National Champion.

‘King of Chinatown’ was turned around rather quickly in order to keep its material timely – it has screened at multiple events and is now available on DVD.  The film mostly follows TriForce as he struggles to use Justin’s talents to make enough money so he can afford to pay his escalating bills.  For those familiar with TriForce and his ability as a manager you’ll know that he was successful in taking some of his players to the next level, however, watching this documentary made it clear that Justin Wong was already ready for ‘prime time’ when he signed with ‘Empire Arcadia’.  The casual viewer will most likely not take anything away from this film but for those of us who love eSports and competitive gaming it’s another outlet to delve deeper into the stories that go into the makings of a professional gamer.

Additional links:
King of Chinatown Official website
Justin Wong on interview from COIN-OP TV