Ryan Joseph Hart, also known as Prodigal Son, Tsuujin, Robotnik, The Terminator and NeriahSensei, is a British professional fighting gameplayer. He specialises in 2D and 3D fighter games released by Capcom, Bandai Namco, Sega, Midway, NetherRealm Studios and SNK. Ryan holds numerous National, European and World titles and has won the Evolution Championships twice.[citation needed] Hart also holds four world records within the Guinness World Record's for most international Street Fighter competition wins, most well-travelled fighting game champion, the longest winning streak on Street Fighter IV,[2] and the most consecutive opponents on Street Fighter V.[3] While Hart is predominantly known for his professional gaming career, he is also a commentator, tournament organiser, author, presenter, event host, model, translator and content creator.
Hart was born and raised in South West London. At the age of 10 he visited his local arcade at a mini cab station, it was here that he was first introduced to his first arcade action game, Golden Axe. A year later he discovered the fighting games Street Fighter and Street Smart. When amusement arcades grew in popularity within the UK, Hart became a frequent visitor to the different arcades located around his local area, where he started to play Street Fighter and Street Fighter II: The World Warrior, among other games.[4] For a portion of his teenage years, Hart was homeless.[1] During his secondary school years, Hart's family relocated to Croydon in South London, where he frequently visited arcades and began to gain local reputation among classmates and arcade visitors.[4]
Hart's first tournament was for the game Street Fighter II Turbo, held in London Trocadero in 1994, the event was sponsored by Kiss FM. It was also during this time he began to play King of Fighter '94, a year later Hart entered the National King of Fighter '95 Championship hosted by Play 2 Win arcade on Oxford Street, London. Unsuccessful in both tournaments Hart began to visit central London to play with more experienced players, it was there that he was introduced to Tekken and Tekken 2. It was with Tekken 2 that Hart had his first success, entering the Tekken 2 UK National Tournament, where he placed 4th with the character King.
With the release of The King of Fighters '96, Hart entered the National King of Fighters 96' Championship on 22 December 1996. This was the first competition that Hart won, defeating the player Motohide Nishio in the grand finals thus cementing his name among the King of Fighters community. Hart began to explore other fighting games, having huge success with Sega'sVirtua Fighter 3, winning nine championships in a row at the Namco Wonderpark on 6, 7 and 8 June 1997, which was located on Great Windmill Street in Central London. With the release of Tekken 3, Hart trained heavily with his Tekken 2 background and went back and forth in arcades with other top players including Sho Hiraki from Japan, who was living in the UK at the time. Hart became the UK national champion defeating Sho Hiraki along his path in September 1997, and even appeared in a four player exhibition on the UK's GameMaster TV show again competing against the player Sho[6] from Japan within the final, which he ultimately lost.
In 1998, Hart won the Ehrgeiz UK championship and a flight to Japan to compete in the Ehrgeiz World Finals, he was defeated but during his time in Japan, he entered and won the King of Fighters '98 World Tournament held at the Amusement Machine Show in Tokyo Big Sight. While still in Japan, Hart placed first in three Tekken 3 tournaments held at Shinjuku Playmax arcade. Adding to Hart's success within Japan, he also placed second at the Virtua Fighter 3 tournament held in Ikebukuro Gigo arcade. After returning to the UK, Hart entered the 1999 Official Namco Tekken 3 World Championship,[7] it was there where he managed to win his second world title and one of the last Sony/Namco collaborated events within the Namco Station arcade.
2000–2010
After the closure of the Namco Wonderpark, Hart began to frequently visit Play 2 Win and Casino arcade within the city of London, shifting his focus from Tekken 3 and The King of Fighters, he started to play Tekken Tag Tournament and the newly released Virtua Fighter 4. During the arcade decline within the UK, Hart began to organise tournaments within his own home,[8] Casino arcade[9] and London Trocadero,[10] in an effort to support the competitive fighting game community and share knowledge. The success of these events lead to a weekly ranking battle held at the Casino arcade.[citation needed]
Hart competed at Fuce Championship on 15 October 2000, for the Tekken Tag Tournamentconsole tournament held in Amsterdam, placing first by defeating Sandro Aousdji from Italy in the grand final.[citation needed]
In 2001, Hart competed at the Euro 3 tournament for Tekken Tag Tournament[11] held in Birmingham, placing second. In the same year, Hart flew over to the United States for the first time to compete within the Electric Cancel 3 tournament; Hart placed third within the main tournament due to a faulty controller, but later in the event played against the American Tekken Tag Tournament champion JOP to a first to 26 exhibition, winning 26–21.[12] Hart had great success at the Euro 4 arcade tournament held on 26 July within the Extraball Arcade, Rome, Italy, winning on Tekken Tag Tournament.[citation needed]
Hart came to more success in 2002, winning first place in Tekken Tag Tournament and third place in SoulCalibur II at Absolution UK 2002.[13] 2002 is also the year where Hart won his first Capcom vs. SNK 2, Virtua Fighter 4 and Tekken 4 tournaments.[citation needed]
Hart won multiple Virtua Fighter 4 and EuropeanTekken Tag Tournament events within 2003 including Torneo di Napoli, Tekken Tag Tournament (solo) at Euro 5 (also winning Tekken 3 and Tekken Tag Tournament (pair play)) and Toreno di Ancona,[14] thus cementing his name as the best European Tekken and Virtua Fighter 4 player at the time. This led to Hart entering the Tekken Tag Tournament event held at Evolution 2003 within California placing second,[15] losing to Kim Bong Min in the grand finals.[16] Before the events of Evolution 2003, Hart challenged the Korean and Evolution 2003 champion Kim Bong Min to first to 26, winning the set 26–21, with this win Hart became the first European player ever to defeat a Korean champion on a Tekken game. Hart also had success playing Virtua Fighter 4, winning the Warriors Unite Pre-Absolution 2004 event that took place in December 2003, defeating Japanese player Jun within the grand finals.[17] Hart also entered Virtua Fighter 4 at Evolution 2003 tournament placing 3rd.[15][18]
In 2004, Hart continued to have success within Tekken Tag Tournament, placing first at Torneo di Napoli 2nd Edition and second at Absolution UK 2004.[19] It was also within this year that Hart would have his largest tournament win to date at the famous Evolution 2004[20] Championship tournament, Hart defeated Unconkable in the grand finals thus taking his third world championship.[15][21] While at the Evolution 2004 Championship Hart also placed 4th on Virtua Fighter 4 defeated by the US champion, ShouTime, and 5th on Tekken 4. The same year Hart took first place in Tekken 4 at Torneo di Fano.[19] Hart also managed to place first within Virtua Fighter 4 at Absolution UK 2004 defeating Delune within the grand final.[22]
2005 saw a new introduction to the Tekken franchise; Tekken 5. Hart continued to compete and place well within European tournaments, winning the Official Bandai Namco UK Championship then winning Ultimate Tournament Volume 4[23] within France and achieving 2nd at Torneo Olandese and Olanda 2005, while also still competing within Tekken Tag Tournament with the same placement.[24] At Evolution 2005 Championship, Hart fought his way in Tekken Tag Tournament to the grand finals where he purposely forfeited his winner bracket match for an unknown reason, but still fought his way to the grand final, placing 2nd[25] and claiming his second silver medal from the Evolution Championship Series. 2005 also saw Hart take on a new challenge, Street Fighter III: Third Strike. Hart took the community by storm, winning both the Southgate Showdown and Chasing Dragon tournaments.
In 2006, Hart displayed one of his most dominant years to date by going almost completely undefeated on seven different games and losing only a handful of events. Hart was successful multiple different tournaments for games such as Street Fighter III: Third Strike, Street Fighter Alpha 3, Hyper Street Fighter II, Tekken Tag Tournament, Tekken 5, The King of Fighters 2002 and Virtua Fighter 4: Evolution. Hart continued to be a prominent figure within the Tekken 5 scene within 2006, with 1st place wins at Torneo Roma, Roma, Torneo Francia,[26] Ultimate Tournament Volume 5,[27] Euroslash Poland[28] and a 3rd-place finish at Ultimate Tournament Volume 6.[29] 2006 was also the same year that Hart and his teammates became the first ever Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike European players to qualify for the Tougeki Championship held in Japan, also known as Super Battle Opera, winning the 3 on 3 European SBO qualifier held in France.[30][31] Unfortunately, one of Hart's teammates pulled out before the Super Battle Opera finals for personal reasons, and Hart's team was forced into a 2 vs 3 handicap match, which they lost. Hart also qualified for Tekken 5 at Super Battle Opera by winning the SBO qualifier held in Stuttgart.
Hart won Torneo Roma in 2007 defeating the player Liquid and also defeated Steve88 in Tekken 5[32] to win the event on both days. These were some of the last regular events before Namco introduced an update to Tekken 5 entitled Tekken 5: Dark Resurrection, with this new entry, tournaments began to run the newer iteration of the game and Hart transitioned over to compete. He later managed to secure 4th place at Ultimate Tournament Volume 8[33] and 3rd place at Ultimate Tournament Volume 9.[34] Hart had more success winning Iron Man 2,[35] E-Games Festival and Super Battle Opera European Qualifiers, this also became the third time that Hart qualified for the Japanese fighting game event. Hart also won 1st place at Super VS Battle 2007[35] for Hyper Street Fighter II and 3rd place at Summer Showdown.[36] Additionally at Summer Showdown, Hart placed 1st on Virtua Fighter 5 and Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike. Hart continued to show winning strides on Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike as he took 1st place at Ranking Battles 4.1, 4.2 and 4.3. Winning E-Games Festival, Iron Man, Netko Finals, Rome Tournament and placing 2nd at CPTL Paris Fighting Festival, Brussels Tournament and Fighters Day 3 hosted by the production company Unequalled Media.
2008 was a great achievement within Harts's career, it was this year that Hart would go on to win Evolution 2007 for the game Tekken 5: Dark Resurrection, defeating Paco "Gandido" Vilaró within the grand final[15] to secure his fourth world championship and truly cement his name as one of the best Tekken players within the world. While also winning Tekken 5: Dark Resurrection, Hart also saw success within Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike placing 7th.[15] And once again had success within The King of Fighters '98 Ultimate Match by placing 3rd at Rebirth 2008. Hart would also go on to win the Tekken 5: Dark Resurrection Giessen Tournament, defeating the Polish champion Devil. 2008 also saw a new introduction to the Street Fighter franchise with the release of Street Fighter IV in Japanese arcades, with this release fighting games quickly became a mainstream genre again and revitalising the fighting game community.[37] 2008 also marks an interesting moment in Hart's career, during the Battle of Destiny event, Hart played the AmericanJustin Wong in what ended up being possibly the most memorable match of all time in European Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike history. At an even score of 1-1, Wong playing Chun-Li had Hart cornered on the ground with no health. As Hart was getting up, Wong attempted to low forward into super resulting in Hart's Yun being defeated via chip-damage, however Hart parried every single hit and won the round in a similar fashion to the infamous Daigo Umehara Evolution #37 moment.[20] Hart became the second person ever to parry Wong's Chun-Li super during a main stage match.[38]
Hart continued to have success In 2009 for Tekken 5: Dark Resurrection winning Torneo Spagnolo[39] in Vigo, Spain. Within the same year Tekken 6: Bloodline Rebellion would be introduced to the console market, Hart would go on to place 3rd at DreamHack Sweden 2009.[40] 2009 would also be the year that Street Fighter IV was finally released on home consoles, with this release Hart was quick to compete and win multiple tournament such as DreamHack Sweden 2009[40] in Sweden, Impact 2009, Max Damagermany, Cinemasters Tournament, Insomnia i37, Capcom SFIV National Championship[41] and Capcom SFIV European Championship.[42] He also managed to secure 3rd place at Super VS Battle 2009.[43] Hart also placed 1st on Street Fighter III: Third Strike at Max Damagermany and Super VS Battle 2009.
2010 – present
Hart (right) versus Alimi "StarNab" Nabil in the ECL 1 - Liverpool 2010 Street Fighter IV final
2012 was a very busy year for Hart within Super Street Fighter IV: Arcade Edition, he managed to win multiple events; Berlin Campus Party, Ultimate Clash 13, Bushido Impact International 2v2, Proving Grounds 4,[60] EGL 8 2v2, Hypespotting[61] and WinnerStaysOn Xmas Special,[62] while also placing 2nd in four tournaments; Bushido Impact International II,[63] European Gaming League 8,[64] Kuwait Battle Royale 2012[65] and DreamHack Winter 2012.[66] This would also be the same year that Hart supported the creation of the Esports team Western Wolves, under his Low Land Lion manager, team Western Wolves would become a subsidiary of Low Land Lions, this was due to the manager of Low Land Lion wanting to separate his international players with Benelux based players thus Low Land Lions then became a strictly Benelux based team. Hart who created the name for the new team Western Wolves would also lead the team and was responsible for bringing in new players such as Seon Woo "Infiltration" Lee, Ryan "Laugh" Ahn from South Korea,[67] Femi "F-Word" Adeboye and Andreas Demetriou from the UK.[68] Hart believed these players to have potential, he especially expressed Lee's potential after he visited South Korea and spent some personal time with Lee and Ahn. Hart's belief was proven true as each player went on to be a champion, Lee and Ahn both went on to win Evolution 2012 Championship for the game Street Fighter X Tekken with Lee also taking the title for Super Street Fighter IV: Arcade Edition,[69]Demetriou would go on to win DreamHack Valencia,[70] with Adeboye winning World Game Cup team tournaments and Winner Stays On singles events. Hart's other results would see him placing 17th at Evolution Championship 2012[71] and Shadowloo Showdown 2012,[72] 3rd at Street Fighter 25th Anniversary UK,[73] 9th Capcom Cup Tokyo Game Show,[74] 4th at Stunfest 2012, DreamHack Energizer,[75] and 5th World Game Cup 2012.[76] Hart would continue to compete and place well within other Capcom games such as Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike placing 2nd at Hypespotting, Street Fighter X Tekken placing 1st at Stunfest 2012, Max Damagermany Europe and Cross Up tournament which Hart won three times in a row. He managed place 2nd at Hypespotting, DreamHack Summer and 9th at Shadowloo Showdown 2012.This was the same year that a new introduction to the Tekken franchise would take place, with the release of Tekken Tag Tournament 2, Hart would continue his dominance within the new title, winning 1st place at Proving Grounds 4,[77] European Gaming League 8,[78] Kuwait Battle Royale 2012[79] and Insomnia i46 - Madcatz UK Championship,[80] not contempt with competing in so many games Hart won Hypespotting's Virtua Fighter 5 Final Showdown event and came 2nd at Shadowloo Showdown 2012.[58] Hart also had success on Tekken 6 with winning Snake Pit 3v3, coming 2nd at Damagermany Crash and 5th at the Tekken Rules Tournament in Venezuela. Hart would expand his gaming results further by playing The King of Fighter XIII and winning the European Gaming League 8[81] while also placing 2nd at Hypespotting.[61] 2012 would also be the year that Hart was featured in the Guinness World Records 2012 Gamers Edition book for holding three records within Street Fighter; Most International Street Fighter Competition Wins, Most Tournament Wins in Street Fighter, and the Longest Winning Streak on Street Fighter IV.[2]
Controversy struck Hart in 2012, which would see him temporarily suspended by his current sponsor Western Wolves for a tweet he posted after losing to his teammate MCZ|Mago at the Street Fighter 25th Anniversary UK event stating "Thank you very fucking much Madcatz. Sending Mago to beat his team mate. Great teamwork! Last time I fucking help any of you.",[82] Hart would apologise minutes later for the incident with the tweet "I know everyone likes a bit of drama, but I'm sorry Mad Catz. I just said that out of frustration to my loss. Everyone knows Mad Catz rock!".[83]
Hart was reinstated back into Western Wolves – who were sponsored by Madcatz, after only a month of suspension. His first event back under the Western Wolves banner was the Alienware Championship in January 2013, where he won both the qualifier and the finals itself.
Hart after he won Final Round 17 Premier Event and Virtua Fighter V anniversary in 2014
2014 was the last year of Super Street Fighter IV: Arcade Edition before Ultra Street Fighter IV was released on 3 June 2014,[100] but this did not stop Hart from being proactive within the game. He managed to secure victories at a number of events including but not limited to Ultimate Fighting Game Tournament 10,[101] Warriors Return 3, Republic of Fighter 3 (3v3), International Video Game Cup 2014 (5v5), Final Round XV,[102] Winner Stays On Invitational, Super Vs Battle 2014, Road To Ultra 2014 and Next Level Battle Circuit #71,[103] along with multiple 2nd places at International Video Game Cup 2014,[104] International Video Game Cup 2014 (3v3), Next Level Battle Circuit #72[105] and Republic of Fighters 3.[106] Hart still maintained great results in other Capcom fighter such as Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix with 1st place at Triple Threat Volume 10, IGN Con Dubai Arcade Cafe Tournament and International Video Game Cup 2014, 2nd-place finish at Gigacon and 4th place at VSFighting 4,[45]Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike winning Shadowloo Showdown V[107] and Triple Threat Volume 10, he then placed 2nd at Proving Grounds 4[108] and 3rd at Stunfest 2014. June 2014 also saw the introduction of a new sponsor for Hart, with Team Dignitas picking him up[109] which he would only stay with until December 2014 when Team Dignitas left the fighting game scene.[110] In the six months Hart was with Dignitas, he won 20 medals across four continents for the team, leading to speculation of this being the most championships any Dignitas player has ever won within a six-month period. With the eventual release of Ultra Street Fighter IV later within the year, Hart took 1st place at Warriors Return 3, Bracket Reset, Gigacon (2v2), Keep It Classy and Triple Threat Volume 10,[111] while placing 2nd at Street Grand Battle 2014,[112]DreamHack Valencia 2014,[113] ROF,[114] Ultimate Fighting Game Tournament 10,[101] Shadowloo Showdown V,[107]DreamHack Stockholm 2014,[115] Hypespotting 3[116] and The Luffy Beatdown Special.[117] Hart still managed to compete within different titles at events winning Tekken Tag Tournament 2 at IGN Con Dubai, International Video Game Cup 2014 and Hypespotting 3[118] while obtaining 3rd-place finishes at Wednesday Night Fights[119] on both Tekken Tag Tournament 2 and Ultra Street Fighter IV. Hart also had a 4th-place finish at VSFighting 4,[45] a 2nd-place finish at Hypespotting 3[118] for The King of Fighters XIII and competing in his last Virtua Fighter 5 Final Showdown tournaments with 1st place victories at International Video Game Cup 2014 and Final Round XVII.[102]
2016 welcomed the new release of Street Fighter V and a lot of fresh new competition with it. Hart was very active during the first year of the new games release, winning Bracket Reset 59,[129] Take TV Take's Dojo, Fight Club NRW and placing 2nd at Lockdown 2016,[130]EGX 2016[citation needed] and Paris Games Week Invitational.[131] Along with these results Hart secured 3rd and 4th place victories at events such as Kuwait Battle Royale 2016,[132] Celtic Throwdown 2016,[133]VSFighting 2016,[134] and Cannes Winter Clash 2016.[135]
Hart started to focus more on his private life and this led him competing a lot less than he had previously at this point, but also allowed him to be more active within different areas of the Esports industry. In 2017 he only entered a handful of events for Street Fighter V with his best result being 1st at Take TV Weekly, Meltdown Weekly and Greek Empire Tournament, additionally Hart placed 3rd at TakeDojo X-Mas 2017.[136] within this same year, Hart casually picked up the new Bandai Namco game; Tekken 7, where he placed 9th at Hypespotting 6.[137]
Hart continues to compete within fighting game events but to a lesser extent as he continues to grow his career within other areas, he still enters events for Street Fighter V and Tekken 7 with his best results of 7th (Tekken 7) and 9th (Street Fighter V) at Brussels Challenge Major 2018,[138][139] Headstomper 2018[140] and Fight Club NRW 2018.[141]
Team manager
Hart has managed Western Wolves as a team leader during the team's run.[68] Western Wolves closed its doors on 20 December making Hart and all team members free agents.[99][98]
Hart works as a host and presenter for variety of gaming events, shows and TV such as ESL[146]
Content creator
Hart works as a content creator for ESL's main products, such as ESL One, IEM and ESL Pro League. Among Ryan's long career within the Esports industry he has had the opportunity to co-author a book and write articles for his own blog and Ars Technica[147]
Tournament organiser
Since 2001 Hart has also setup and ran many tournaments during his time within the competitive fighting game scene including but not limited to TTT 1 Crackdown,[9] SBO Netko,[10] Chasing Dragon 3s Tournament,[8] VF4 Feet Bribe,[148] 50 Man Trocadeo KO Showdown, 3S Neko RB Season,[149] Prodigal Summit, Namco Station Tekken 5 Bi-Weeklies, USA vs Europe SF4 Showdown[150] and the Venezuela Tour 2012.[151] Hart currently hosts the community initiative Silent V Trigger within Germany to help local players improve.[152]
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