Alias in the Fight Game Community

[Gamin_Guru]

Watching Evo this weekend and I noticed many players with strange, funny or cool aliases and I was wondering, how come no one uses their real names in the fighting game community especially at the biggest fighting game event where money prizes are handed out (Are they cash prizes or cheque) ? Is it an identity thing or is everyone just using their GamerTag/PSN ? I noticed some players, mainly Japanese just using their real names i think.

 

[I$AAC]

when I was younger I used to go by "TheOnlyOne"

As I got older I realized how silly that name sounded so I went with my real name and added a dolar sign to it.

 

[Gamin_Guru]

I've been using this 'handle' for like the past 6-8 years. Basically, was a hardcore gamer and friends called me Gamin Freak but that sounded stupid so I tweaked it. But if I went to an offline event, I'd probably just use my real name since I'd feel awkward someone calling me that in RL.