This guy is basically a real-life Ace Attorney witness. Here is the article from Siliconera. I tried leaving the basic summary intact, but there are a lot more details in the link.
How could anyone think they could get away with this kind of stuff in the internet era?
It all started out when 23-year-old temporary government worker, Masahiro Ito (no, not the Silent Hill artist), who is supposedly high-ranked and respected Guilty Gear player, told friends and co-workers that he was headed to Paris, France, to participate in a major fighting game tournament, called Autumn Stunfest, from September 20 through 21.
Had Ito left it at that, nothing would have likely come of it, but its the following part where things got really messyhe claimed to have won this major tournament.
After telling his friends and co-workers, it didnt take long for word to spread that a Japanese government worker won a major fighting game tournament. The story even got a spot in the Jomo Shimbun, a regional daily newspaper published in Gunma Prefecture. Even Asahi, widely regarded for its journalism as the most respected daily newspaper in Japan, published an article about Itos feat.
Needless to say, with that much nationwide attention from the press, a lot Guilty Gear and fighting game fans got wind of it all, and began asking about this tournament called Autumn Stunfest, which they never heard of until now. Stunfest is an actual tournament in France, which also featured Guilty Gear Xrd: Revelator in this years tournament back in May, but the Internet detectives pointed out that theres nothing about an Autumn Stunfest on their official website or anywhere else.
The whole saga came to an end earlier today in Japan, when the Ota City Hall held a press conference on the matter, and revealed that parts of what was said in the interviews were fabricated by their temporary worker Ito. According to Ito, it all started when he told a co-worker he was going to a tournament in France, and there was no going back on his word. Thats when things just got out of hand.
More at the link, including a bunch of pictures he claimed to have taken in Europe, but in reality stole off of random blogs.The Ota City Hall is currently deciding on its disciplinary action for Ito, and it sounds like hell have a lot more time on his hands to practice Guilty Gear. Look out, EVO 2017.
How could anyone think they could get away with this kind of stuff in the internet era?