Hit-box controllers have been a very divisive topic in the competitive FGC and Smash communities for years, as competitors have debated whether they afford the users an unfair advantage.Recently FGC pro-player Daigo Umehara, one of the most popular competitors in the world with 25 years of experience under his belt, has been the talk of the fighting world when he announced that he would be using a custom hit-box controller for the then upcoming Combo Breaker tournament.Combo Breaker is a Capcom Pro Tour event, which means that players are on the line to qualify for the Pro Tour finals at the end of this year. Umehara competing with a hit-box at this type of tournament would have been a huge endorsement, so naturally any decision involving its use must be done with the highest of consideration.Hit-box controllers are named after the company Hit Box, which made them popular over ten years ago. These controllers, unlike normal joysticks, handle directional inputs with the same buttons that perform attacks. This allows for better movement and easier execution of certain complex moves.According to Reddit user Kelvinn1996:

Daigo uses the GafroBox, which is an hitbox with a brooks audio board and DOES have a SOCD cleaner (Simultaneous Opposite Cardinal Directions). This means that whenever Daigo presses left and right, only ONE of these inputs will be sent to the game. Controllers without SOCD cleaners will send both, and old games that are not programmed properly will allow players to walk forward while blocking....

Here's a demonstration of Umehara using the hit-box controller in Street Fighter V in a recent Twitch live stream:

Originally Umehara had stated he was cleared to compete with the controller but then in a last-minute decision reversal, Capcom banned the use of the controller for the tournament. In addition, the company released an official statement regarding their decision:

One thing is for certain -- this whole situation is the start of a new precedent regarding the controversial controller, regardless of which way Capcom and local tournament officials lean in the future.

Other video games tournaments recently in the limelight include the winner of a Super Smash Bros. Melee tourney having a crab thrown at him by a spectator, Snoop Dogg streaming a Mortal Kombat 11 tournament, and Call of Duty: Black Ops 4’s Blackout Mode getting a $40,000 tournament back in April.