Go see The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters

[Warp_Rattler]

That was one of the first things that popped in my mind when I watched the movie as well--"Get somebody from the MAME team or with some authority on what an 'official' DK dump would be and just compare the boards."

Despite the creative editing to make the contest look a lot more dramatic, you could really tell that a lot of people really were as slimy and weaselly as they looked. Who the fuck goes to another persons house and wanders into their garage to start tinkering with a freaking VIDEO GAME? I would have been much more pissed than Weibe was at coming home to find these guys dicking around with the cabinet. I winced every time Brian Kuh came onscreen, actually, and wondered why nobody in the movie ever called him out on being a pathetic little Billy Mitchell bootlick. The "Donkey Kong kill screen, coming up..." scene was almost heartbreaking, as you could see him torn between his passive-aggressive attempt to put more pressure on Weibe, and his geek disappointment at being pushed out of the spotlight.
I know Twin Galaxies is pretty much a joke, but Walter Day was infuriatingly without any sort of integrity, allowing a different standard for rule submissions for Billy when he'd invalidated scores Weibe submitted under the same conditions; allowing Mitchell and Kuh to actually have any say in the reviewing and validation process really gave the feel of an old boys' club where outsiders were completely not welcome.

And Billy Mitchell... Well, you can jazz up the facts or order of events to make people or events look more sinister than they really are, but no amount of creative editing can make a douche look good. I saw a documentary which supposedly aired on MTV of all places a few years back (video might still be floating around on YouTube or for download) on the subject of "pro gamers." There were three or four different people featured: Fatality of FPS fame (I'm not going to do the stupid 1 in his name, wherever it goes); this group of losers who shared a house and all worked entry-level jobs at FedEx YEARS after normal employees would have been promoted and who spent every spare moment of their day playing games (I remember one guy rushing home to get an hour in on his lunch break and then showing back up 20 or 30 minutes late because he lost track of time); maybe another person I've forgotten; and then a feature on Billy Mitchell and his perfect Pac-Man game. The guy was a sleaze and a creeper that first time I saw him, and he got even more creepy in King of Kong. I was just left thinking that this is a guy who has to win, who MUST win, and who will do anything in his power, even if it's petty or unethical, to ensure that he stays number one. I was almost left with the impression that it wasn't even the reality of the scores that mattered, just as long as he was considered "the best". A fascinating character, in a sort of "well, it's good this is the only specimen..." way. Still, a damn enjoyable movie. I would have rooted for the 'good guy' even if the producers hadn't shuffled some of the truth around.

[1up]

It was a really good movie, but like others said, edited or not, you cant hide the fact that Billy Mitchell is a douche. In the movie Chasing Ghosts he also comes off as a total douche.

theres a nice discussion over at TG where a lot of questions are answered about the production of the movie, and heres a few tid bits that I recall:
1. The movie span over 8 years (cant remember how this was verified)
2. Billy and Steve had met, and played live, several times before the movie was made
3. a 3rd person had, while the movie was being filmed, beaten both Steve and Billys Donkey Kong score on TG
4. In the end where Steve recieves the 'award' it was not for the 1mill.+ score but for the 800k+ score, but the movie doesnt display that.

it was a fun and informative read indeed.

And Brian Kuh is a pathetic little prick. Theres just something about him thats so slimey that you just get angry. I bet he got beat up a lot in gradeschool

[undamned]

4. In the end where Steve recieves the 'award' it was not for the 1mill.+ score but for the 800k+ score, but the movie doesnt display that.

You mean the live 1M score he did at the previous meet (fun land or whatever) was not logged?
-ud

[emphatic]

How 'bout that Robert Myruzcek's "art" collection shown in Chasing Ghosts, then? It's so awesome that he's actually sold of shares of his business to buy some top dollar smut. Or the sweaty guy in Florida living with all those spiders and snakes?

[Casey120]

Searched my ass off but found it now on Usenet .
I guess this movie never left the US !

[undamned]

How 'bout that Robert Myruzcek's "art" collection shown in Chasing Ghosts, then? It's so awesome that he's actually sold of shares of his business to buy some top dollar smut.

Dude is so into it, he admitted to paying $14k for that one piece. It was a commissioned work, which means he actually asked the the artist, "Yeah, so could you paint a whore who's spread eagle and masturbating... that'd be great." My wife and I were both pretty shocked.

If I re-watch it I'll double check, but I'm pretty sure he also still lives with his parents. Creepy guy keeps getting creepier.
-ud

[PC Engine Fan X!]

Yeah, I was browsing on one of the Showtime channels and lo behold, Chasing Ghosts was being shown. Managed to record it to DVD-R for posterity...ace film about some of the all-time arcade game masters of them in their prime and what they look like today.

I do recall that the Chasing Ghosts documentary was shown in it's entirety at the 2009 California Extreme retro arcade game & pinball show as well.

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

[Casey120]

Never saw Chasing ghosts but also found it on usenet in 720P !

[Ed Oscuro]

"Yeah, so could you paint a whore who's spread eagle and masturbating... that'd be great." My wife and I were both pretty shocked.

4chan would like to have a word with you: "CONSENSUAL SEX IN THE MISSIONARY POSITION" - how utterly /deviant/!

I like the part about getting people to buy shares so he could do that though.

[iatneH]

Nice choice of music to play in the background during the art show too. $300K of smut drawings, wow. And I thought I was bad enough with a couple of hard drives.

[jpj]

if you don't know the next pattern in a Tron light-cycle event ... you will lose your life

[video_disease]

such a great movie. a friend of mine turned me on to this when it came out on DVD, and I don't know how I lived without seeing it!

Chasing Ghosts is awesome too. Two words: Spider Collection.

[gameoverDude]

Not 100% KOK related, but Billy Mitchell's Pac-Man record has been smoked as of this past August 15. While it took Mitchell 5:30, David Race got the same score of 3,333,360 in just 3:41:22. TG now has a Fastest Perfect Game category for Pac-Man.

[Warp_Rattler]

Wasn't there something where Billy Mitchell had promised a large some of money to anyone who could clear the 256th screen? Not sure if it even is technically passable on its own, but I stumbled across this fascinating analysis of the bug and its causes, as well as a hack to fix it: http://www.donhodges.com/how_high_can_you_get2.htm
Wonder if he'd accept that as meeting his challenge, provided you were good enough to get that far.

[Rob]

Chasing Ghosts is awesome too. Two words: Spider Collection.

22 lb cat Rusty bests any collection of spiders.

[video_disease]

Chasing Ghosts is awesome too. Two words: Spider Collection.

22 lb cat Rusty bests any collection of spiders.

hahaha jesus that poor cat. it looked like a gigantice pancake when it layed down.

[Casey120]

I watched both now and liked " Chasing Ghosts " a bit more as a documentary , the KoK felt a bit staged !

[spadgy]

I can't resist showing off this...



I met Steve Wiebe! He was a very friendly guy who really listened and gave me plenty of time. Also he was of course humble and modest. I was in awe!

I watched him play for an hour too, which was cool to see.

[ave]

(Mod edit:merged duplicate thread - spadgy)

Being an European I've not been very familiar with the entire hype around Billy Mitchell and his competitors during the Golden Age of Arcade Games. I've been aware of his achievements, but not of a place like Twin Galaxies, an "international scoreboard" that is kept by its owner or even how old world record holders meet up nowadays.

Well, as you can guess by the introduction I have watched The King of Kong (2007) a short time ago. Very entertaining and just what I like: Arcade games + 80's techno feeling. Cool stuff. But there are some things bugging me a little and I hoped to find some answers here.

#1
Was Billy Mitchell really the record holder of Donkey Kong for pretty much 20 years? My mind struggles to accept that the WORLD RECORD in a JAPANESE GAME was held by a WESTERNER for TWENTY YEARS! I've seen too many middle-aged Japanese guys, many on film and some for real, who were just sitting in some old arcade and play Xevious until xx million just for the sake of it or until they have something else to do. I would love to know that the WR was really held by Billy Mitchell for such a long time, but it seems more likely to me that Japanese scores are just not known to Twin Galaxies - or Guinness, who refer to TG's Walter Day.

#2
Is that Brian Kuh an imaginary character or a real "score player"? According to Twin Galaxies he got 16 (!!) world records on a single day at some tournament. That does seem not only impossible, it sounds highly ridiculous. Considering he behaved like a giant arse-kisser of Billy Mitchell and generally like a dick during the entire movie ("there's a possible DK kill screen coming up.... if you're interested") and never achieved only half as much points in DK as either Mitchell or Wiebe, I can't just believe that... untill someone wise tells me it is in fact the bitter truth.

#3
Why were those Twin Galaxies guys (except Walter Day who seemed nice and fair) such assholes to Wiebe? I've already mentioned Brian Kuh, but Mitchell himself conveyed such hostility in his interviews, it's hardly imaginable for me why they are so hostile. For instance the scene at Mitchell's restaurant: "Yeah, they're here. I don't know why, they were not invited, but they've come." - what the fuck? As far as I'm concerned score-players should stick together and newbies should be welcome. Japanese players at the arcade trade their experience to get better, to benefit mutually. I don't get it why some of the guys in "The King of Kong" felt like they belonged to the FBI of video games, like they were some super-important and super-exclusive members of a superhero society. Oh dear, that's not only pathetic but puts shame on our entire community!

[DEL]

during the Golden Age of Arcade Games.

More like the Primitive Age of Arcade Games. The Golden Age was when those guys left and 1985 started. Alright - 1984-1992.

#1
Was Billy Mitchell really the record holder of Donkey Kong for pretty much 20 years?

Or even 1 year?
My friend Craig from the London Arcades kill-screened Donkey Kong at the same time as the Old Billy Baroo.

#2
Is that Brian Kuh an imaginary character or a real "score player"? According to Twin Galaxies he got 16 (!!) world records on a single day at some tournament.

Well if you ignore the whole Far Eastern output of scores (like TG do) then YEAH he Did

#3
Why were those Twin Galaxies guys (except Walter Day who seemed nice and fair) such assholes to Wiebe?

Because Billy Bob is the All American Hero they backed in the first place and it suits their Hero Worship.

[Drum]

1. A ton of classic arcade game records are held by round-eyes. But no, he wasn't - in fact I believe some other guy held it at the time or something. That part was definitely fudged.
2. ?
3. Capt. Awesome, who Billy got his machine off, is apparently a real crazy asshole and basically stalked/harrassed Billy and his family - Billy really hates him, and with good cause. I don't think Steve knew what he'd done though, but everybody associated Steve with him and was highly suspicious of his motives. Capt. Awesome was using Steve as a weapon, basically.

[Drum]

during the Golden Age of Arcade Games.

More like the Primitive Age of Arcade Games. The Golden Age was when those guys left and 1985 started. Alright - 1984-1992.

Can't agree with this - there were so many new ideas and new forms created in that period and so many games that still hold up. I am educating myself in MAME right now and it's a pretty humbling and fascinating experience.

[Ruldra]

#2
Is that Brian Kuh an imaginary character or a real "score player"? According to Twin Galaxies he got 16 (!!) world records on a single day at some tournament.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/e ... uh_650.jpg

I don't know how big those scores really are, but the Chase HQ one is hardly a WR. That game has potential for a 11 million score, maybe more.

[ave]

2. ?

Well, his history (I quit so I can play on a daily basis!) and his character just seemed very weird and he behaved like an asshole all along. I know he is real, but the movie portrayed him as such an awkward character that I wasn't quite sure if he was meant to be a hoax until about 30-45 minutes into the movie.

@Ruldra
Yeah, I found that picture as well. Ridiculous, really... how they mention in glorious framing for instance: "Heavy Barrel - WORLD RECORD: 70,000".
70k, I'm impressed. That would mean the actual world record in Heavy Barrel was set by the PCB itself, it got 100.000 points!


It looks like he played on 16 machines in a row and because of the lack of scorekeeping they just jumped into the air and screamed "WE HAVE A NEW RECORD!" every time he lost his credit

3. Capt. Awesome, who Billy got his machine off, is apparently a real crazy asshole and basically stalked/harrassed Billy and his family - Billy really hates him, and with good cause. I don't think Steve knew what he'd done though, but everybody associated Steve with him and was highly suspicious of his motives. Capt. Awesome was using Steve as a weapon, basically.

Things are complicated eh... worse than any soap opera it seems. :p

[saucykobold]

Just for fun, I compared some of Brian's scores with the Japanese records in one of Gemant's handy lists.

Chase HQ
3,596,680
30,780,850

Guerrilla War / Guevara
35,800
1,254,200

Heavy Barrel
70,480
1,931,500

Hot Rod
272,380
10,000,000+

[spadgy]

Firstly - here's the main King of Kong thread.

Twin Galaxies are sure an odd bunch. But then their creepy, incomprehensible vibe has this strange allure. Don't get me wrong – I certainly dislike and distrust the whole TG thing, but I'd love to get to have dinner with Billy Mitchell and indulge him in talking about himself. He's got this unsettling charisma more typical of cult leaders.

They certainly think themselves the real deal though, even if the TG inner circle are something of showmen (or anti-showmen perhaps).

I think Walter Day's intentions really are honest. Once he emailed me at work out of the blue, and I sent a very freindly reply in a hope that I could strike up a relationship that could mean I could get to learn some more about the mysterious inner working of TG. He never wrote back though. He came across as very sincere.

But yeah - London's Craig is the real legend for me. Steve Wiebe's a lovely guy, but he can't be a more likable chap than Craig.

[Skykid]

I'm sure Billy Mitchell's Pac Man world record was legit (at the time) cos the Japanese gave him a trophy or something didn't they?

Either way, douche that he is, the gaming world would be less colourful without such weird and wonderful characters.

[GaijinPunch]

#2
Is that Brian Kuh an imaginary character or a real "score player"? According to Twin Galaxies he got 16 (!!) world records on a single day at some tournament.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/e ... uh_650.jpg

I don't know how big those scores really are, but the Chase HQ one is hardly a WR. That game has potential for a 11 million score, maybe more.

I have a video on my HD even of a Guevara 1CC (on Normal). It's 184,300 before the classic SNK 1 million clear bonus. LOL. Very Hard clear is just a little under it, btw. It is a painfully difficult clear. Even on easy.

I also have a Heavy Barrel no miss on my HD which is 502,200. I'm sure I could beat his shitty score.

[xris]

The movie is a good watch. It really does seem like they had tried to villianize Billy Mitchell in the movie, it didn't help that at the time he was being a jerk about the record, mostly that whole Capt. Awesome thing. His Pac Man score is the truth. It's a perfect game and cannot be beaten. It was complete and utter bullshit how quickly they had excepted the video tape of Billy Mitchell's score after telling Steve W. he had to play live to make the score count. It's a great movie to watch, and I stiil think that Steve W. handled himself like a champion.
Brian Kuh? BWAHH! HA HA HA HA HA !!! BWAH HAHAHAHAHA! *weeze* BWAHHH HAHAHAJHA!!
That guy doesn't deserve more than that. Learn to play bitch.
also, this is a hoot. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rTUzaBYi2rI

Billy Mitchell has earned the fame he once had, and I think the attention brought on by KOK was unfair. But, if he acts like a jerk when people approach him on it then maybe it's deserved.
Twin Galaxies, yeah... Not really respected if you actually play video games.

[antares]

When this movie came out Retro Gamer magazine had a making of article and interview with Billy Mitchell where they unveiled that the makers of the movie wanted to make it more interesting by deliberately forcing it into a good vs bad thing. In many scenes they told the actors what they should say and they took many statements out of context. It turned out Billy Mitchell wasn't very happy about his image in the film when he finally saw it. So you shouldn't see this as a reliable documentary.

And yes, Twin Galaxies is a joke. They have a handful of scores which are world records or near it but for the most part you can forget his site imo.