Billy Mitchell is a famed name in the competitive gaming scene, both for the records that he set on arcade games and for the role that he played in the story behind The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters. Recently, Mitchell’s achievement with setting the Donkey Kong high score has been called into question, with some accusing him of editing together the runs that he did in emulation software. Now, he’s come out with a response to the naysayers.
In a recent talk show called East Side Dave, the topic was discussed, with Mitchell declaring that he’s completely innocent. Here’s what was said:
I’ve never even played MAME. I don’t have MAME loaded in my home. The film footage that he has, that Jeremy (the initial accuser) has, shows MAME play. Now, I contend that if he gets the original tape, or he gets the original room shot, he will see that what I say is true. I’m not disputing what he says. What I’m disputing is the fact that I want him to have the original tape. And the fact of the matter is that that original footage was given to Twin Galaxies, Twin Galaxies has it or should have it, and if it’s anywhere other than Twin Galaxies, that’s a real problem.
Mitchell then goes on to explain that two other men, Todd Rogers and Pete Bouvier, were supposedly present when he set the score, and while some former Twin Galaxies workers have heard of the existence of a tape of that score being set, nobody has been able to find it.
What do you think? Did Billy Mitchell really set that score? Share your thoughts in the comments below.
[source kotaku.com]
Comments 51
Yeah but can he prove it? For his sake, I hope he's telling the truth.
Isn’t Todd Rogers the guy who’s just been banned for all time for cheating?
Who cares?! Billy's a tool and it's a 35 year old game only purists and drunk people in barcades play. People act like this is such a big topic when there are so many other things going on in the gaming world. He probably did cheat though. It means so much to him, which is very sad. It's time to let Donkey Kong go and I don't know, go take a hike in the woods, whip a Switch out, play some BOTW and contemplate what other superfluous things he's wasting his life on. His record's already been legitimately shattered anyways.
Eastenders Billy Mitchell?
He was originally written into the show as a scumbag. I wonder if the scriptwriters were aware of the other Billy Mitchell.
Twin Galaxies okays MAME for highscores anyway. I don't see the big deal.
Giant Bearded Face
Nerdfight!!
This must be some drama from the 80’s because I’ve never heard of any of this... lol
I was wondering why this guys name seemed familiar as I don't give a rats ass about his score or this controversy but then it hit me. Kim Mitchell and those patio lanterns!
Twin Galaxies verified the score was legit at the time, so if it turns out to be an illegal score, then there is a problem with how things are run at Twin Galaxies. That would be a bigger issue than whatever Billy Mitchell is doing.
Sooooo polygraph test?
@gloom It actually came up fairly recently not long after Todd Rogers was exposed about the fact that the high scores he supposedly set on a number of Atari games were faked.
Wasn't there a parody of Billy Mitchell on some adult swim type cartoon? I can't remember which show it was but I know I saw it.
I don't think he cheated. However, if it does turn up some funny business you can imagine the backlash of other records that were set.
@saturn_hero There is one from "Regular Show" https://www.google.se/amp/s/news.avclub.com/billy-mitchell-loses-regular-show-lawsuit-doesn-t-care-1798286744/amp
yeah nobody's seen the tape since it was reported to exist seven years ago. Not one single person can couch for viewing it.
@LinktotheFuture Awfully convenient nobody can find that tape then, isn't it? Then they're just clumsy, instead of corrupt.
There was also a parody of Billy Mitchell on the TV series Bones.
@Prof_Yoshtonics It's not that different from speed running. People still try to beat the world record for Super Mario Bros., even by a fraction of a second. So much time and effort goes into researching the in-game physics and perfecting the run to be just a bit faster than everyone else's. Same applies to score running, though obviously with a different goal in mind. Rather than researching how to get to the end the quickest, other elements go into play, like what actions will increase your score and by how much, and if it's worth doing at the risk of wasting time, and therefore decreasing the speed bonus at the end of each stage.
Maybe speed running and score running sound like a silly past time to you, but to the runners, it's something they enjoy doing. At the end of the day, what they enjoy doing is harmless, and shouldn't be met with criticism.
I loved King of Kong. Brilliant film. Watched Man vs Snake on a plane recently and Billy Mitchell, while still a weird guy, doesn't come across as badly in that one. I know King of Kong played things up for dramatic movie effect, with goodies and baddies, but it worked and got me surprisingly involved for a documentary about two middle aged men trying to break and old game record.
Sorry if I'm slow on the uptake here but is he the guy Peter Dinklage played in, that complete pile of bum-biscuits, Pixels?
@HauntingNostrils His character was modelled on him.
http://uk.businessinsider.com/pixels-peter-dinklage-playing-billy-mitchell-2015-7?r=US&IR=T
@SLIGEACH_EIRE Thank you kindly, sir.
P.S. Just read that article and What a bell that guy is! Seems Dinklage nailed him.
@saturn_hero
Twin Galaxies seems to have some record keeping issues as of late. Don't care either way, but this and the Dragster stuff certainly makes them look incompetent at the most important job they have (keeping records).
@Kalmaro
Twin galaxies should have his tape or they shouldn't have given him high score. They should just release his tapes (any of them) in full at this point. That would prove or disprove it was mame. If they don't have them how does some random guy on the internet have footage?
Did Billy cheat? I don't know. But Twin Galaxies comes out of this smelling like a big turd. Especially because in there response they go out of their way to try and drag Billy through the mud. If they can prove it's Mame then release the tapes and that is reason to drop his high score. Saying stuff like we have no proof that Billy used the cheat function in Mame but it's likely he did or that Todd Rogers was 1 time one of his witnesses so obviously the score should be in doubt are just ridiculous and show a vendetta against Billy.
The proof is is the pudding but the pudding has up and disappeared!
Billy is a straight up cheat who had all the power, demanded that a challenger to his crown do his high score in public yet Billy was aloud to beat Weibes (may have spelled that incorrectly sorry just have to get this out) in secret out of public view. It's too obvious to ignore. People who still believe in him are deluding themselves!
Wake up!
Does anyone else suspect that Billy Mitchell and Damien McFerran might be related? No? Oh well, just me then...
@Kalmaro it's not for him to prove it. It's for others to have evidence to the contrary.
@Fuz By playing BOTW he would be part of something relevant and worthwhile to the gaming community at large. I'd much rather hear about something currently intrinsic to the present and future of gaming. That being said I have hundreds of NES, Atari, Genesis, Master System and TG-16 games on my bookcase. I just don't clamor on about them as if the world at large cares. King of Kong was already made like 10 years ago. It happened, it's over, let's move on to greener pastures. I would judge and individuals life worth by their ability to be part of a collective whole or not and what they do to benefit the people and world around them. Sure, people can do nothing to better the world and live under a rock until they die. That would be a waste of a life in my opinion. You've been given a life, you have countless abilities throughout it to better your and others existence, so why not do so regardless of the effort involved. The concept of fear and low self-esteem holding people back is ludicrous and only exists in their heads. In other words, it's not real. That's my take on it, since you asked.
@KayFiOS Sure, try to get high scores. Speed run games. That's fine. I'm not talking about the action in of itself. I'm talking about the relevancy of the entire prospect. King of Kong happened over a decade ago and poor little Billy still clings to it for dear life like anybody cares. He had his 15 minutes and can't let go. His record was legitimately smashed already so who cares what he did or didn't do. It's irrelevant at this point. He should take his "gaming prowess" and expend it on something that would give him some kind of current position in gaming relevancy. Then maybe it would be worth talking about. Also, since your opinion is that essentially nothing people enjoy doing should be met with criticism; I believe it's also worth stating that all things people find opinionatedly irrelevant are free game to be criticized. As is my stand point.
@Fuz Thank you for your perspective. I genuinely appreciate it. Even if we disagree on this subject. 😉
@frogopus That's cool. I enjoy MAME too. Along with all of my other legacy content on cartridge and disc. The point is neither of us are constantly pushing our playing abilities or score count on the gaming scene. It's my opinion that if Billy wants to play games and enjoy them he should do just that. Chasing decades old score ghosts will only haunt him until he's gone. For his and those close to hims sake, I just hope he doesn't allow this DK high score fiasco to label his existence forever. Which is what it has become at this point.
@Prof_Yoshtonics in the most civil of ways I add to the conversation that if someone is finally found guilty of a crime 30yrs later should we ignore it and move onto so called greener pastures?
If you look at the leaderboard which is current today this mans name is still there..... is that not current enough?
Just because your not interested doesn't make it irrelevant information.
Just my two cents as I have literally waited for news like this on the subject and couldn't be happier if he finally found out as a fraud.
The so called tapes either don't exist and never have. Or they are the very ones which are being dissected and Billy is clutching at straws.
@Filth_Element Well I suppose that would depend on the crime. Also, I'd hardly call rigging Donkey Kong scores a crime. More of a misnomer.
@Prof_Yoshtonics lol you kinda missed the point of the analogy. All good. Agree to disagree then.
What if I told you Billy Mitchell has NEVER played a Donkey Kong machine in his life....
@SwitchVogel It depends on how they lost the tape whether they are clumsy or corrupt.
I actually feel for Billy Mitchell a little bit.
I think he has some issues of character that bother me, for sure, but King of Kong amplified everything to vilify him. Many people just use that movie to form their opinion of him not realizing how dramatized the editing and framing of the story is. There is a character that movie made that really is a villain, and that "guy" is an exaggeration that is worthy of satirizing and laughing about, but it is a fabrication.
I'd hate to have that done to me, even if it was rooted in some of my own personality flaws.
Also...
There's always that one person, right? In a group of people discussing something they care about, there's that one person blindly yelling "nobody cares about this! Nobody! It's irrelevant!". Meanwhile the group calmly discusses it and tries to dissuade the ranting person from interrupting with what is actually the only irrelevant opinion in the group.
@Prof_Yoshtonics While I see your point much better now, it wasn't that clear in your first comment. Sounded more like you were just bashing anyone who still plays Donkey Kong in this day and age, rather than playing something new.
In any case, Jeremy "Xelnia" Young is just as guilty, since he decided to stir up drama with some guy who had the high score in Donkey Kong by saying his run was fake. Billy Mitchell isn't just defending his score, but also his integrity and pride. Imagine if you achieved something that meant something to you, only to have people say it was a fluke, and that you lied and cheated to make such an accomplishment. Regardless of how many people did the same thing better than you did, you're the one they're assaulting because you were famous for doing it. What would you say if you were being interviewed, and this was brought up?
@aaronsullivan Good job, sir. Uncommon to see someone live up to their avatar.
Unless it's a stupid avatar, of course.
Idk, the whole thing is kinda weird. This is supposed to have happened years ago. The record keepers should have a tape, but they can't find it. They did call it a legit run years ago and recorded the score, though. One of Mitchell's witnesses is supposed to be a known cheater, which doesn't help him that much. But if he was using save states to cheat, Twin Galaxies should have caught that easily.
Personally I want to give Mitchell the benefit of a doubt. It was on Twin Galaxies to keep the record legit. I'm seeing it as no solid proof for Mitchell cheating, but Twin Galaxies is clearly failing to adequately safeguard the records they are recording.
"I’ve never even played MAME"
...said no middle-aged man with a love of old coin-ops, ever... XD
Billy Mitchell should just man-up... start practicing... and re-gain his crown as King of Kong.
I believe in you, Billy!
I just want to point out that Twin Galaxies is a company. Not a single person, but a brand name, originally a store front arcade, later a website, and one that has exchanged owners (including Billy Mitchell for a time) and referees and it's employees a number of times over the last 30 plus years.
B Mitchell is the D Trump of the gaming industry.
@Biff_ARMStrong what if I told you Billy Mitchell IS donky Kong!!!
@Prof_Yoshtonics I'm sorry, that mentality makes me want to throw up, of doing something to be part of what others are doing. I don't know, it just sounds mentally weak. Something a person with not much talent would do to be part of a group. Unoriginal.
As far as Billy Mitchell, he doesn't even play Donkey Kong or other games, due to family life and a business he runs. He wastes less time on video games than probably 99% of people here.
Also, this King of Kong is rather famous. The type of famous where the topic is going to get a lot of hits and views. Should people just ignore such a story because of your ideology?
@j-life Yes. 😁
@RyanSilberman The issue apparently is that the run is pasted together rather than being one solid run, according to the folks who analyzed the footage.
Maybe it's just a bad photo, but I never argue or criticise someone who looks like a serial killer.
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