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[Optimistic Gamer]

That Fistful of Quarters movie is a good watch. But after you watch it, it's pretty said. At least Mitchell has a business to run. That Steve Wiebe guy sits in his garage every night playing Donkey Kong.

he's a teacher with a family though?

 

[D.Final]

The iconic moment in the gaming history

 

[KOMANI]

Guinness reinstates Billy Mitchell’s Donkey Kong, Pac-Man records [Updated]

Evidence review results in public split with Twin Galaxies.

arstechnica.com

 

[TheContact]

Guinness reinstates Billy Mitchell’s Donkey Kong, Pac-Man records [Updated]

Evidence review results in public split with Twin Galaxies.

arstechnica.com

So basically, Twin Galaxies and Guiness work together. Twin Galaxies stands behind their investigation that the scores were bogus, but Guiness said there isn't enough evidence to show he cheated so they reinstated the records. I never really followed this but it's certainly interesting. I should check out that Fistful of Quarters movie.

 

[iconmaster]

Guinness reinstates Billy Mitchell’s Donkey Kong, Pac-Man records [Updated]

Evidence review results in public split with Twin Galaxies.

arstechnica.com

I really don’t know what to believe. The evidence involved is well beyond my ability to evaluate.

 

[Grinchy]

Guinness reinstates Billy Mitchell’s Donkey Kong, Pac-Man records [Updated]

Evidence review results in public split with Twin Galaxies.

arstechnica.com

Weird. So is it that they didn't find sufficient evidence that he cheated and that means he didn't cheat, or just that they didn't feel confident enough in the proof?

Very interesting turn of events. If his video really was legitimate and we all jumped on the cheating train too hastily, then good on the sauce maker.

 

[Lanrutcon]

Weird. So is it that they didn't find sufficient evidence that he cheated and that means he didn't cheat, or just that they didn't feel confident enough in the proof?

Very interesting turn of events. If his video really was legitimate and we all jumped on the cheating train too hastily, then good on the sauce maker.

There's a summary of the evidence against him earlier in the thread. His defense so far has been "I can't explain how I did that thing that can't happen but I did".

Edit: Oh, here's why they reinstated him:

"newly sourced eyewitness testimony"

Some witnesses miraculously appeared for the trial.Just in time, eh? I mean, those witnesses sure would have helped during the last few years...lucky they managed to be found for the trial.

 

[Grinchy]

There's a summary of the evidence against him earlier in the thread. His defense so far has been "I can't explain how I did that thing that can't happen but I did".

Oh yeah and I was fully on board with saying he cheated because of it. It's just interesting that this was looked at in an actual court setting and Guinness was led to feel that the evidence wasn't strong enough.

 

[godhandiscen]

Oh god let it go. You have a successful business. Be content with that.

But what if he didn’t cheat?
I don’t believe him, but King of Kong was completely manipulated to portray Billy as a villain and since he had the last laugh, perhaps that’s why Twin Galaxies decided to pile on him.

 

[Lanrutcon]

Oh yeah and I was fully on board with saying he cheated because of it. It's just interesting that this was looked at in an actual court setting and Guinness was led to feel that the evidence wasn't strong enough.

They pretty much couldn't decide one way or the other, so they went with the original ruling. That being said, they're only half of the equation: they rely on Twin Galaxies International Scoreboard to judge video game records, and Twin Galaxies are still saying he cheated. So he's got one "meh" and one "fuck off, cheater" on the scoreboard atm.

 

[ArthriticZombie]

I think the evidence against him is pretty damning and to be honest it's a shame. I met Billy a handful of times and he's a genuinely nice dude. I watched him play Pac Man at an event and he's a straight up savant like, truly mind blowing. I think he lost himself in this character he created a long time ago.

EDIT: Billy is actually making a "Statement" at 3pm EST today on his YouTube channel about it.

King of Kong Productions

King of Kong Productions is a new gaming, lifestyle, and production company built at the intersection of gaming, entertainment, and history. King of Kong Pro...

www.youtube.com

 

[OutRun88]

I love when entertainment creates itself. It seems like Billy may actually be legit, and that there are personal grudges coming into play.

The current record holder himself testified for Billy Mitchell

"After reviewing Billy’s gameplay and reproducing similar games myself, I can honestly say that this is legitimate gameplay," Lakeman said in a statement. "I do not see a reason why Billy would need to even use MAME or save states to film both games with this style of play."

Twin Galaxies founder Walter Day said in Guinness' video that he is "very pleased to see this happen, and I had faith it would turn out this way. All of those people who were part of the old days who played the old games and saw Billy Mitchell play—they knew that he was completely capable of getting these records, and they also knew that there was no MAME capable of being played on back in the golden age."

 

[ArthriticZombie]

So.....why doesn't he get an arcade Donkey Kong machine and do it again, if it matters so much to him?

He has, numerous times but no one cares at this point. lol

 

[BRZBlue]

I love when entertainment creates itself. It seems like Billy may actually be legit, and that there are personal grudges coming into play.

The current record holder himself testified for Billy Mitchell

I mean, the video in-question is 100% played on an emulator.

So either
1) He played on an emulator and didn't know it.
2)He played on an emulator and knew it, and claimed he didn't.
3)There is some completely unknown, one-off, version of DK is programmed like a modern emulator.

There are all things that should be pretty much... known, when you're making a world record attempt. Whats more, his skill levels are kinda lacking compared to the more modern players who have since eclipsed his DK scores.

 

[Grinchy]

I'm not really on his side or anything, but just playing Devil's Advocate, being able to do something earlier in your life doesn't mean you can still do it decades later.

Michael Jordan probably can't dunk from the free throw line if you hand him a ball today.

 

[KOMANI]

So basically, Twin Galaxies and Guiness work together. Twin Galaxies stands behind their investigation that the scores were bogus, but Guiness said there isn't enough evidence to show he cheated so they reinstated the records. I never really followed this but it's certainly interesting. I should check out that Fistful of Quarters movie.

It’s a good documentary. They do paint Billy as a villain. There’s even a documentary to the documentary.

 

[BRZBlue]

I'm not really on his side or anything, but just playing Devil's Advocate, being able to do something earlier in your life doesn't mean you can still do it decades later.

Michael Jordan probably can't dunk from the free throw line if you hand him a ball today.

Think of it more like say, Lance Armstrong. You find out he cheated in some way. Do you go back and say "hmm, well this record is still probably legit, he probably didn't cheat that one" or do you just wipe all of them because he's just untrustworthy at this point?

The smoking gun for him playing on emulation has been the way MAME draws frames, as opposed to how an actual cabinet does. There's really no wiggle room here.

 

[TheContact]

It’s a good documentary. They do paint Billy as a villain. There’s even a documentary to the documentary.

I love these kind of docs. I really loved King of Chinatown (2011) that followed Justin Wong even though I was never into fighting games that much.

 

[OutRun88]

I mean, the video in-question is 100% played on an emulator.

So either
1) He played on an emulator and didn't know it.
2)He played on an emulator and knew it, and claimed he didn't.
3)There is some completely unknown, one-off, version of DK is programmed like a modern emulator.

There are all things that should be pretty much... known, when you're making a world record attempt. Whats more, his skill levels are kinda lacking compared to the more modern players who have since eclipsed his DK scores.

Ah gotcha. What's your take on the results of this then?

I'll still take the "this is free entertainment" route. All of this is entirely inconsequential after all.

 

[Hendrick's]

Twin Galaxies has always been a disreputable score keeper. My take is that Billy pissed someone off and they got vindictive. I've seen this guy play DK and he is legit the best there is.

 

[SpiceRacz]

Twin Galaxies has always been a disreputable score keeper. My take is that Billy pissed someone off and they got vindictive. I've seen this guy play DK and he is legit the best there is.

I think I mentioned on here when this originally went down - A lot of people in not only the competitive Donkey Kong community but also the classic gaming community in general have an axe to grind with Billy. Take a look at the DK Forum for instance. They mostly fucking hate him.

 

[JSoup]

I'm not really on his side or anything, but just playing Devil's Advocate, being able to do something earlier in your life doesn't mean you can still do it decades later.

Michael Jordan probably can't dunk from the free throw line if you hand him a ball today.

The difference here is Mitchell can still do it and has done it multiple times, live, since he was accused of cheating, both at random arcade across the country and on his Twitch stream.

 

[Grinchy]

The difference here is Mitchell can still do it and has done it multiple times, live, since he was accused of cheating, both at random arcade across the country and on his Twitch stream.

If he did it again, why couldn't they just accept that newly recorded high score? They must have it out for him if he hit his own record again and they still won't take it.

 

[BRZBlue]

Ah gotcha. What's your take on the results of this then?

I'll still take the "this is free entertainment" route. All of this is entirely inconsequential after all.

The Guinness people really never had much in the way of clout in the first place. They actively will work with people to "create" new records for people to hold, its basically all one big money making operation at this point for them. 'Last Week, Tonight" did a pretty good video on just how bad they are, and when the show baked the world's largest cake as a spite to a Dictator, they refused to sanction it because it would hurt the Dictator's feelings. Never mind that that same Dictator has given them oodles of money.

 

[BRZBlue]

If he did it again, why couldn't they just accept that newly recorded high score? They must have it out for him if he hit his own record again and they still won't take it.

I mean, the evidence he spliced runs is pretty indicative as well.

You don't cheat, get caught, then do it legit and get welcomed back. You get banned because you shouldn't have done that crap in the first place, and can't be trusted to not do it in the future.

EDIT doh, this was supposed to be tacked onto the above post. Sorry for double-post.

 

[Bullet Club]

 

[SLoWMoTIoN]

Comments are turned off.
Fucking cowards

 

[Ceadeus]

I watched some of his recent streams and yeah, he sure can makes some legit high scores. I truly believe in him.

 

[StreetsofBeige]

Bill Mitchell will go to his grave being #1 in DK.

 

[EightBit Man]

I'd sympathize with him if he wasn't so full of himself.

 

[BigBooper]

He's the villain we all need.

 

[Grinchy]

lol he wears the tie over the vest to make sure the whole flag is seen

 

[entremet]

I'd sympathize with him if he wasn't so full of himself.

He's basically a WWE character.

 

[Chupanibre]

Maybe it's just time to move on?