The King of Kong lesson

The King of Kong finally came to the Drexel and thankfully I saw it was playing before it left. After checking out the movie site and reading about it, and it being one of few movies about video games, it was a no-brainer to see it. And as a arcade/classic game fan, it involves some of my favorite games. I can definitely say that if you play video games, even in the slightest, you need to see this movie. It’s a documentary - I think - but that’s part of its charm.

The movie follows the quest of one man, Steve, to defeat the world record holder of the Donkey Kong high score, Billy Mitchell. Billy Mitchell’s name won’t be known to most people, but to gamers it’s almost legendary. He holds a number of game records and is the only person alive to have a perfect game of Pac-man…yes, perfect. However, if there’s any truth to this entertaining documentary, we now know that Billy Mitchell is also a legendary douche.

His DK record was set in 1982 and hadn’t been touched since. Steve Wiebe, a science teacher with a DK cabinet in his garage, played until he beat Billy’s score. He taped it and submitted it to the official score keepers, Twin Galaxies, only to get a run around and sabotage in return. The official scoring referee, Walter Day, besides living apparently living out of his car, is best friends with Billy. And Billy happens to be a TG referee himself. So the man that has the world record is a judge for those trying to beat his score. That’s fair, huh? We quickly learn that there is a small Billy Mitchell Mafia out there doing everything they can to keep Billy on top and sink anyone that even tries to come close to beating his scores.

This is a classic tale of good versus evil. Humble versus ego. Everyone can get into it, even if it something silly like Donkey Kong. I think classic arcade games are the ultimate test of gaming skill because they are games anyone, and everyone, can play. There’s not one person that can’t step up to a Pac-man machine and know what to do almost instantly. This simple context makes honest-to-god good players easy to spot and admire. But modern video games don’t offer such things. You can sit and watch someone play Halo and have no idea if he is good because there’s no personal context. This isn’t true for the classics, which makes a high score at Frogger far more impressive than a crazy kill count in Halo or Warcraft.

This movie shows that the only problem with video games is that people forget it’s just a game. People are the ultimate problem in this tale. Their egos, their unwillingness to let go of the past, their jealousy, and their passion.

And lets just say this movie makes it obvious that being a world champion at video games doesn’t bring you much money or much fame…but it will get your name in the record books.