King of kong : a fistful of quarters

ricero

Amazing documentary now on sky arts anybody ever seen it before. That billy Mitchell lad in it is a right dickhead

Columbia

I watched it a couple of months ago, really crazy to see the lengths people will go to for that record, and the entire culture which has grown up around it.

ricero

I know I thought a documentary on this subject would be boring but it's brillant one of the best docts I've ever seen only in America would you see competivness like this

Phony Scott

ricero wrote: »

Amazing documentary

Yep. Brilliant alright. You may want to check out Air Guitar Nation. It's not nearly as good as 'The King of Kong,' but its quite similar in the sense that it is odd yet heartwarming to watch and the rivalry between Björn Türoque and C-Diddy isn't entirely dissimilar to the one in 'The King of Kong'.

ricero

I can't beleive that billy Mitchell lad is a real person he's like a brillant comedy creation the man is such a dick

krudler

great little movie, you cant help but root for Steve Weibe to break the record as he puts so much effort into it, Mitchell was (and still is apparently) a knob.

DeVore

Yep. Its a great docu.... its like a car crash, you want to look away but really, its just fascinating! (and I've been pretty closely intertwined with Irish games playing of all kinds which is pretty mad but NOTHING like that haha).

DeV.

krudler

Its when Billy sends the tape and they make such a big deal about watching it, overshadowing Weibe's live record that you really see how much of a clique all those guys are, its like Mean Girls with nerds :pac:

Magic Eight Ball

Billy's little sidekick who follows him around reminds me of Stevie from Eastbound & Down.

Duggy747

Yea, definitely one of the best documentary's I've seen, even if there is selected editing to create a more dramatic piece. But the overall jist is interesting, especially the Nnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnneeeeeeeeeeeeeeerrrrrrds in it (That guy who has a special glove for using a cabinet joystick :pac:)

Still, Mitchell looks like he's still stuck in that period of when 80's really ended and when the 90's crept in.

I remember first watching it with another guy drinking beer and that final bit had us cheering like idiots

ricero

Yea my favourite has to be billy mitchells lil bitch of a sidekick he was such a weasel. But billy mitchell has become the biggest knob head I've ever seen in my life and his smoking ass wife

AnonoBoy

Great movie.

Brilliant look into a crazy little subculture.

Auvers

whatever about Billy Mitchell being edited to be the assh0le and by wearing that stars and stripes tie he probably is

I think yer man Steve was an ever bigger waster and ahole sitting there spending the best parts of his life playing Donkey Kong while his young son begs him to stop playing and spend some time with him

and good point about his nerdy sidekick resembling Stevie in Eastbound and Down

Sabre0001

Excellent documentary. Amazing the lengths and dedication that people go to...

kotaku wrote:

The Donkey Kong high score record has been shattered three times this year [2010] with Steve Wiebe recapturing the title from his King of Kong rival Billy Mitchell.

Hank Chien took the title from Billy Mitchell this past March. Chien beat Mitchell's 3 year record.

Mitchell reclaimed his title in July with a score of 1,062,800. This month [September], Steve Wiebe beat Mitchell's score by hitting 1,064,500.

According to Twin Galaxies, Wiebe set the top Donkey Kong score record in spring 2007. His efforts were documented in the film The King of Kong.

Töpher

Quality film, you wouldn't think it given the subject, but it lures you in and is a very enjoyable watch.

DeVore

I think the scene where his kid is crying "No Daddy, NO KONG!!!" (which are obviously a number of the very few words the lad has) is really heartbreaking. I think its one of the most difficult pieces of film I've seen... nearly up there with American History X and the curb scene (if you've seen it, you know it!).

Its not so much a documentary about games as it is a documentary about the human capacity to obsess about detail and achievement.


DeV.

bonerm

Whilst I love this doc as a piece of entertainment I think really irresponsible on how characters are portrayed.

Billy Mitchell was an ultra-dedicated teenage gamer who took that determination into the adult world and becomes a successful businessman and family man and who didn't appear to take gaming *too* seriously anymore.

Steve Wiebe by comparison was portrayed as a hero but it was demonstrated that he was a mess of a man who was neglecting all other facets of his life (family, job seeking) all in order to break some meaningless record that shouldn't matter to anyone over the age of 14.

However, that said, the portrayal of Brian Kuh I can only imagine is 100% accurate.

Bottom Line : Billy Mitchell = American Hero.

Phony Scott

bonerm wrote: »

I think really irresponsible on how characters are portrayed.

I don't quite understand? Everything you've mentioned is portrayed in the film, otherwise how else would we know this information? Had they left out the scene with the irresponsible parenting, I would have called that very suspect filmmaking, but it was kept in, showing Steve Wiebe has a massive flaw.

If it's a case of what your saying is that Billy Mitchell (business man) = bad guy and Steve Wiebe (unemployed and irresponsible parent) = good guy, I'd give DeVore's discription more consideration:

DeVore wrote: »

not so much a documentary about games as it is a documentary about the human capacity to obsess about detail and achievement.

ValJester

The thing is, is that Mitchell's persona was exaggerated by the film so that we would cheer Wiebe on, quite a lot of it is exaggerated.

That said Walter Day is apparently every bit that obsessive in real life.

ricero

The best bit in the film is when billy Mitchell asks the camera man what's his initials and then billy so cheesy says it's USA haha biggest knob head ever they should really make this into a scripted film our tv series

Phony Scott

ValJester wrote: »

quite a lot of it is exaggerated.

Sorry for being a pain in the ass, but is there somewhere which backs that up? I looked at wikipedia, but it was very vague and sort of trivial.

It's about two years since I saw this documentary last, so forgive me if my explanation is flaky at best. I pitied both characters and didn’t read them entirely as good guys or bad guys, one to root for and one to boo. I think it’s the obsession of the two that’s at the heart of the documentary. Billy Mitchell is such a narcissist; he couldn’t let a record from childhood be beaten, which is both pathetic and hysterical. Steve Wiebe, on the other hand, would sacrifice both his job and family life over a video game, again pathetic but somewhat more tragic. By the end, both are utterly consumed by the obsession, which, seemingly, continues to this day. I read it as a brilliantly realised tragicomedy. Maybe I'm wrong?

At the end of the day, did I root for Wiebe? Yes, but only because Mitchell has an ego that needs serious deflating. How that man balances his head on top of those shoulders remains a mystery to me.

If your right about it being exaggerated, I'll have to take that all back and watch the documentary again.

Bugg

Have had this for a few months but havn't watched it yet, must throw it on tomorrow night.

distraction

Great flick, also for all you crazy gamer fans have a look at
Chasing ghost: Beyond the Arcade.

Another great one, IMO more of a real documentary than King of Kong.

Also there will be a few familiar faces for any one who has seen King Of Kong

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0479879/

http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/chasing_ghosts_beyond_the_arcade/

johnny_ultimate

I think the most fascinating aspect of the docu is the weird insular nature of Twin Galaxies themselves - it may be down to selective editing, but they really come across as a group who don't like outsiders entering their niche little world they've built.

Also, everytime I've seen it I've gotten a crazy urge to order a crate of Mitchell brand hot sauce.

distraction

Billy says YES!

amacachi

American Movie is a film I watched around the same time, one of the most hilarious and also sad films I've ever watched. They're kinda similar to me because of how delusional the people in them are. Or probably because I watched them around the same time. :pac:

ValJester

Phony Scott wrote: »

Sorry for being a pain in the ass, but is there somewhere which backs that up? I looked at wikipedia, but it was very vague and sort of trivial.

It's about two years since I saw this documentary last, so forgive me if my explanation is flaky at best. I pitied both characters and didn’t read them entirely as good guys or bad guys, one to root for and one to boo. I think it’s the obsession of the two that’s at the heart of the documentary. Billy Mitchell is such a narcissist; he couldn’t let a record from childhood be beaten, which is both pathetic and hysterical. Steve Wiebe, on the other hand, would sacrifice both his job and family life over a video game, again pathetic but somewhat more tragic. By the end, both are utterly consumed by the obsession, which, seemingly, continues to this day. I read it as a brilliantly realised tragicomedy. Maybe I'm wrong?

At the end of the day, did I root for Wiebe? Yes, but only because Mitchell has an ego that needs serious deflating. How that man balances his head on top of those shoulders remains a mystery to me.

If your right about it being exaggerated, I'll have to take that all back and watch the documentary again.

The obsessiveness is true, but the OTT-ness of Mitchell was made up entirely for the film. Chasing Ghosts Beyond The Arcade is more accurate as to his personality.

Just finished watching this, it is a brilliant film altogether. Some of the greatest quotes ever in it......can't believe they were from real people, and not some script writer.

I want you to remember, that no punk bastard ever got himself a gnarly piece of poontang, by being sensitive and considerate. Mr. Awesome

all the science teachers here are weird

I talked steve wiebe outta chumpatising himself

I explained to him he could lose his life, but dont lose the tape

edit......forgot to add...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3YJayj0F2Rw

TheIrishGrover

The comments section for this movie used to be hilarious. Now, obviously the doc painted a pretty negative picture of Billy Mitchell and I only took that with a grain of salt. He's obviously not someone I'd like to sit down and have a couple of drinks with but it's amazing what you can do with clever editing. What I did find amusing was the creepy worship the nerds have for him. I assumed this was also at least partially down to clever editing until I saw the comments on IMDB. These were clearly posted by one of the nerds (confirmed in one of his posts) and his hero worship of Mitchell was amazing. People were posting comments about mitchell and he's come back on and say that he was a national hero and people didn't know him. How he was so cool for getting a coworker fired for pocketing a quarter when he worked in an arcade and how his hair is beautiful(!). Lightening something or other. Unfortunately when I went to show the comments to somebody about 6 months ago he had deleted his mesages/ID. It was a pity because it was a real, unedited insight into some of the people in the film and actually would have made a great (if somewhat cringeworthy) DVD extra.

TheIrishGrover

johnny_ultimate wrote: »

I think the most fascinating aspect of the docu is the weird insular nature of Twin Galaxies themselves - it may be down to selective editing, but they really come across as a group who don't like outsiders entering their niche little world they've built.

Also, everytime I've seen it I've gotten a crazy urge to order a crate of Mitchell brand hot sauce.

Yeah, I've been visiting TG for years and always thought it was just a bunch of fans remembering the old arcade games. (I used to work on an arcade in the 90's while studying) Just kinda "Ah yeah, remember Juno First? You could play that for HOURS on one 20p" and then get back to their dayjobs. But bloody hell...................

bonerm

TheIrishGrover wrote: »

I saw the comments on IMDB.

Speaking of that board, it's funny to see the amount of Brian Kuh hate on it. I think he's actually more unpopular that Billy Mitchell. eg

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0923752/board/nest/126369521

seannash

https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2018/04/premiere-game-scoreboard-bans-billy-mitchell-in-donkey-kong-cheating-scandal/

faceman

seannash wrote: »

https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2018/04/premiere-game-scoreboard-bans-billy-mitchell-in-donkey-kong-cheating-scandal/

It was inevitable but years later than it should have happened. The footage of his submission was a no brainier that it was emulated.

Also Starring LeVar Burton

Billy Mitchell is one of my all-time favourite Villains...

ScrubsfanChris

faceman wrote: »

It was inevitable but years later than it should have happened. The footage of his submission was a no brainier that it was emulated.

Was he the guy who has his record attempt recorded on tape but there where no actual witnesses there in person?
It's been I while since I've watched.

tigger123

Doesn't he have his own range of hot sauces?!

My favourite scene in the documentary was when him and Steve are in the same room at the competition, and he's desperately trying to scope Steve out without being noticed.