The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters

There will always be the argument

That video games are meant

to be played for fun.

Believe me some of them are a lot of fun.

Videogames are meant to be played at home.

Relaxing on a couch, amongst friends.

and they are, and that's fun.

But competitive gaming,

When you want to attach your name

to a world record

When you want your name

written into history...

You have to pay the price.

With this it's like me and the machine

Doesn't matter

If you let me down...

Or if someone else doesn't come through.

I can always go out there, I'm in control.

I am glad to touch on this.

This is important.

Everybody, even grandmas,

Games, meaning checkers, cards,

If not now, in the past.

Show me even a freakin' nun or a hermit

Who hasn't played cards or checkers.

I do not drink. I don't smoke.

I don't do drugs.

I play video games

Which I think is

a far superior addiction

Than any of those other ones.

I wanted to be a hero.

I wanted to be the center of attention.

I wanted the glory. I wanted the fame.

I wanted the pretty girls

to come at me and say...

"Hello. I see that you are good

at Centipede. "

I had somebody draw a analogy for me once

that I always remember.

The top French pilot in

World War One shot down 24 enemy planes.

The top American pilot,

you don't know his name do you?

Nobody does,

But it is Eddie Rickenbacker.

Shot down 26 enemy planes.

The German ace, the Red Baron.

Everyone knows who the Red Baron is.

That's cause he shot down 87 enemy planes.

I mean he was the best.

There is a level of difference

between people...

And it translates into some games.

Donkey Kong, Pac-Man,

Ms. Pac-Man, Galaga, Defender...

These are the games

that caught the public eye.

These are the games

people cared about.

So, if you want to be known

as being world class.

You gotta master one of those games.

I like the simplicity of it.

And that's what you will probably hear

from a lot of people that like retro games

That it's the simplicity.

Those games challenged

eye-hand coordination...

Mind, body coordination

Fast reaction time

and comprehensive thinking

On a level that modern games don't..

Memorization and pattern recognition is key.

For you to get a single point further

in an old game from the early eighties

Meant a tremendous increase of skill.

If you do not know

the next pattern coming up...

in a tron lifecycle event

you will lose your life.

Only the die herds,

who for some reason...

really loved those games,

continued to stick with them.

What we've done is

that had mayor tie up the entire street...

so the Life magazine

could come to town...

and photograph the world's

greatest video game players...

Who have been flown in

specially for this Life photographic session.

All these great superstars are coming

from North Carolina,

California, Canada

And many other places...

To be photographed

as the official world champions...

On many different games.

That was the first time

Two world-class players

Went head-to-head for a competition.

Was in Life magazine.

Without a doubt I met players

that were among the best in the world.

And maybe even with say or do

whatever they could

To make people believe

They were the best in the world.

Well, at that time...

He was the world record holder on Centipede.

But also at that time...

He was the world record holder on

Donkey Kong.

But we didn't know that,

because someone else...

was invited there

from Kansas City...

Who, because of a claim they had made

It was presumed that they were the

Donkey Kong Champion.

Donkey Kong was the one

that I first lied about.

He had submitted a bogus score...

And I finally met him there

with Life magazine...

And I finally sat down to play him.

We have not been there long and

Bill said "Come on, let's play. "

I went in to the arcade

and sat down with Donkey Kong

And I beat him to a pulp.

Well, I was better than the best.

I got 200000 against Bill.

Bill got 800000

on his first man in that game.

He shellacked me.

Basically he walked away with his head down

and humbled.

And that brought him to the truth.

And from there we worked together.

Well, the Bible proverb says

"As iron sharpens iron,

so one man sharpens another"

Bill made me a better person...

And did so by basically making me confess.

I pointed out to Steve that

he is the person he is today

because he came under the wrath

of Bill Mitchell.

In front of the 19 top players

in the nation...

actually, North America...

He did the

highest Donkey Kong score possible

And also found out that the game

ends on the 22nd board.

Since I, so called, debuted on the scene

in Life magazine in 1982...

There hasn't been anybody

who has played even close.

When Billy Mitchell

walks in to an arcade...

You know, everything stops.

There is electricity around Billy Mitchell.

Everybody wants to crowd around him.

Everybody wants to see him.

You know, everything about him is perfect.

Billy is just that person.

He wants to represent.

If you could hack into the machine

an program it to play itself

you couldn't even program it that well.

There is a glamour to Billy

There is a specialness to Billy.

He was the first great, great player.

The fact to the matter is...

Bill IS THE BEST classic arcade gamer

of our era.

It has actually carved

a part of my personality.

It benefits me every day.

It made a burning passion never

to settle with what I have.

In my business, in my family.

That's what competitive gaming

has done for me.

He is a winner.

Billy Mitchell

is absolutely a winner.

It's sort of like being in a maze...

But everything you see is actually sauce.

The all-around most seasoned person

In the hot sauce chicken wings industry.

Yeah, for sure, me.

There is a production end of it.

There's the preparation.

When there is a sales end of it...

There is not somebody who accomplishes

all of those areas like me

that I've ever met.

He sells his hot sauce.

He sells himself.

Because he's so charming

And such a good ambassador...

For all gaming, because he is positive.

There is no reason in my opinion why Billy Mitchell

couldn't end up on a Weenies box someday.

The video arcade classic

has finally been conquered.

On July 4, at a

New Hampshire arcade...

became the first person...

To master Pac-Man

By recording the first ever perfect game.

Billy Mitchell

primo joystick dude

Amazing in the maze

he ain't gonna lose

To get through every board,

getting every dot

Every energizer,

Every ghost that's applicable...

To reach to the final

It's impressive, in its on right.

The success was not just because

someone got a perfect Pac man score,

But because Billy Mitchell

got a perfect Pac man score.

...Man in the corridor

singing the blues

A perfect game goes down

Billy's on the move...

If I have all this good fortune.

If everything's rolling my way.

If all these balls

have bounced in my favor...

There is some poor bastard out there

Rate this script:0.0 / 0 votes