The King Of Kong: A Fistful Of Quarters, a 2007 documentary about competitive classic arcade video game players is a time capsule of a dying culture and showcases a watershed moment in gaming. Watching this over ten years later, is quite ironic, considering how one of the main players, Billy Mitchell was recently outed this year as a cheat. The very thing that he called out another player in the Life magazine competition in 1982. I think that Billy was at one point a legitimately great classic arcade gamer. But now he is just a disgraced hot sauce chicken wing guy. And now his image and his perfect games are covered in asterisks. And if you ask me it couldn't have happened to a better guy. Billy was arrogant and a prototypical asshole from an 80's movie who wants the ruffians to get off his country club. He even wears a member's only jacket for Christ sakes.
Now that Mitchell has been taken off his pedestal, the underdog throughout the entire film that I and so many people rooted for in the film comes away victorious and retains his title and the world record. Steve Wiebe is now the King Of Kong again and a big reason why is because of this documentary whose special features on the DVD helped nail Mitchell for good for use of emulators to cheat Donkey Kong. Steve represents the kind of champion that you want to see held in high regard. I got two words for ya Billy Mitchell...
SUCK IT!
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Steve Wiebe's sacrifice and rituals while playing his vintage Donkey Kong cabinet are always fascinating and interesting. How he can come of a heavy drum session and then right into the Kong is simply amazing. And it is equally amazing that the game itself despite it's simplicity and archaic graphics for today's day and age is so difficult to master. Even Dark Souls isn't as difficult as Donkey Kong. And that's just mind blowing.
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Walter Day is a character. Dresses up like an NFL referee, practices meditation and speaks like he's some god of classic arcade games. The ego of this man is crazy. But it seems like big egos are common in this particular culture and group of people. For them and their small but loyal community, their accomplishments, work and actions are more important than anything else in their life. There is also a distinct gender and race gap in this group. There are no people of color here, or women. It's a boys club. And just like any other boys club or group like this, there is beef with other grown men that has lasted for years.
And with the case of Roy Schlitz aka. Mister Awesome, because Steve had a replacement board he was sent to by Roy, Steve's initial world record was removed. Over very slim evidence of cheating on Steve's part other than some gummy substance on the board. Which didn't seem like it was that obvious of an example of cheating. But because it was provided by Roy, that was enough for the folks at Twin Galaxies to toss Steve's record in the trash. But because of this, Steve now has the rare chance to beat Billy at his own game live and in person in front of the few hundred classic arcade game competitors that still existed in 2005. And as an added note, there was finally one female that was introduced on film, but the older lady who was competing to break the Q-Bert world record was an outsider. So wasn't a part of the Twin Galaxies club, despite Billy's endorsement and support of her.
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The majority of the classic arcade gamers featured in this documentary are what most people would call "nerds" or "geeks". This film does nothing to erase the common stereotypes associated with gamers which is very interesting to see. I wonder how much if any this particular culture has changed since the release of the film. I am also curious if it has even less devoted members since Billy the previous King Of Kong and classic arcade game celebrity has fallen from his perch. Will this culture survive? Or will it die off like so many other similar cultures have in the past? Time will tell. I personally feel that with the advancements in gaming technology and with the evolution of gaming culture as a whole, this culture will have fewer and fewer members. And there won't be many people who will want to sit and watch tapes of game play footage for hours on end to verify the validity of a score, or watch these competitions in person.
In the heyday of these kind of games there were even entire TV shows centered around competitive game play of classic arcade games. But those shows are no longer on the air or in the public's consciousness. Other than this documentary, most modern gamers don't have memories of playing these classic games. Their classics are completely different. I can see competitive matches of NES or SNES games or even Genesis games taking the place of the classic arcade game competitions at the Funspot. Or competitive classic gaming is almost erased entirely and replaced by DOTA, Mortal Kombat or other games that are already being played on the competitive stage.
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The biggest thing that resonated with me with this film other than how much of a dick Billy Mitchell is, was how much a lot of these classic gamers and the people who were in their lives were attached to the games as a part of their identity. Steve Wiebe was one of the exceptions. He had more in his life than just the world record for Donkey Kong or other classic arcade games. He has a wife and kids, and he is a school teacher. Billy Mitchell and his associates and friends seem to rely upon these classic arcade game achievements like they do the air they breathe. Without the games and the competition they don't know who they are. They suffer a loss of identity and confidence in life as a result. If the games were taken away completely and all of their accomplishments were deleted, would they be able to recover?
Sure. Some of these individuals like Billy Mitchell who have already spent years building their egos like Mount Rushmore, will be able to survive this kind of catastrophe, but a lot of them wouldn't. What would Walter or Rob do without Twin Galaxies? And who are they? Who is Billy Mitchell? Is he the result of the games and the records he set? Or is he something else entirely? If and when Billy and his gang dies, who will remember them and what they did? Will their achievements and work truly last forever? My guess is no. Steve will have friends, family and relatives that will carry on his name and his legacy about not only Steve the video game player, but Steve the man. Not the myth. Or the legend.
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