A Perfect Game

7 Responses to A Perfect Game

1. Peter says:

   October 9, 2008 at 1:15 am

   You’d enjoy the documentary “The King of Kong”. But by the end, you’d probably be saying you’d rather be Steve Wiebe rather than Billy Mitchell. Or is it that great tie he’s wearing that you find so compelling? 🙂

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2. Andy Best says:

   October 9, 2008 at 6:25 am

   Hey Jim

   Billy Mitchell was the first one to do the perfect game, although he got more famous for the Donkey Kong thing later on. King of Kong is a great film. Have to say though, those film makers are way manipulative. They trash reality to show it as a two man battle that ends with the underdog winning.

   Alas, for most of Wiebe’s attempts, Mitchell was retired and the top score was held by Timothy Sczerby. So it’s a fabrication that Wiebe was trying to beat Mitchell for most of the timeline. Also, Mitchell did go live and beat the score back right after the film’s timeline ends. Cheeky film makers.

   As for Pac man – these days a lot of people got the perfect game. If you go to the Twin Galaxies site, they had to change the pacman criteria now to fastest perfect game, so it runs off the time as the top ten all have the same score.

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3. Peter says:

   October 9, 2008 at 11:29 am

   Being first is interesting though two more things are up for consideration regarding Pac Man, Billy Mitchell and Steve Wiebe. First, Wiebe challenged Mitchell’s Donkey Kong score – which is fundamentally more challenging/interesting than Pac Man because the element of unexpectedness is present and differing level design is added to the mix. This is similar to Ms. Pac Man. While Pac Man is classic, it is objectively boring in comparison to future games of similar structure. Second, Mitchell gave the camera opportunities that brought his character into question. I recall someone claiming he admits (kudos to him if that is true) some mistakes. For instance, the tape submission to a live event was outright arrogant and mean-spirited toward Wiebe and the event as a whole. Wiebe didn’t give the cameras anything similar (or at least as portrayed by the film producers) so it sets up an interesting personality/motive contrast that can bring out a desire, in some viewers such as myself, to cheer for Wiebe. Regardless, that contrast is a key element to what makes this film interesting. Without it the film would not be nearly as interesting. The producers lucked out and followed that up by executing that opportunity well.

   The wisest of them all, if I recall correctly, was Wiebe’s daughter who simply questioned the importance of having one’s name attached to a video game high score. Too funny.

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4. Shannon says:

   October 9, 2008 at 12:00 pm

   Funny, I was going to comment and say you should watch “King of Kong” but it looks like the commenters before me got to it.
   We’ll have to make a party of it 🙂

   Reply
5. Reverend says:

   October 9, 2008 at 1:09 pm

   @Peter,

   “King of Kong” is now officially my next rental after I make it through “John Adams,” which I am totally taken with at the moment (4 sections in!). @Shannon has been plugging King of Kong for a while, but hearing abut the bitter rivalry (fictional or otherwise) makes me that much more excited. I do think Mitchell’s whole persona is great, I mean his look from the 80s until now in the clip above is priceless, I do love that guy.

   @Andy,

   How sick are you coming out with a full on critique of “King of Kong” as a documentaey, reminds me of a moment when I praised Roger and Me (which I always enjoy), to learn that there was some fancy footwork going on with time and narrative. That said, Moore’s films always treat the subject matter with a far too heavy hammer, making Sicko almost unwatchable. But I can’t help but be a fan. You’re laying on the intrigue that Mitchell “came out of retirement” to regain his crown is classic. I just love the whole idea of being the best at a video game, and considering yourself in and out of retirement in that world is a special thing I only can pretend to.

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6. Andy says:

   October 9, 2008 at 4:02 pm

   I love that movie. But I was cursed with having an interest in the subject prior to the movie coming out. Like all good documentary film makers, they don’t let reality get in the way of a narrative that works for the film.

   You’re right in your observation that taking into account that Szcerby had the title – that Mitchell came out of retirement just to trounce Wiebe. He had been happy to be retired and at no. 2 up until that point – in real life that is.

   I love the interactions of Mitchell’s entourage in the film, and Walter Day’s honest appraisal of how Billy was integral to the existence of Twin galaxies.

   And you can’t top the Red Baron speech for setting up Mitchell as an unrepentant arrogant douche. But I somehow come out liking him still.

   I’m going to be even sicker – in case any of you didn’t know, the famous snub moment is edited in. Billy did speak to him briefly, you see the cut away in the middle of the moment and here the thing – they all signed contracts to go along with how the film ‘panned out’ and provide the extra footage too – for example, Billy doing the other end of the calls to Florida when they only had one camera crew.

   All of them also signed away rights to a fictional version being done second too, al la Lords of Dogtown. What’s that point though, the doc is so good, and it’s practically the fictional version anyway 😉

   I haven’t seen American Movie by the way. Sources tell me that it’s even better than King of Kong.

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7. peter naegele says:

   October 10, 2008 at 10:32 am

   I always enjoyed the fact that the earliest bugs in video games, like the 256th level of Pac Man, became the Easter Eggs that we now seek out.

   If you haven’t read “The Ultimate History of Video Games” by Steven Kent, I recommend it. Be warned…it is addictive as the games themselves!

   You can easily gauge a person’s interest in the history and influence of video games by asking them what this gif represents [also available in a non-animated t-shirt]:

   http://img391.imageshack.us/img391/9631/243gp7.gif

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