Topic: King of Kong

[Spak-Spang]

I dunno if anybody has seen or heard of the movie King of Kong, but it is fantastic...the best documentary I have seen.

It is the story of Steve Wiebe challenging Billy Mitchell's top score in Donkey Kong.  The Documentary is very fun and explores the very eccentric personalities of the championship gaming industry and Twin Galaxies in particular.

I would have never guessed that the arcade Donkey Kong is considered as the most difficult arcade game.  Nor, would I have imagined the dedication and true training it requires to compete in these competitions.

Anyway, we got to see an early screening of the movie at the AFI Dallas film festival.  The Director was on screen and it did a Q&A.  

The top score record is now over a million and the machine's points did roll over.  To achieve scores as such, you are required to play the game for 3 hours.  In comparison the average game of Donkey Kong is around 3-5 minutes before game over.

This movie inspired me to go play Donkey Kong again, but I am depressed that the Virtual Console doesn't have true arcade ports, and I wish that it did.  Perhaps this movie can create an awareness for the demand of a true arcade perfect collection of Nintendo's classic arcade games.

 

[nitsu niflheim]

I have never heard of this before!

[Spak-Spang]

Nitsu:  It just came out.  IMDB has a small article on it...and aintitcoolnews.com has a review on it as well.

It is a very interesting story, and it proves that politics and power plays a part of even the most mundane situations.

Basically, Billy Mitchell is a founding member and kinda "superstar" of that twin galaxies website.  He is a well-spoken and popular figure head.  And he uses that to  bully Steve Wiebe and get his scores discredited.  So it becomes a fight for Steve to become recognized.  

The editing of the film does create a sort of villian vs. hero story...but overall the directors did want to be fair to the individuals...but also not give them a pass on their hypocrisies.  

The movie isn't released yet...and since it is an indie film it may be hard to find.  So your best bets may be to search for it when its out on DVD.  It is truly worth watching.  

[wandering]

This movie is good.

[ThePerm]

the movie was actually made 2 or 3 years ago, i could have watched it during a special showing at The Loft theatre in Tucson. I missed it, i could have won a dk arcade machine. Oh well. I eventually watched it on netflix several months ago, fucking nerds to the extreme. Its like the matrix meets the 80s. Transcendentalism at its finest


oh god damnit wandering....