Twin Galaxies has officially dropped the ban hammer on a second prominent world record holding champion: Billy Mitchell.
The scrutiny against Mitchell’s scores came on the heels of the ban against Todd Rogers, after a member of the Donkey Kong forums posted evidence that Mitchell may have used MAME, an emulator, to achieve scores he claims were won on an original arcade cabinet. A few weeks later, Apollo Legend dropped some evidence of his own.
If you’ve caught all of the episodes of the show, you’re acquainted with Scott. He’s been a guest so many times because his perspective is vast. He joins me today to talk about Billy Mitchell and his time working with Twin Galaxies in addition to the ways those experiences still impact his life today and what the real takeaway from the ban is.
He began working for Twin Galaxies in October of 2008 to help rebuild their high-score database and referee for the competitive side of the arcade. In his time working with the archives, Scott ran into discrepancies that he couldn’t ignore. He discovered multiple Donkey Kong Jr. scores published in the Twin Galaxies magazines in 1982 and 1983 that were higher than Mitchell’s 1982 score. Those scores were absent from the database that had been rebuilt in 2004.
Another oddity that Scott discusses is the 2009 E3 event where Steve Wiebe, Mitchell’s foe in King of Kong, competed live on G4 TV. Mitchell, gaming’s most prolific hype man, turned down the opportunity to take on Wiebe’s live on television.
The tipping point for Scott was Big Bang 2010. Here he discusses the disagreement he had with Mitchell over publicizing his scores hadn’t been adjudicated. When the time came to view the gameplay, the VHS tapes were hand delivered by Todd Rodgers, the same who is banned for using doctored footage, and the referees were given one evening to view the tapes and give a verdict.
Not only that, but Scott was met at breakfast the next day with a score for Donkey Kong Jr. that was higher that broke Mitchell’s supposed record. Twin Galaxies held the press conference for Mitchell regardless.
It was in 2011 that Scott resigned from Twin Galaxies, but his career in the industry as a historian, an advocate, and a journalist kept him involved and active in the scene. His verbal questioning of Mitchell has left him an open target and Scott says that he believes that it is no mistake that the trolls are always rabid fans of Mr. Perfect PAC-MAN.
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