More than twenty years ago, Twin Galaxies, which collects gaming data for the Guinness Book of World Records, named him “Video Gamer of the Century.” He achieved something incredible at the time: in July 1999, he became the first person in the world to score a “perfect score” of 3,333,360 points in Pac-Man. To do this, you need to not die even once and collect all possible points in the game. Billy Mitchell was a celebrity back then. But over the years, accusations of lies and fraud have poured in, and the once beloved arcade player has found himself in a spiral of lawsuits he fueled. One of the disputes that was waged with the twin galaxies has already been completed.
Mitchell’s face or even his name may be familiar to you – not only from his entries in Pac-Man and Donkey Kong, but also from the documentary “The King of Kong: A Fistful of Blocks.” It was directed in 2007 by Seth Gordon, a director who a few years later directed, for example, the comedy “Bosses to Kill.” Mitchell, with his long black hair and piercing eyes, acts as something of a villain here. He competes with timid math teacher Steve Wiebe for the record score in the famous gorilla leap.
Two Americans here beat each other with their results on slot machines, and even if this is a documentary, one of them simply makes the viewer more sympathetic, and the other much less. The second, of course, is Mitchell.
Immediately after the film’s release, he complained that the way it was edited ruined the career of a successful player at that time. They say that he began to receive hate messages and that unknown people called him on his phone. Even then, the first speculation arose about whether Mitchell won his results fairly. In the film, for example, he attempted to succeed at Donkey Kong with a score of 1,047,200, but only recorded his performance on video—even though he had been a proponent of playing live until that point.
In April 2018, the aforementioned organization Twin Galaxies appeared on the scene. His officials announced that they had reviewed various records and evidence related to Mitchell’s playing performances and concluded that he cheated on at least two points. He said he used the MAME emulator rather than the original Donkey Kong, which should give him an edge over the others. Using an emulator in itself is not illegal. But for this record, Twin Galaxies only recognizes the results of the original game.
The man who was once called the “player of the century” has lost all his positions, be it in Twin Galaxies or in the Guinness Book of Records. He was not allowed to report his results in the future if, by pure chance, he managed to beat the current record holders and their even better results. But now, almost six years later, Mitchell’s name is back on the charts. How?
The fight ended with an agreement
The lengthy trial was due to begin in three months, but in January there was a surprise announcement: Mitchell and Twin Galaxies announced that they had settled out of court and entered into an agreement. The details are still unknown, but all of Mitchell’s records have reappeared on the organization’s website – specifically in the historical database, and not in the current rankings. Twin Galaxies referred to the opinion of a forensic expert and somewhat clumsily stated that the organization’s task is “to verify whether submitted contributions meet the conditions of verification, and not to examine how they are created.”
Billy Mitchell appeared in court wearing his signature black suit, tie and American flag-colored handkerchief. When reporters asked him to comment on the situation, he only said in his unorthodox style: “Sorry, but I don’t know you.” The other side’s lawyers also showed no greater willingness to cooperate.
Mitchell began complaining that he was losing money because various gaming conferences and shows considered him a fraud.
The arcade player sued the organization in early 2019 and threatened to sue the Guinness Book of Records, which de facto copies Twin Galaxies data. But they eventually made an exception and recognized Mitchell’s results years ago, including a perfect three million points for Pac-Man. But the Twin Galaxies were more adamant. And they themselves sued him.
Mitchell then began complaining that he was losing money because various gaming conferences and shows thought he was a fraud and wanted nothing to do with him. In particular, he claimed that he lost 900 thousand dollars, that is, almost 20 million crowns. At the same time, the erasure of the recordings is said to have damaged his health: due to the alleged slander, he suffered from stress and a hernia. So was he the victim he described himself as? Even after the dispute is over, it is unclear. But the evidence is not lacking and speaks little in its favor.
Platforms and blue barrel
Mitchell claims that at least 25 witnesses saw him set various records. At the same time, last year, his former opponent David Reis posted on Facebook photos from a conference of mortgage brokers, which may seem strange at first glance, but this is where one of the two controversial “records” was taken from. In the photo, Mitchell is standing in front of a machine that looks like a regular Donkey Kong slot machine. But if you’re an expert at this 80s game, you’ll notice a tall red stick that makes no sense here – it was originally a pointy, short black controller.
It only takes a few frames, but these moments cannot be the same on the arcade machine and on the emulator.
Two results that have been a thorn in the side of the Twin Galaxies (and with one of them Mitchell surpassed Steve Wiebe in 2005) have also been analyzed by many experts. A year and a half ago, forensic scientist Tanner Fokkens published an extensive analysis indicating that Mitchell was indeed using an emulator in both cases. According to Fokkens, the video of one of the games basically shows suspicious “loading” before levels. It only takes a few frames, but Fokkens argues that these moments cannot be the same on an arcade machine and on an emulator.
At PerfectPackman.com you can also find a comparison between the arcade version of Donkey Kong, the emulator version and what the once dethroned champion showed in videos. This is, for example, the different lengths of some platforms or the blue barrel in the frame, which should not be on the original car.
And even now, after an out-of-court settlement, Fokkens is not giving up. A few days ago, he published an extensive post blaming mainly the medical examiner who was now expected to have a major hand in returning the deleted recordings to the hall of fame. According to him, Mitchell paid him, and his analysis, full of only theories, was simply sloppy. We will probably never know the truth. But there is no doubt that even if this is a completely strange controversy for many, others are taking it very seriously, and PerfectPackman.com promises that more details will be added to the controversial entries soon. The funny thing about all of this is that this domain was originally owned by Billy Mitchell. And his results in Donkey Kong have already been surpassed many times over.
Source :Indian TV
