Jump to content

Billy Mitchell (gamer): Difference between revisions

Page semi-protected
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Browse history interactively
← Previous editNext edit →
Content deleted Content added
VisualWikitext
→Notable scores: updating with recent losses of titles
Line 29: Line 29:


==Notable scores==
==Notable scores==
*First person to achieve a perfect ''[[Pac-Man]]'' score of 3,333,360, achieved July 3, 1999 at [[Funspot Family Fun Center]] in [[New Hampshire]].<ref name="wired">[http://www.wired.com/science/discoveries/news/2008/07/dayintech_0703]</ref>
*First person to achieve a perfect ''[[Pac-Man]]'' score of 3,333,360, achieved July 3, 1999 at [[Funspot Family Fun Center]] in [[New Hampshire]].<ref name="wired">[http://www.wired.com/science/discoveries/news/2008/07/dayintech_0703]</ref> As of September 2010, this is the only championship Mitchell holds, sharing it with 5 other players.<ref>{{cite web|title=Pac Man points records|url=http://www.twingalaxies.com/index.aspx?c=22&pi=2&gi=3229&vi=3365|publisher=Twin Galaxies}}</ref>
*Achieved a score on ''[[Donkey Kong Jr.]]'' of 957,300 in 2004. Score beaten by Steve Wiebe on 02/14/2010 with a score of 1,190,400<ref name="highscores"/>[http://tg.twingalaxies.com/index.aspx?c=22&pi=2&gi=126&vi=24]
*Achieved a score on ''[[Donkey Kong Jr.]]'' of 957,300 in 2004. Score beaten by Steve Wiebe on 02/14/2010 with a score of 1,190,400<ref name="highscores"/>[http://tg.twingalaxies.com/index.aspx?c=22&pi=2&gi=126&vi=24]
*Achieved a score on ''[[Donkey Kong (video game)|Donkey Kong]]'' of 1,050,200 in 2007. Score beaten by Hank S Chien on 03/08/2010 with a score of 1,061,700<ref name="newhighscore">[http://tg.twingalaxies.com/index.aspx?c=22&pi=2&gi=3852&vi=22]</ref>
*Achieved a score on ''[[Donkey Kong (video game)|Donkey Kong]]'' of 1,050,200 in 2007. Score beaten by Hank S Chien on 03/08/2010 with a score of 1,061,700<ref name="newhighscore">[http://tg.twingalaxies.com/index.aspx?c=22&pi=2&gi=3852&vi=22]</ref>
*Achieved a score on ''[[BurgerTime]]'' of 7,881,050 in 1984. The score was beaten in 2006 by [[Bryan L Wagner]].<ref name="highscores" />
*Achieved a score on ''[[BurgerTime]]'' of 7,881,050 in 1984. The score was beaten in 2006 by [[Bryan L Wagner]].<ref name="highscores" />
*Achieved a score on ''[[Centipede (video game)|Centipede]]'' of over 10 million points.<ref name="highscores"/>
*Achieved a score on ''[[Centipede (video game)|Centipede]]'' of over 10 million points.<ref name="highscores"/>
*Recaptured the world records for both Donkey Kong and Donkey Kong Jr. on the weekend of July 24, 2010 with scores of 1,062,800 and 1,270,900 respectively.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.twingalaxies.com/index.aspx?c=27&id=2213 |title=BILLY MITCHELL TAKES BACK DONKEY KONG RECORDS |author=Matthew Bradford |date=2010-08-07 |publisher=[[Twin Galaxies]] International |accessdate=2010-08-07}}</ref>
*Recaptured the world records for both Donkey Kong (1,062,800 points) and Donkey Kong Jr. (1,270,900) on the weekend of July 24, 2010.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.twingalaxies.com/index.aspx?c=27&id=2213 |title=BILLY MITCHELL TAKES BACK DONKEY KONG RECORDS |author=Matthew Bradford |date=2010-08-07 |publisher=[[Twin Galaxies]] International |accessdate=2010-08-07}}</ref> The Donkey Kong record was quickly lost to Steve Wiebe on September 20, 2010 (1,064,500 points) and [[Mark L Kiehl]] on September 9, 2010 (1,307,500 points).<ref>{{cite web|title=Steve Wiebe regains Donkey Kong World Record from Billy Mitchell|url=http://www.twingalaxies.com/index.aspx?c=19&id=2264|publisher=Twin Galaxies}}</ref>


== Honors ==
== Honors ==

Revision as of 12:07, 24 September 2010

Billy Mitchell
Famous Scores
Pac-Man 3,333,360[1]
Donkey Kong 1,062,800[1]
Donkey Kong Jr. 1,270,900[1]
BurgerTime 7,881,050[1]

Billy L. Mitchell, born July 16, 1965, in Holyoke, Massachusetts, is best known for recording high scores in classics from the Golden Age of Arcade Games. He has been claimed by some as the "greatest arcade-video-game player of all time".[2][3] His achievements include the first perfect score in Pac-Man. He owns the "Rickey's World Famous Restaurant" chain, based in Hollywood, Florida. He uses the same brand to sell a line of hot sauces, "Rickey's World Famous Sauces".[4]

The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters documentary

The 2007 documentary The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters tells the story of newcomer Steve Wiebe's attempt to surpass Billy Mitchell's high score at the game Donkey Kong, which Mitchell had set in 1982.

Mitchell is never shown playing the game in the film, though he states the importance of playing in public, saying, "To me, most important is to travel to a sanctioned location, like Funspot that makes it official; if tomorrow Tiger Woods golfs a 59, big deal. If he does it at Augusta, that's where it counts." However, throughout the film Wiebe traveled to various locations such as Funspot and even Mitchell's home town to play him publicly, and each time Mitchell refused. More controversy arose when at Funspot, Wiebe set the Donkey Kong live score record and was given official recognition, something he did not receive for sending in a tape in which he scored the first million point game on record. Shortly thereafter, a tape submitted by Mitchell in which he scored over a million points was accepted, and Wiebe lost his record. In Mitchell's hometown later on, Wiebe waited for four days to play Mitchell, who showed up one day and refused to play against Wiebe. In the film, Wiebe, while playing the game says hello to Mitchell. Mitchell didn't respond. As he's walking away from Wiebe, Mitchell says, "There's certain people I don't want to spend too much time with." Mitchell offered no explanation for his behavior towards Wiebe but did later explain that at the time of filming, he had not played video games for "more than a year", and that the filmmakers had not given him enough advance warning to train for a public record-breaking attempt.[5] Seth Gordon, the film's Director, in referring to Mitchell's character says that Mitchell "is a true puppet-master", "a master of information-control" and that there was a lot of "stuff we couldn't include because of inter-state telephone rules."[6]

At the film's conclusion, Wiebe beats Mitchell's score to gain a new Donkey Kong record on tape to claim both the live and taped records.

On July 26, 2007, in celebration of the film's release and the 25th anniversary of Mitchell's first record-setting performance, Mitchell again played in public and retook the Donkey Kong record with a score of 1,050,200,[7] though that score was surpassed on February 26, 2010 by Hank Chien, who was temporarily the record holder at Donkey Kong.[8] However Billy Mitchell reclaimed his title once again on July 24th 2010.[9] On August 20th 2010 Steve Wiebe once again took the title with a score of 1,064,500.[10]

Notable scores

  • First person to achieve a perfect Pac-Man score of 3,333,360, achieved July 3, 1999 at Funspot Family Fun Center in New Hampshire.[11] As of September 2010, this is the only championship Mitchell holds, sharing it with 5 other players.[12]
  • Achieved a score on Donkey Kong Jr. of 957,300 in 2004. Score beaten by Steve Wiebe on 02/14/2010 with a score of 1,190,400[1][2]
  • Achieved a score on Donkey Kong of 1,050,200 in 2007. Score beaten by Hank S Chien on 03/08/2010 with a score of 1,061,700[8]
  • Achieved a score on BurgerTime of 7,881,050 in 1984. The score was beaten in 2006 by Bryan L Wagner.[1]
  • Achieved a score on Centipede of over 10 million points.[1]
  • Recaptured the world records for both Donkey Kong (1,062,800 points) and Donkey Kong Jr. (1,270,900) on the weekend of July 24, 2010.[13] The Donkey Kong record was quickly lost to Steve Wiebe on September 20, 2010 (1,064,500 points) and Mark L Kiehl on September 9, 2010 (1,307,500 points).[14]

Honors

On January 14, 1984, he was selected as one of the 1983 "Video Game Players of the Year" by Twin Galaxies and the U.S. National Video Game Team.[15]

On September 17, 1999, he was proclaimed the "Video Game Player of the Century" while at the 1999 Tokyo Game Show. In a ceremony on the Namco stage, company founder Masaya Nakamura presented Mitchell with an award commemorating the first "perfect" game on Pac-Man.[3]

On November 24, 1999, he offered US$100,000 to the first person who could get through Pac-Man's "split-screen level".[16]

On June 21, 2006, MTV selected Mitchell one of "The 10 Most Influential Video Gamers Of All Time."[17]

Mitchell placed eighth in the Microsoft Xbox 360 Pac-Man World Championships on June 4, 2007.[18]

In 2008 Mitchell became the first video game player to be honored with a Topps Allen & Ginter trading card.[citation needed]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g "Billy L Mitchell (profile)". Twin Galaxies International. Retrieved 2010-08-07.
  2. ^ village voice > film > Tracking Shots: The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters by Robert Wilonsky
  3. ^ a b Oxford American (no date): "The Perfect Man: How Billy Mitchell became a video-game superstar and achieved Pac-Man bliss", by David Ramsey
  4. ^ Billy Mitchell interview - Onion AV Club
  5. ^ "Killing Bill: King of Kong's Nemesis Talks Back"
  6. ^ http://www.thefilmlot.com/interviews/INTsgordon.php Interview with Seth Gordon
  7. ^ "Man Shatters Donkey Kong World Record Exactly 25 Years After First Setting It in 1982"
  8. ^ a b "Salute Your New King of Kong" Cite error: The named reference "newhighscore" was defined multiple times with different content (see the help page).
  9. ^ "Billy Mitchell reclaims world record" http://www.twingalaxies.com/index.aspx?c=27&id=2213
  10. ^ "Steve Wiebe regains Donkey Kong World Record from Billy Mitchell"
  11. ^ [1]
  12. ^ "Pac Man points records". Twin Galaxies.
  13. ^ Matthew Bradford (2010-08-07). "BILLY MITCHELL TAKES BACK DONKEY KONG RECORDS". Twin Galaxies International. Retrieved 2010-08-07.
  14. ^ "Steve Wiebe regains Donkey Kong World Record from Billy Mitchell". Twin Galaxies.
  15. ^ "Twin Galaxies' Coronation Day Crowns Video's Best of '83"
  16. ^ Billy Mitchell Offers $100,000 for solving Pac-Man "Split-Screen"
  17. ^ "MTV selects Billy Mitchell one of "The 10 Most Influential Video Gamers Of All Time"
  18. ^ Joystiq.com (June 7, 2007): "Chasing pellets: Pac-Man tries to make history again". by James Ransom-Wiley
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/enwiki/w/index.php?title=Billy_Mitchell_(gamer)&oldid=386731008"