Billy Mitchell (gamer)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Billy Mitchell | |
| Famous Scores | |
| Pac-Man: | 3,333,360[1] |
| Burgertime: | 7,881,050[1] |
| Donkey Kong Jr.: | 957,300[1] |
| Donkey Kong: | 1,050,200[1] |
Billy Mitchell, born July 16, 1965, in Holyoke, Massachusetts, is a video game player, best known for recording high scores in classics from the Golden Age of Arcade Games. He was described as the "greatest arcade-video-game player of all time".[2][3] His achievements include the first perfect score in Pac-Man. Billy and Steve Wiebe were the primary subjects of 2007 documentary The King of Kong. He owns the popular "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".
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Biography
Mitchell grew up in South Florida and began playing games at age sixteen. Already a dominant pinball player, he was at first uninterested in video games appearing in the early 80s until he noticed that "everyone was standing around Donkey Kong machine and wanted attention".[3]
Mitchell attended the Chaminade Catholic High School in 1983 and soon began work as a manager in the kitchen of his parents' restaurant, "Rickey's World Famous Restaurant". Mitchell assumed ownership of the Rickey's chain in the mid-1980s, continuing to own and manage it as of 2008.
Mitchell is known for wearing neckties betokening American patriotism during game competitions. The ties stem from his 1999 race to become the first person to achieve a perfect game of Pac-Man. One of his competitors wore a Canadian flag cape and called himself "Captain Canada". Mitchell began wearing his patriotic ties in response.[4]
Mitchell currently lives in Hollywood, Florida with his wife Nicole and their three children.
The King of Kong documentary
The 2007 documentary The King of Kong 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 and, at the time of filming, had not been surpassed.
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 despite Twin Galaxies' previous ruling with regard to Wiebe's tape, 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 even acknowledge Wiebe, instead choosing to tell his wife "there are some people I don't want to associate with too much". Mitchell later explained 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] Despite this, Wiebe had proven himself and Twin Galaxies made an official apology for his mistreatment, and also told him that in future any tapes submitted by him would be deemed acceptable.
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, the 25th anniversary of Mitchell's first record-setting performance, and right around the time of the film's theatrical release, Mitchell played in public and retook the Donkey Kong record with a score of 1,050,200.[6]
Notable scores
- First person to achieve a perfect Pac-Man score of 3,333,360, achieved July 4, 1999 at Funspot Family Fun Center in New Hampshire. [3]
- Achieved a score on Donkey Kong Jr. of 957,300 in 2004.[1]
- Achieved a score on Donkey Kong of 1,050,200 in 2007.[6]
- Achieved a score on Burgertime of 7,881,050 in 1984. The score was beaten in 2006 by Bryan L Wagner.[1]
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. [7]
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".[8]
On June 21, 2006, MTV selected Mitchell one of "The 10 Most Influential Video Gamers Of All Time."[9]
Mitchell placed eighth in the Microsoft Xbox 360 Pac-Man World Championships on June 4, 2007. [10]
In the December 2007 issue of Maxim, Mitchell was voted "Dweebus Maximus Dorkus of both the 20th and 21st centuries".
References
- ^ a b c d e f Billy Mitchell high scores, care of Twin Galaxies
- ^ village voice > film > Tracking Shots: The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters by Robert Wilonsky
- ^ a b c d Oxford American (no date): "The Perfect Man: How Billy Mitchell became a video-game superstar and achieved Pac-Man bliss", by David Ramsey
- ^ Billy Mitchell interview - Onion AV Club
- ^ "Killing Bill: King of Kong's Nemesis Talks Back"
- ^ a b "Man Shatters Donkey Kong World Record Exactly 25 Years After First Setting It in 1982"
- ^ "Twin Galaxies' Coronation Day Crowns Video's Best of '83"
- ^ Billy Mitchell Offers $100,000 for solving Pac-Man "Split-Screen"
- ^ "MTV selects Billy Mitchell one of "The 10 Most Influential Video Gamers Of All Time"
- ^ Joystiq.com (June 7, 2007): "Chasing pellets: Pac-Man tries to make history again". by James Ransom-Wiley
