I love a good competition. The back and forth battle between Billy Mitchell and Steve Wiebe for the highest score in Donkey Kong has been very interesting to follow. For those not in the know, watch The King of Kong: A Fistfull of Quarters documentary. It’s fantastic.
Billy Mitchell is one of the best, if not the best, arcade gamer of all time currently holding world records for high scores in Donkey Kong and the only recorded perfect game in Pac-Man.
Stephen Totilo is reporting that legendary gamer Billy Mitchell’s Donkey Kong was contested by Steve Wiebe. Wiebe is the only person to have ever usurped Billy from the top spot in Donkey Kong. His record held from 1982 until 2006. When the two traded the top spot four times in two years.
Steve Wiebe attempted to take back the title held by Billy since July at a competition in Vegas last week. Billy Mitchell’s high score sits at 1,050,200; 1,100 points above Steve’s former record. Steve tried and tried but could get no closer than a score of 928,800.
To put that in perspective, that’s higher than the person who currently sits in third place. Not a bad outing, but not what Wiebe was looking for. I hope Steve keeps challenging Billy Mitchell for this record. And I hope Billy Mitchell keeps striking back trying to take it back.
Records are no fun unless they are contested. I don’t care about a record that’s stayed stagnant since 1984. Seeing these guys putting everything they have into a game trying to best each other makes me tingle. That’s what arcades were all about, and I’m certainly glad that spirit hasn’t died.
