‘Video game player of the century’ debunked
He was once dubbed the “video game player of the century” and shot to international notoriety after being featured in a cult classic documentary, but Billy Mitchell’s reign in the arcade is now in question.
The man who once held world records in classic arcade games like Donkey Kong and Pac-Man has been stripped of his high scores following a scandal that’s upended the world of old-school video gaming.
Last week, Twin Galaxies, the organization that referees classic arcade scores, announced they had determined some of Mitchell’s records were not attained on actual arcade machines but by using the Multiple Arcade Machine Emulator — MAME — the software which replicates the games — a violation of Twin Galaxies’s rules.
“The rules for submitting scores for the original arcade Donkey Kong competitive leader boards requires the use of original arcade hardware only,” the organization said in a statement. “The use of MAME or any other emulation software for submission to these leader boards is strictly forbidden.”
Mitchell has promised to prove his scores are valid. Mitchell is one the highest-profile gamers in the world due to his list of records.
Over the weekend, Mitchell addressed the ruling in a video posted to YouTube. “The fact of the matter is, now there’s a true professional due diligence being done to investigate things that happened as far as 35 years ago,” he said. “In a professional manner, not in a shock-jock mentality designed to create hits, we will show that everything that has been done, everything was done professionally.”