Finally! Another chance to talk about something very few care about! The Billy Mitchell Donkey Kong WR mess!
1: Beginnings
I’ve become interested in speedrunning (watching, not doing) these past few months, and it was during this time that I became aware of Todd Rogers’ scores coming under scrutiny from multiple sources (care of this YouTube video here). Attention was focused on Rogers’ time in 2 Atari 2600 games: ‘Barnstorming’ & “Dragster”. Rogers gave a time of 32:04s for Barnstorming, and this WR stood for many years. However, it was shown that it was not actually possible; in a TAS run, the best time was 32.69s. Uh oh, spaghetti-o! (for reference, TAS stands for Tool Assisted Speedrun; basically software that allows a person to, frame by frame, enter optimal inputs into a game to create a “perfect” speedrun).
Rogers was mainly known for his score in “Dragster” – his 5.51s record, in the presence of Activision staff (apparently), stood as the WR since 1982 (the longest such video game record, before the record was set straight recently). The “Dragster” WR was also proven to be impossible, after a perfect TAS run of 5.57s was shown to the world. With this evidence in hand, as well as multiple instances of improbable/impossible high scores by Rogers on the Twin Galaxies scoreboards, all of Rogers’ records were expunged and Rogers was permanently banned from Twin Galaxies. Quite a fall from grace.
2: A New Target is Found
And hot on the heels of the Rogers scandal were allegations against Billy Mitchell, the “Video Game Player of the Century”. Mitchell is a well-known player who has claimed WR times in several games, including Donkey Kong, Pac-Man & Centipede. On the Donkey Kong Forum (DKF), an admin/moderator named Jeremy “xelnia” Young made a post explaining that he was expunging several of Mitchell’s Donkey Kong scores. Wait, what? First Mr. Activision, now Mitchell? Yup.
xelnia’s case rested on examination of gameplay, and it was determined that the WR footage of Mitchell’s run(s) were performed not on original arcade hardware, but on the MAME emulator. MAME is software that can be run on a computer that “emulates” the hardware that games are played on (in MAME’s case, arcade games specifically). But there are differences between the original & emulated experience, and this is what caught the attention of xelnia. MAME entries are separate to arcade records for a reason: you can cheat your ass off in MAME runs, if that is your intention. However, if one did cheat with MAME all those years ago, detecting it on VHS tapes would have been exceedingly difficult & you would have needed to know what to look for. But what if you use inductive reasoning to look “outside the box”? That’s where it all starts to unravel.
When loading levels, on the original arcade hardware, data comes on screen from the right, to the left; if one looks at it in slow motion, it’s like a wipe effect from right to left. In comparison, versions of MAME available circa 2007 loaded the data differently. The data loads up in pieces; like a jigsaw puzzle. First come the ladders, then the barrels, and so on and so forth. This is explained in far more detail (and visually) on the Donkey Kong Forum by xelnia, so read the thread here.
Interestingly, DKF have only decided to wipe Mitchell’s best 3 WR scores (1.047m, 1.05m, and 1.062m). His other highest score (933,900) was in front of “multiple witnesses”, including Dwayne Richard (considered by many to be a credible TG source). If I were more motivated, I’d sleuth out who these “other witnesses” were but it is largely a moot point, as this score is apparently not being seriously questioned. So, let’s dive into this mess, shall we?
3a: The “King of Kong” tape (aka “My KoK is bigger”)
Mitchell’s 1,047,200 score (June 4th, 2005) was shown in the 2007 “King of Kong” documentary; it was the tape he sent via Brian Kuh to “beat” Steve Wiebe’s score. This score was entered into the TG database as a verified score by Walter Day (founder of Twin Galaxies & one of the top referees). TG’s head referee Robert Mruczek objected & removed the score, based on the fact the VHS tape had not been properly screened & that the tape was a copy with notable visual artifacts. Day explained the score’s removal on June 7th (here). Recently, Mitchell has said that Dwayne Richard was entrusted with the “original” VHS tape, and that this tape would prove this run to be legitimate (reported here).
Richard has sent all VHS tapes in his possession to Jace Hall (the current TG custodian/archivist), per his post here. He also emphasizes that he never received an “original” VHS tape, and that all of Mitchell’s known VHS tapes in circulation were copies. So, without taking a fine tooth comb to it (xelnia has already), we can see that the footage looks like MAME, and the original tape can’t be found (but such an original has never been proven to exist). So, that’s one score down.
3b: The Mortgage Broker’s Score
Mitchell’s 1,050,200 score (July 13th, 2007) is referred to as the “Mortgage Brokers” score (here is the run; also here), because of the circumstances surrounding its creation. Mitchell performed the run alone, in a separate room while a feed of the “live gameplay” (without sound) was fed through to the next room, holding an “80s themed” convention for the Florida Association of Mortgage Brokers. The location was in Orlando, Florida. Despite a bit of digging, I haven’t found out the precise location of the convention; I think I’ll leave that for a future post.
Another short portion of the run was posted on Michael Sroka’s YouTube channel (here). Mitchell reportedly agree to do this attempt if the association made a donation to the Make-A-Wish Foundation (which is a nice thing tbh, but let’s not get distracted here). There are no witnesses to Mitchell doing the run, as he was in a separate room (there were people in the other room, but that’s a red herring). On that basis alone, this probably should not have been a WR, but the name of Billy Mitchell carries a lot of weight. Well, carried. Again, this run displays tell-tale MAME data loading, so let’s throw it in the bin & move to the last score (my favorite).
3c: The Other PCB (hint: it didn’t exist)
Mitchell’s 1,062,800 score (July 31st, 2010) is referred to as the “Boomers” score, in reference to where Mitchell played: Boomer’s Arcade in Florida, an arcade close to Mitchell’s residence. This is the real reason why I wanted to write this wall of text 🙂 Okay, we know what happens here – Billy Mitchell plays both games, apparently back-to-back, in the presence of witnesses. Also, a techie is on hand to switch the PCBs in the Donkey Kong cabinet (PCB = Printed Circuit Board). See, you can’t break the Donkey Kong record on a “twin” arcade cabinet (in other words, a cabinet with both Donkey Kong & Donkey Kong Jr PCBs inside it). It is fine to switch out the PCBs, provided everything is above board (you know, everything is being filmed, verified – all that jazz).
I’m going to tackle this in two stages: First, the announcement, then the “switcheroo”. Fortunately, we have video from Robert Childs himself, posted on his YouTube account, around the time the record was “broken” (about 1 week after it happened). This is invaluable first-hand evidence, and can not be ignored. I’ll look at 2 videos: the first video is titled “Billy Mitchell speaks (july,2010) moments after breaking donkey kong record“, uploaded August 7th, 2010 (here); the second video is titled “After DK record Billy Mitchell goes for donkey kong junior record“, uploaded August 7th, 2010 (here).
So, let’s look at the 1st video. Mitchell makes a short speech, and the WR witnesses are shown on video. First shown is a “Joe T.”, the Boomer’s Arcade manager that gave Mitchell permission for the WR attempt. Next, we see Todd Rogers. After Rogers, we see a woman – guest TG referee-at-large “Morning Dove”. At the time, she was Todd Roger’s girlfriend. Finally, we see Robert Childs, the on-site techie that was tasked with switching the PCBs from the cabinet. It is noted that the DK cabinet is on loan from a person called Enzo (noted as the manager of “Brady Distributing”); Boomer’s had not had a DK cabinet there for years. Also, Mitchell makes a point of stating that “Pete” (Bouvier, a former owner of Twin Galaxies, who has since passed away) is not there.
But here’s the rub: there never was a 2nd PCB to swap in.
Remember, that video was prior to the PCB swap video. A great deal of care was taken not to show the display, but there are glimpses during the video which show that the current game is … Donkey Kong Jr. (and not Donkey Kong). I’ve provided a couple of screenshots, but I also just found a screenshot collage (here) that’s probably just as good.
So, anyway, the charade continues in the 2nd video, where we see Robert pull the PCB from the cabinet. Robert briefly lifts up the PCB once he takes it out, before the camera is once again on Mitchell. Note that not once is the 2nd PCB shown in the video. Finally, Childs inserts the “other” PCB into the cabinet. Oh! If only we knew what a Donkey Kong PCB looks like, versus a Donkey Kong Jr. PCB! If only! Then we’d know without doubt! We can. Take a look at these two pictures: a Donkey Kong PCB, and a Donkey Kong Jr PCB.
The differences are exceedingly slight, which is why I focused on something that would stand out to anyone; it’s the area circled on both pictures. This chip only appears on the Donkey Kong PCB; not the Donkey Kong Jr. PCB. So, then it’s merely a matter of looking at the video footage closely at the PCB before & after. Freeze frames of the board before the switch, and after the switch, show that it’s either (a) the exact same PCB, or (b) a 2nd Donkey Kong Jr. PCB (unlikely).
“But wait! Wasn’t a Donkey Kong PCB meant to be switched out?” – Yes. They lied. And it’s all on video. Notice that there is opera music playing in the background? It was probably done to obfuscate what they were all talking about – a video with the chatter (at lower visual quality) can be found here. Childs says that he’s “taking the Donkey Kong PCB out” at the start of the video – liar. In conclusion, the same PCB (Donkey Kong Jr.) was re-inserted into the arcade cabinet. The witnesses to the score are also highly questionable, especially Robert Childs, as he was the one “switching” the PCB in the cabinet. I emphasize again that the “second PCB” is never shown on video.
Finally, here’s the presentation of the twin records at a small conference (here and here). Note how the Donkey Kong screen loads the data in like MAME (not right to left). Basically, the Boomer’s score is 100% dodgy and needs to be struck from the record (which it probably will at TG, but not at the time of writing). So, that’s it, really. All 3 attempts can be expunged. And what of Mitchell? Should there be any further sanctions/bannings?
To be honest with you, he’s already received the worst kind of punishment – his children now know that their father lied about his scores. This is why I’d never do what Mitchell has done. I’d rather do a Sanders and come clean, even if it meant being shamed. Imagine living a lie for decades? Crazy. Mitchell’s scores for other games are currently being probed by the Internet Hivemind, so this could get exceedingly messy very quickly. Glad I’m not you, Billy!
4. Final Thoughts
Don’t lie about world records for video games? Buy Billy’s Hot Sauce? The arcade scene back in the day was a North American clique? All the above? My one clear thought is that I’m so glad to put this all into words, and put it up on the internet. If people ever ask me for my opinion on the matter (which they won’t), I can point to this and say “Hot Sauce Man is down 3 scores”.
Peace.
