Kotaku: the king of kong

The King Of Kong Is Now On DVD. If you missed ...

Michael McWhertor — Tue, 29 Jan 2008 16:00:00 MST

The King Of Kong Is Now On DVD. If you missed the theatrical release of the Donkey Kong score-off documentary The King of Kong, you now have a chance to catch it on DVD. The film, which chronicles the high score struggles of chronic weeper Steve Wiebe and the dastardly tactics of the ultra-patriotic Billy Mitchell can probably be had from fine retailers and/or Netflix as of today. It's a gripping, if somewhat manipulative, good time and a worthwhile primer for the Hollywood adaptation.

Kinnear of Kong

Brian Ashcraft — Wed, 05 Dec 2007 02:00:04 MST

The King of Kong was so good that it deserves a Hollywood remake. Or something. So, if we were casting the role of school teacher challenger Steve Wiebe who tries making a go at arcade hero Billy Mitchell's Donkey Kong record, we'd say Greg Kinnear would make a fine choice. But what does Greg Kinnear think?

I saw that documentary. I loved it. I thought it was a very cool documentary. If they make that into a movie...I wouldn't want to play Kong. So that guy [Wiebe] would be better.

So that just leaves casting Billy Mitchell. Suggestions welcomed.
Kinnear in Kong [Multiplayer]

Mitchell Reclaims Donkey Kong Record

Brian Ashcraft — Fri, 27 Jul 2007 22:00:35 MDT

The game? Donkey Kong. The location? The Florida Association of Mortgage Brokers in Orlando, Florida. Arcade champ Billy Mitchell has reclaimed the top DK score with a record breaking 1,050,200 points. This comes weeks before documentary The King of Kong gets released. The doc follows Steve Wiebe who claims the Kong high score.

There have been questions about the authenticity of the high scores and whether or not "doctored" arcade boards were used. Both claim that they haven't cheated. For example, Wiebe shot his high score with a handheld camera in his garage. He filmed himself installing the genuine arcade board, reaching his high score and then taking out the same arcade board. For his latest record, Billy Mitchell had his board verified by Nintendo of America and didn't take it out of its Nintendo of America packaging until the Brokers convention. As he placed it in the cabinet, Mitchell had a security guard, a notary public and a GameStop manager on hand. This was also filmed!

After Mitchell beat this high score, he let the clock run out. Mitchell still had one Mario life left. He says:

"I'm not Steve Spurrier," Mitchell said of the legendarily aggressive football coach. "I'm Billy Mitchell. I don't need to run up the score. I just want to put one in the win column. I want to make it competitive. I didn't want to make it too tough."

Your move, Wiebe.
Mitchell Back on Top [MTV]