Today, October 2, when I searched who the highest scorer in Donkey Kong was, I still expected Steve Wiebe to be at the top but on December 1, 2014, a player named Robbie Lakeman has beat Steve Wiebe. But the story of Steve Wiebe’s experience in the film “King of Kong: Fistful of Quarters” gave us an insight into what happen to achieve his accomplishment. This film is about the previous record holder of Donkey Kong, Billy Mitchel, and the guy who beat him, Steve Wiebe. Wiebe sent a tape with his high score but since he has spoken to Billy’s enemy, the score keeper didn’t count it. So Wiebe beat Mitchell’s high score if front of the score keeper but Billy Mitchell sent a video that showed his high score beating Steve Wiebe’s live high score. Then came the Guinness Book World Record, Steve Wiebe tried again to get the high score but didn’t. But in the end Wiebe beat Mitchell.
To the players in this documentary and many other arcade games players, playing these arcade games is profession. They spend hours and hours playing the game to finally earn that top ranked score. For some people, it is pure talent and skill and for others it takes much practice. But for everybody it takes hours to achieve. In the documentary, Billy Mitchell’s last standing high score was in Donkey Kong so when competitor Steve Wiebe challenged him, Mitchell was too afraid to play live. The most challenging part of professional arcade gaming is the nerve wracking situations. Steve Wiebe put a lot of pressure on himself which caused him to slow down while playing in front of an audience. Although Mitchell didn’t mention his situation, we could understand that he was nervous, so nervous that he couldn’t even be in the same place Wiebe was. This documentary shows the inside of a time consuming, addictive, and nerve wracking career, arcade gaming.
To the players in this documentary and many other arcade games players, playing these arcade games is profession. They spend hours and hours playing the game to finally earn that top ranked score. For some people, it is pure talent and skill and for others it takes much practice. But for everybody it takes hours to achieve. In the documentary, Billy Mitchell’s last standing high score was in Donkey Kong so when competitor Steve Wiebe challenged him, Mitchell was too afraid to play live. The most challenging part of professional arcade gaming is the nerve wracking situations. Steve Wiebe put a lot of pressure on himself which caused him to slow down while playing in front of an audience. Although Mitchell didn’t mention his situation, we could understand that he was nervous, so nervous that he couldn’t even be in the same place Wiebe was. This documentary shows the inside of a time consuming, addictive, and nerve wracking career, arcade gaming.