Go back to previous topic
Forum namePass The Popcorn Archives
Topic subjectAnyone nerd out like me and troll around the Twin Galaxies forums?
Topic URLhttp://board.okayplayer.com/okp.php?az=show_topic&forum=23&topic_id=101994&mesg_id=102019
102019, Anyone nerd out like me and troll around the Twin Galaxies forums?
Posted by OneTwoTones, Thu Jan-31-08 10:46 PM
Walter Day posted a lot of "official statements" regarding the movie (which I LOVE by the way). But after trolling those boards, I do have to look at it's plot in a slightly different way.

Here's an example (one of many):

http://www.twingalaxies.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=10930&highlight=king+kong

Issue #2 - Steve Wiebe was the Champion for almost 3 Years

The events portrayed in the "King of Kong" movie generally took place between June 30, 2003 and April 9, 2006. During that time period Steve Wiebe was Twin Galaxies' official Donkey Kong World Champion from June 30, 2003 until January 30, 2006 - a period of 943 days. His reign as the champion was due to his 947,200 score followed by his 985,600 score achieved at Funspot. There was one two-day period occurring around the time of the Funspot 2005 event, during which Billy Mitchell was listed in the top spot, but Mitchell's reign lasted only 48 hours, as explained below.

Essentially, on June 30, 2003, Steve Wiebe scored 947,200 points on Donkey Kong. His score was submitted to Twin Galaxies and accepted with honors.

Twin Galaxies and Walter Day promoted the story and managed to get the accomplishment covered by the Associated Press as well as by many Internet sites. Footage of the subsequent TV media coverage in Seattle was used in the "King of Kong" but was incorrectly attributed to Steve Wiebe's later score of 1,006,000 points - a score that was held back for investigative reasons.

In the movie, the facts are portrayed as Steve's 1,006,000 point score being rejected and the world title reverting back to Billy Mitchell at 874,340 points -- the score Mitchell had attained in 1982.

However, the world title portrayed on the movie screen should have reverted back to Steve Wiebe, himself, who was actually already the world record holder at that time with his 947,200 points. Interestingly, audiences watching the "King of Kong" are unaware that Steve Wiebe is already, at that time, the World Champion on Donkey Kong and remains so throughout the first 4/5ths of the movie, a fact that the movie plot doesn't reveal.

The Donkey Kong Standings looked like this:
1. 947,200 Steve J Wiebe 07/06/2003
2. 933,900 Billy L Mitchell 05/27/2004
3. 879,200 Timothy Sczerby 8/17/00

In the movie, Walter Day inputs Billy Mitchell's videotaped score of 1,047,200 points, making him the world record holder. However, the movie doesn't reveal that Twin Galaxies took Billy's 1,047,200 point-score down a mere 48 hours later, thereby making Steve Wiebe, once again, the world record holder,but now with the new 985,600 point score he achieved at Funspot 2005.

Therefore, Steve Wiebe was Twin Galaxies' world record holder on Donkey Kong from June 30, 2003 until January 30, 2006 -- an unbroken period of about 943 days running -- first as the champion at 947,200 points and then onward as the champion at 985,600 points. And even though there was controversy surrounding this score, due to the suspected use of PCB boards that were not certified by Twin Galaxies, Steve's score continued to be listed in the "honored spot," recognized as the world record and submitted to any media or publications that wanted to do stories on the Donkey Kong world title.

However, the movie does not reveal this fact. Instead, Steve Wiebe is not recognized as the Donkey Kong champion.

With this new information in hand, the audience can see the plot of the movie change in these ways:?
1. It shows that Twin Galaxies did recognize Steve Wiebe's great skillsand honor him with the world title on Donkey Kong.
2. It reveals that Twin Galaxies did not elbow Steve's accomplishment aside so as to protect Billy Mitchell's 874,200 point score