The once-high-score record holder for Donkey Kong, Billy Mitchell, is fighting back, after having been stripped of his accolades over cheating accusations. In 2018, Twin Galaxies--a leaderboard for arcade games--investigated Mitchell's world records, coming to the conclusion that he didn't earn those high-scores by playing on official hardware, and thus removed him from their leaderboards. Following that decision, Mitchell claimed he would take legal action against Twin Galaxies, unless they re-awarded him with his records once more. Now, it's been revealed that Mitchell has come through on his claim, filing a defamation lawsuit against the company in April 2019, where it was then officially served to Twin Galaxies in February of this year. News outlet Ars Technica obtained the court documents, which contain the original suit, alongside an amended and updated complaint as of March 12, 2020.

In the legal papers, Mitchell states that Twin Galaxies acted with "oppression, fraud, or malice", causing damage to both his reputation and his business, and did not justify or prove the decision behind removing the world records. In a demand of trial by jury, Mitchell will seek monetary relief from the defendant. Twin Galaxies revoked Mitchell's record over the score being, according to their testing and research, impossible to replicate on official hardware. Though it was never stated as such by Twin Galaxies, many took it as an implication that Mitchell achieved the scores by playing an emulated version of the game, or possibly even cheated. Both parties will present their case to a judge on July 6th.

21. That the statement expressly accused Mitchell of cheating is further evidenced by 6 the news commentary that followed. Variety, for instance, pulled no punches in describing Twin 7 Galaxies' decision as follows (with emphasis added): 8 9 10 11 12 13 Famed high-score gamer Billy Mitchell, best known for his role in "The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters" documentary, was officially stripped of his "Donkey Kong" and other video game high scores and banned from submitting scores to the world's largest tracker of video game world records following a decision that he cheated, Twin Galaxies announced today. 14 See https://variety.com/2018/gaming/news/king-of-kong-stripped-of-title-1202751358. 15 22. In short, the statement accused a professional video game player of not achieving 16 his records through fair means, removing his undisputed records from other games from the 1 7 scoreboard, and banning him for life. 18 23. But in fact the April 12, 2018 statement was made with knowledge of its falsity or 19 with reckless disregard for its truth. The most cursory, unbiased investigation would have revealed 20 beyond doubt that the record-breaking Donkey Kong scores were not played on emulation 21 software in private places, but were actually played on certified arcade boards in front of hundreds 22 of people. To date, more than 25 of these witnesses have signed sworn affidavits testifying to their 23 observation of Mitchell achieving his scores on arcade software. 24 24. But the investigation was not unbiased; it was pre-ordained. During its 25 "investigation" into Mitchell's scores, Twin Galaxies under its new ownership did not act as an 26 impartial arbiter, but rather as a biased observer intent on generating publicity and internet "clicks" 27 by accusing Mitchell, the most visible of all video gamers, of cheating. Twin Galaxies performed a 28 deliberately one-sided, biased investigation, with the sole goal of convicting Mitchell through its: 4817-3070-6615.1 6 FIRST AMENDED COMPLAINT 1 1) failing to contact key witnesses; 2) intentional disregarding evidence in favor of Mitchell; 3) 2 deliberately burying evidence in favor of Mitchell; 4) selecting an openly-biased third-party 3 investigator; 5) refusing to provide equal evidentiary access to Mitchell, 6) failing to fact check 4 information; and 7) failing to retract its defamatory statements. 5 25. In Twin Galaxies' investigation, new owner Jace Hall advised Mitchell that only 6 "scientific" evidence would be considered, rejecting all witness testimony out of hand, no matter 7 how credible. Specifically, Hall stated to Mitchell, "I don't care what anybody says." Even after 8 Mitchell's retraction demand, which provided dozens of sworn witness affidavits, Hall ignored 9 them.

Source: Ars Technica

 

[smf]

The thing is, he talked a lot of big game about his records. He should be able to backup that big talking he did. ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)
Basically, I am saying if he’s as good as he claimed to be, it shouldn’t be too much to ask him to either replicate his results or at least get close to replicating them.

He has had plenty of time to practice and his old scores are not that good now either because other people have come up with better strategies. So being able to beat the score now does nothing.

If he can't beat it now is no proof of anything either, I'm sure you're worse at some stuff than you were in the past.

I do not believe Twin Galaxies refer to him as a cheater, but do say that evidence of his score was impossible on original hardware.

No, they said that the videos that he provided couldn't have been produced on original unmodified hardware.

Billy Mitchell has been trying to pretend that the videos had been edited maliciously, however there is a historic video of him posing next to the video that would be impossible on original hardware where he is showing it off as his evidence. Which is pretty much a smoking gun.

The score has been beaten on real hardware anyway, but they removed all of his scores because they don't trust him if he's not going to use original unmodified hardware.

Billy Mitchell is not technically competent, so he may not have personally been aware if it had been modified. However that would hold true for all of his scores & if he gained an advantage because of it then they can't be allowed to stand.

 

[ChiefReginod]

Just to play devil's advocate, were there even any branches of MAME that could record gameplay movies at the time the video was made? To avoid any confusion, I'm talking about "demo" type recordings that can only be played back on the emulator they were created in. For example, for TAS runs.

It's pretty clear that it was running on an emulator, but I'm not sure how this alone proves the cheating. I get that Twin Galaxies are really strict about original hardware only. I'm just curious how he actually used it to cheat since he doesn't seem that tech savvy and MAME was pretty primitive back then as far as features go.

 

[Volttekka]

By my understanding, the whole MAME thing isn't that he cheated, but that he lied about it. A MAME run would be in a different run category than a run on official hardware, and the fact that he vehemently denied that he used MAME while all of the evidence shows otherwise is the crux of the issue. Yes, he probably could achieve his records legitimately, but the thing is that he chose not to.

 

[smf]

Just to play devil's advocate, were there even any branches of MAME that could record gameplay movies at the time the video was made?

They were analogue copies on VHS, you could certainly hook MAME up to a 15khz monitor back then so VHS shouldn't be a problem.

There is no reason why it had to be an emulator, it may be that modifications were made to the arcade board so that it could be recorded to VHS and that was done in a way that changed some of the behavior.

Even if it was an emulator, it's perfectly possible for it to not be MAME. Emulating donkey kong as well as MAME does is pretty easy for anyone with a basic understanding of emulation.

For the score to count it has to be an unmodified original arcade board. He unfortunately appears to be a grandiose arse and he thinks that everyone should just bow before him and accept his word as the truth & there can be no questioning him. When someone inevitably questions him, he behaves like The Trump.

Yes, he probably could achieve his records legitimately, but the thing is that he chose not to.

There was a claim that the random behavior of the board was favoring him more than not, so that there is some debate whether there was some kind of cheating going on & he might not have been able to achieve it legitimately.

But in any case, I'm reasonably satisfied that he didn't achieve it on an unmodified original arcade board and I don't need to consider how he did achieve it. It he wants to mitigate in his defense then he can do that.

 

[sj33]

I honestly don't know what to say here; I'm not entirely familiar with the world record holders in video games. If Mitchell didn't cheat, then his motives can be justified and the company should give him his title back (should, but will they? Mitchell has little control over this, even with a lawsuit in place). If he in fact did cheat, then it was foolish of him to sue the company.

Either way, I say drop the case. It's not worth it.

The issue as I understand it (it has been years - this is still going on?!) is that way the levels loaded show that he was using emulation rather than original hardware, which is against the rules. It's pretty cut-and-dry - using emulation isn't cheating per-say, but IS against the rules and thus grounds for disqualification.

 

[Flame]

i have the record for most wanks in a day. you dont see me suing anyone. you dont see me crying over a record.

its Hard being a nice guy... sometimes.

 

[Deleted User]

He's back at it again guys, and I don't think he'll be stopping anytime soon. Fuck you Billy Mitchel, fuck you. I can't wait until we get to see the full case go down, it'll truly be something to behold.

--------------------- MERGED ---------------------------

yeah. I guess. "The King of Kong" is the the king of lies.

*insert tidus laugh*

 

[Stealphie]

Billy Micthell? More like Milly Bitchell






ok i'll go home

 

[MrCokeacola]

Billy Micthell? More like Milly Bitchell






ok i'll go home

That's not a very nice thing to say to the King of Kong.

 

[Deleted member 397813]

remember how he sued cartoon network for his appearance in regular show as being portrayed as a dk mode human and his head exploded when he lost his record

 

[Stealphie]

remember how he sued cartoon network for his appearance in regular show as being portrayed as a dk mode human and his head exploded when he lost his record

I do.
I wish that someone actually beats his fake record with no cheats, on real hardware lol. The guy would explode.

 

[Deleted User]

Billy Bitchell, the King of Dong.

As I'm sure you all know, that is a metaphor for how long this has been going on (*Sonic 06'), as it is like a dong just expanding, and expanding.

 

[AzureuzZetsunai]

Hate me all you want, but this man skill is legit.
he's been doing livestreams on twitch matching or beating his old scores to prove a point.

ya all gotta remember, back in the day. no one gave 0 f's about playing on legit or bootleg hardware xD
Most arcades went for the bootlegs because they where cheaper and easier to maintain.

In any case, i can see why he's suing but i think the judges are going to give a blank stare and ask the following:
"Ya all making a big fuss about some videogame?"

 

[Bladexdsl]

That's not a very nice thing to say to the King of Kong.

more like the king of Ding Dong!

 

[spotanjo3]

Mitchell, fuck off. You cheated and lied. Accept that and move on. It's over. Taking this to court is dumb.

I am sure he isn't going to read your comment right here, lol. I would be surprised if he does.

 

[the_randomizer]

Lol, more like Milly Bitchell, amirite?

 

[Plstic]

Oh billy boy. When will you stop? You're just digging yourself farther in a hole.

 

[VinsCool]

Oh billy boy. When will you stop? You're just digging yourself farther in a hole.

He's actually trying to set a new record.

"How far can I ever go in the rabbit hole?"

 

[smf]

I do.
I wish that someone actually beats his fake record with no cheats, on real hardware lol. The guy would explode.

They already have.

 

[Stealphie]

They already have.

good