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

 

[x65943]

Mitchell is such a dbag, I bet his "proof" is gonna be more doctored VHS tapes

He wants a jury trial because he knows they won't know the facts and are easier to persuade than a judge

 

[SkittleDash]

Mitchell is such a dbag, I bet his "proof" is gonna be more doctored VHS tapes

He wants a jury trial because he knows they won't know the facts and are easier to persuade than a judge

A smart jury would do some research. And oh boy, it doesn't take much to find out that Billy is a fraud. Man, I thought Todd Rogers was a moron. But taking this to court? That's just asking for more humiliation.

 

[TonyMax]

A smart jury

I've been on one... 'smart' would not include the majority of them.

 

[Stealphie]

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

 

[Plasmaster09]

You can't just sue people because they realized you cheated and took away your record.
Removing your record isn't an act of malice, it's fair play. If I set a record like that on a MAME cabinet and it got removed because they found out as such, I might be pissed (if I had the balls and ego to cheat and lie about it until then lol) but I wouldn't sue them.

 

[RyRyIV]

My man really just doesn’t know when to quit, does he?

 

[BobDoleOwndU]

From my understanding, it wasn't that his score was impossible to achieve on real hardware. It was that it was shown that the way his game loaded levels proved he was using MAME, which isn't allowed on the leaderboards.

 

[Plasmaster09]

From my understanding, it wasn't that his score was impossible to achieve on real hardware. It was that it was shown that the way his game loaded levels proved he was using MAME, which isn't allowed on the leaderboards.

yeah if I remember correctly the level loading did him in
however, the score thing may still apply considering that real arcade hardware at the time could only go so far before everything went to shit a la Pac-Man level 256

 

[MarkDarkness]

Some people are out there just to remind you that your existence is not as sad as you think.

 

[Deleted User]

bruh stop it's just dk

 

[Mythical]

I don't think he understands how ridiculous this is. He's wasting his money, and to be honest I never knew about the guy before all this crap so for most he's just slandering his own name trying to fix this.

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

From my understanding, it wasn't that his score was impossible to achieve on real hardware. It was that it was shown that the way his game loaded levels proved he was using MAME, which isn't allowed on the leaderboards.

He used a swapped board and during his run there was an impossible to happen without cheating animation closing him as a cheater

 

[The Catboy]

Imagine going this far to defend a fake record instead of just setting an actual record. If his record was legit, he should be able to replicate it.

 

[Hells Malice]

What a time to be alive

 

[Stealphie]

Imagine going this far to defend a fake record instead of just setting an actual record. If his record was legit, he should be able to replicate it.

He did cheat, but even if he wasn't cheating replicating a world record isn't exactly easy.

 

[XDel]

Usually I have respect for strange, eccentric people who exist in their own reality, but I can't stand this Billy Mitchell guy.

 

[The Catboy]

He did cheat, but even if he wasn't cheating replicating a world record isn't exactly easy.

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.

 

[Stealphie]

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.

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

 

[call me Ken or Accel]

>Caught cheating, according to the leaderboard's rules
>Starts suing the website

Ok, man. He should sue himself for the lack of apparent brain cells. Its really petty, pathetic and sad

 

[Stealphie]

Ok, man. He should sue himself for the lack of apparent brain cells. Its really petty, pathetic and sad

He's not lacking in brain cells, he has no brain cells