Forgot password
Enter the email address you used when you joined and we'll send you instructions to reset your password.
If you used Apple or Google to create your account, this process will create a password for your existing account.
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.
Reset password instructions sent. If you have an account with us, you will receive an email within a few minutes.
Something went wrong. Try again or contact support if the problem persists.
Donkey Kong Mario

Former ‘King of Kong’ Billy Mitchell Banned From Twin Galaxies

This article is over 6 years old and may contain outdated information

After a long-running investigation into the “King of Kong” Billy Mitchell’s competitive Donkey Kong scores, scorekeeper Twin Galaxies has banned the player from the organization now andforever. His titles have also been stripped from him, meaning that Steve Wiebe, as seen in the King of Kong documentary, is now considered the first million-point record holder in Donkey Kong.

Recommended Videos

After some players alleged that Mitchell had obtained his scores while utilizing an emulated version of the game, an investigation was launched into the case by Twin Galaxies. The company commented on the matter as such, stating that the duspute was “meticulously tested and investigated” and the “veracity” of video performances exmained as well. Ultimately, all parties came to the same conclusion as Twin Galaxies: that Mitchell’s scores should indeed be called into question.

One of the third parties named Carlos Pinerio had actually worked directly with Billy Mitchell himself to investigate the situation and would utilize “whatever original equipment Billy could provide.” However, this didn’t come to fruition, according to Twin Galaxies, as Mitchell declined to do so.

In the end, Twin Galaxies decided that Mitchell’s scores weren’t indeed from an original Donkey Kong arcade cabinet, and while it doesn’t matter if he ended up using the MAME emulator he was charged with, he was proven to have been using an “unsanctioned” machine to achieve his scores.

Twin Galaxies has been in contact with the Guinness Book of World Records to confirm its decision, so we’ll be seeing a shift in the previous records going forward.


Twinfinite is supported by our audience. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn a small affiliate commission. Learn more about our Affiliate Policy
Author
Image of Brittany Vincent
Brittany Vincent
Brittany Vincent is the former News Editor at Twinfinite who covered all the video games industry's goings on between June 2017 and August 2018. She's been covering video games, anime and tech for over a decade for publications like Otaku USA, G4, Maxim, Engadget, Playboy and more. Fueled by horror, rainbow-sugar-pixel-rushes, and video games, she’s a freelancer who survives on surrealism and ultraviolence. When she’s not writing, watching anime or gaming, she’s searching for the perfect successor to visual novel Saya no Uta.