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

 

[VartioArtel]

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.

To be clear: Emulation alone can have drastic minute effects on the game. It could change how the AI works due to a different set of hardware (more predictable AI), it could remove lag at key points that are best 'felt' and not 'seen' (Input lag being most notable), etc. It could change loading speeds by fractions of a second which can ALSO have affects on how the AI or cycles in the game works too.

Basically put: Twin Galaxies is purist, in that just having any form of non-original or modified-original hardware could be seen as a drastic threat to the sanctity and purity of the records. You aren't facing the same circumstances as anyone else, therefore you have an unfair advantage.

And the fact is, when we view Billy's videos, there's a clear sign of stages loading. But it isn't how it loads like in the actual arcade cabinet. It loads in a way that was exclusive to a certain version of MAME. This is already proof the game isn't working as it should, if the stage loads different, who's to say in detail what else is acting different without having a second-by-second logging of everything in the game's Memory. That is not worth testing to ensure there's no fraud.

This is why it's viewed as cheating. Just utilizing it threatens and compromises the whole thing.

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.

This is basically the crux of it. Even then, the utilizing mame in itself can be considered cheating considering any potential changes in the game's execution.

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?"

I don't disagree he has skill, but watching his videos you got to question how legit they really are now. Every action he does is under scrutiny. We've seen him changing out a DKJR Board into his Cabinet and claiming it was a DK1 board.



Look through this clip, and then the guy follows up explaining the board and the differences. There's other small tells you can make but it's difficult in the graphics we see.

And since we know for a fact he uses MAME, one has to call into question the authenticity of ALL his streams. Especially as emulators improve and it's become harder to tell a difference (I believe, I don't follow MAME emulation deeply). I haven't seen his stream, and how he proses the stream can be the difference between a truth and a bold faced lie in itself.

 

[ChiefReginod]

A lot of speed run communities accept emulators as standard these days. I guess it's just different since the DK world record lineage is so old. Most runs up to present times have been performed on original hardware and thus form the "standard" for that community.

I personally think all world records should be done on original hardware only. I know that it's ultimately up to each community to decide on these things, but if I see a world record run on youtube and it's clearly from an emulator I always assume that it's fake. It's just kind of odd how crazy people get about this one video from a time before TAS tools while glossing over the hundreds of world records posted more recently with modern emulators.

 

[VartioArtel]

A lot of speed run communities accept emulators as standard these days. I guess it's just different since the DK world record lineage is so old. Most runs up to present times have been performed on original hardware and thus form the "standard" for that community.

I personally think all world records should be done on original hardware only. I know that it's ultimately up to each community to decide on these things, but if I see a world record run on youtube and it's clearly from an emulator I always assume that it's fake. It's just kind of odd how crazy people get about this one video from a time before TAS tools while glossing over the hundreds of world records posted more recently with modern emulators.

SpeedRunsLive/SpeedDemos is a more 'casual' competitive, it's more about entertainment. They do things live, and they aren't as strict unless the differences are massive.

Twin Cajonexies is more of a 'competitive' venue or something compared to an entertainment focus, I'm not entirely sure. So they're a lot more strict.

Also again, this has to do with trust AND with a number of other details. In this case there's a clear bit of doubt as Billy HAD to have been lying about the source of the record in the video, considering the clear MAME gameplay. This also isn't a speedrun - it's a score attack.

 

[smf]

A lot of speed run communities accept emulators as standard these days

People are within their right to set their own rules. Tool assisted speed runs for example are only practical with emulators, every one is on the same level playing field.

But it's reasonable to expect an arcade game high score to take place as if the person turned up in an arcade, inserted a coin and started to play. Any deviation away from those conditions could introduce an advantage & the only advantages you're supposed to find are those within the game.

 

[spotanjo3]

his dick must be really small

Oh, you have seen his ? That's stupidest comment I ever read, lol!

 

[Inaki]

Man... seeing such a beautiful cabinet with a TFT screen... that inclination fits a 13" CRT screen easily... god kills a kitten everytime it sees a cabinet with a flat screen.

 

[arcanine]

Oh, you have seen his ? That's stupidest comment I ever read, lol!

it is a metaphor. Just because you don’t understand it, doesn’t make it stupid. But think what you want

 

[spotanjo3]

it is a metaphor. Just because you don’t understand it, doesn’t make it stupid. But think what you want

I know that it is a metaphor but comment like this: I have seen his small penis. What with small penis ? Obsession of penis size or something ? COME ON!

I have seen many people comment about small penis joke or a metaphor is a silly and stupid, really. Not think what I want. It is a fact. Nonsense

 

[arcanine]

I know that it is a metaphor but comment like this: I have seen his small penis. What with small penis ? Obsession of penis size or something ? COME ON!

I have seen many people comment about small penis joke or a metaphor is a silly and stupid, really. Not think what I want. It is a fact. Nonsense

I'm not convinced you know what a metaphor is. It is obviously not intended literally. Lighten the fuck up dude

 

[spotanjo3]

I'm not convinced you know what a metaphor is. It is obviously not intended literally. Lighten the fuck up dude

Yes, I do. It is just figure of speech but penis penis penis. Why penis ? Why not say something else instead of penis ? LOL!

Anyway, move on. Off the topic.

 

[arcanine]

Yes, I do. It is just figure of speech but penis penis penis. Why penis ? Why not say something else instead of penis ? LOL!

because it is a metaphor which alludes to insecurity. I was using it to imply that the real reason he is doing this is because of insecurity. I can’t quite believe i am having to spell this out, either you really don’t understand or perhaps this metaphor touched a nerve, whatever man

 

[spotanjo3]

because it is a metaphor which alludes to insecurity. I was using it to imply that the real reason he is doing this is because of insecurity. I can’t quite believe i am having to spell this out, either you really don’t understand or perhaps this metaphor touched a nerve, whatever man

WHATEVER.

 

[FAST6191]

Update video as of a few weeks back but might as well have it


We did have a thread a few months after this wherein the Guiness Book of world records reinstated them
https://gbatemp.net/threads/the-gui...tchells-pac-man-and-donkey-kong-scores.567802

This however saw some youtube type take down videos and even kick copyright of them to Mr Mitchell.

The main Twin Galaxies lawsuit actually managed to get it to move to summary judgement (unlikely to happen here unless Twin Galaxies folds) and then trial. In and of itself that is actually quite impressive -- defamation against public figures (given his main claim is damage to his rep, appearance bookings and what have you then yeah) is not the easiest thing to pull off.