4 ms·

I guess everyone needs a hobby, but this is a 50+ year-old man allegedly cheating at getting the high score for a 40-year-old arcade game.

warinukraine 4y ago
Some people try to choose hobbies that have synergies with other parts of their lives. It think that's a good strategy not just for hobbies but for everything. I doubt that can be argued to be the case for donkey Kong though.
- dehrmann 4y ago
  I think it promotes his hot sauce business.
comex 4y ago
I think getting the high score for a 40-year-old arcade game is a perfectly fine hobby and a fine thing to take pride in. Certainly, if you check Twitch, record competition in single-player games draws plenty of viewership. The most popular games are somewhat less old (usually NES era and onwards), and it’s usually in the form of speedrunning rather than high score competition, but it’s the same general idea. Cheating is different, of course. But I interpret your comment as dismissing the activity itself.
- twblalock 4y ago
  The amount of effort being put into both attacking and defending this guy, and the media attention it has received, is far out of proportion compared to the importance of the activity itself.
  - fudgefactorfive 4y ago
    One of the issues is that Mitchell is notoriously litigious and has made a cottage industry of promoting himself as "guy with game world records". He has literally sued people into submission, over this exact claim, which is now forensicly validated. See Karl Jobst for reference.
  - InCityDreams 4y ago
    Do you have an "off", or "next" button? I love this story...who is right? Who is correct? What's the tech involved? How much is a reputation worth? So much to just ignore if you don't give a fuck. Just ignore it. "But i dont fucking want guitar lessons", springs to mind. /h (for hypocrite :-)
    - dehrmann 4y ago
      We all love a little drama.
  - soulofmischief 4y ago
    to you. Fortunately for the rest of us, we get to decide how much this means to us, including the people running the stories and the people reading them. And we've decided it's interesting.
soulofmischief 4y ago
Running is a much older sport, is it silly to chase running records too?
- dehrmann 4y ago
  Somewhat. You dedicate your youth to being the best in the world at it, then have a 10-year window to compete. Once you're 35 (and I'm being generous), even amazing runners will have little to show for it, and the only thing they're halfway qualified to do is coach. I think what hurts is you obviously go into it because it's a passion, but you age-out of competing so quickly. It's still your passion, but you go from being world-class to a hobbyist over 5 years.
  - chmod775 4y ago
    What you just said is true for almost any sport ever. World records are a young people's game.
- GaylordTuring 4y ago
  Yes, I think so. What's the point?
  - soulofmischief 4y ago
    This question is a litmus test for whether one has respect for the pursuits of others without passing judgement.

warinukraine 4y ago

Some people try to choose hobbies that have synergies with other parts of their lives. It think that's a good strategy not just for hobbies but for everything. I doubt that can be argued to be the case for donkey Kong though.

dehrmann 4y ago
I think it promotes his hot sauce business.

comex 4y ago

I think getting the high score for a 40-year-old arcade game is a perfectly fine hobby and a fine thing to take pride in. Certainly, if you check Twitch, record competition in single-player games draws plenty of viewership. The most popular games are somewhat less old (usually NES era and onwards), and it’s usually in the form of speedrunning rather than high score competition, but it’s the same general idea. Cheating is different, of course. But I interpret your comment as dismissing the activity itself.

twblalock 4y ago
The amount of effort being put into both attacking and defending this guy, and the media attention it has received, is far out of proportion compared to the importance of the activity itself.
- fudgefactorfive 4y ago
  One of the issues is that Mitchell is notoriously litigious and has made a cottage industry of promoting himself as "guy with game world records". He has literally sued people into submission, over this exact claim, which is now forensicly validated. See Karl Jobst for reference.
- InCityDreams 4y ago
  Do you have an "off", or "next" button? I love this story...who is right? Who is correct? What's the tech involved? How much is a reputation worth? So much to just ignore if you don't give a fuck. Just ignore it. "But i dont fucking want guitar lessons", springs to mind. /h (for hypocrite :-)
  - dehrmann 4y ago
    We all love a little drama.
- soulofmischief 4y ago
  to you. Fortunately for the rest of us, we get to decide how much this means to us, including the people running the stories and the people reading them. And we've decided it's interesting.

soulofmischief 4y ago

Running is a much older sport, is it silly to chase running records too?

dehrmann 4y ago
Somewhat. You dedicate your youth to being the best in the world at it, then have a 10-year window to compete. Once you're 35 (and I'm being generous), even amazing runners will have little to show for it, and the only thing they're halfway qualified to do is coach. I think what hurts is you obviously go into it because it's a passion, but you age-out of competing so quickly. It's still your passion, but you go from being world-class to a hobbyist over 5 years.
- chmod775 4y ago
  What you just said is true for almost any sport ever. World records are a young people's game.
GaylordTuring 4y ago
Yes, I think so. What's the point?
- soulofmischief 4y ago
  This question is a litmus test for whether one has respect for the pursuits of others without passing judgement.