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'King of Kong' was a fun movie, though due to admissions by its creator that they edited in a conflict that didn't exist, I no longer call it a documentary. Bey

'King of Kong' was a fun movie, though due to admissions by its creator that they edited in a conflict that didn't exist, I no longer call it a documentary. Beyond that, it's very strange that so many have expended so much effort on this topic. It doesn't seem to be about a video game record anymore and is just another case of people who have put themselves into two different camps warring with each other simply for some kind of emotional thrill they get out of the conflict itself. In the end, we know that Billy, Steve, and whoever is the current record holder are all insanely talented at the game Donkey Kong and this at point, it reminds me of arguments over which tall building is taller, resorting to measuring from garage entrances to radio masts, when in reality, two buildings that are 500m tall and within 1% of each other are so far above everything else that the 1% doesn't matter anymore. But we like absolute clear-cut black and white labels on things, so the arguing will go on.

smcl 4y ago
The movie has definitely got more people involved in this than normal, since they likely wouldn't have known about it otherwise. But cheating in competitive gaming like this is taken very seriously. Karl Jobst has covered a few scandals like Trackmania (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ww7x5elophk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ww7x5elophk), and Guitar Hero (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=58fqNL-kvaI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=58fqNL-kvaI) and the original Doom (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jv0ZRTlIXR0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jv0ZRTlIXR0). In this case it doesn't help that Billy comes across as very weird and unlikeable, the movie plays this up, particularly in contrast to Wiebe (who seems pretty nice) but it hurts him more that he's been a bit evasive and turned in a few questionable submissions. And re the tallest-buildings-within-1%-of-each-other thing, that's just it. People who suck at a game and report outright fraudulent results are generally outed pretty quickly. But the big scandals - like the ones I linked above - often occur when those who are already at the very top of their game feel pressure to compete and cut a few corners to get a score or a time just ahead of what they are normally capable of achieving. And those communities are not centered around discovering who happens to be roughly in that top 1% of competitors, but around a leaderboard of ranked scores. They share tips, strategies and there are genuine friendly rivalries between competitors.

smcl 4y ago

The movie has definitely got more people involved in this than normal, since they likely wouldn't have known about it otherwise. But cheating in competitive gaming like this is taken very seriously. Karl Jobst has covered a few scandals like Trackmania (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ww7x5elophk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ww7x5elophk), and Guitar Hero (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=58fqNL-kvaI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=58fqNL-kvaI) and the original Doom (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jv0ZRTlIXR0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jv0ZRTlIXR0). In this case it doesn't help that Billy comes across as very weird and unlikeable, the movie plays this up, particularly in contrast to Wiebe (who seems pretty nice) but it hurts him more that he's been a bit evasive and turned in a few questionable submissions. And re the tallest-buildings-within-1%-of-each-other thing, that's just it. People who suck at a game and report outright fraudulent results are generally outed pretty quickly. But the big scandals - like the ones I linked above - often occur when those who are already at the very top of their game feel pressure to compete and cut a few corners to get a score or a time just ahead of what they are normally capable of achieving. And those communities are not centered around discovering who happens to be roughly in that top 1% of competitors, but around a leaderboard of ranked scores. They share tips, strategies and there are genuine friendly rivalries between competitors.