Billy Mitchell TG Banned, Scores Removed

[VectorGamer]

Video game champ Billy Mitchell fighting back after being stripped of record scores

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/local/broward/fl-reg-mitchell-follow-20180417-story.html

“They said it was this version or that version [of a software emulator]. When they finally said it’s a specific version, somebody came out and said that version didn’t come out until two years after I played the game,” said Mitchell, in his first interview since losing his records. “I don’t really know — I don’t know anything about this stuff.”

 

 

[mr_me]

The current version of mame at the time of the three scores in question.

 

1. Before June 2005 - mame 0.96 or older

2. 2007 July 13 - mame 0.117

3. 2010 July 31 - mame 0.139

 

The versions of mame that reportedly produce the finger girder are 0.116 to 0.121

.

Edited April 23, 2018 by mr_me

[+DZ-Jay]

Removed dupe.

[+DZ-Jay]

The current version of mame at the time of the three scores in question.

 

1. Before June 2005 - mame 0.96 or older

2. 2007 July 13 - mame 0.117

3. 2010 July 31 - mame 0.139

 

The versions of mame that reportedly produce the finger girder are 0.116 to 0.121

.

That is not quite true. Several weeks ago it was discovered that the same could be reproduced with older versions of MAME, going back to 2001, by setting the CPU0 rate to 99%. Some versions in between, before 0.116 allowed to set the refresh rate to 60.060Hz, which had the same results. Then, on version 0.116 a change was made to MAME itself to build this into the dkong emulation driver. (It's even mentioned on the 0.116 changelog.)

 

The earliest version of MAME that can reproduce the "finger girder" in some way or another is -- I believe -- 0.85, released back in 2001.

[BiffsGamingVideos]

LOL. What's LAUGHABLE is Billy Mitchell claim basically is that if he cheated, then his old scores should be reconized. Listen, if you cheat, then you are a cheater. You don't get anything pal. TG and GBofWR are private businesses. To be listed with them you have to follow their rules. It's that simple. If the rule is total banishment by cheaters, then so be it. They get to decide not you.

Edited April 23, 2018 by BiffsGamingVideos

[Andromeda Stardust]

Point is he cheated once it should have ended there and Walter pushed it in

I think there is a difference between not understanding submissions guidelines and cheating.

 

Billy submitting a bogus MAME recording = cheating. Steve playing on this specific printed circuit board or that specific joystick because he didn't understand the submission rules (or possibly the rules were not set in place until AFTER Twin Galaxies reviewed the submission and retroactively applied them, which would equate to total douche-baggery on the account of Twin Galaxies if true) might result in a disqualification but an outright ban would be unfair.

 

You don't ban a sprinter from all future track meet competitions because of a technical disqualification (ie he or she committed a false start which might disqualify them from the current event but not ban them from future events or competitions), however you would certainly ban them from all future events if it was proven the athlete used doping or performance enhancing drugs to "bulk up" or train for the event.

 

What Steve Weibe did amounts to a "false start" because his submission was invalidated by a technicality.

 

What Billy Mitchel did would be the equivalent of doping in the athletic world.

 

Billy used an emulator to submit a score, and without concrete evidence that he was even playing the game live in front of the camera. Then he lied repeatedly about using MAME in interviews.

 

And furthermore using MAME to "train" at higher levels isn't even considered cheating, so long as the actual record attempt is played on genuine arcade hardware. An arcade player using MAME to help train at high level for a WR attempt would be the equivalent of an athlete training at high altitude to naturally boost their oxygen absorption rates, which is allowed by governing bodies. Giving yourself a transfusion of your own blood before the event in order to artificially boost red cell count, is not allowed and considered a type of doping.

 

An outright ban would be appropriate in Mitchel's circumstance (deliberate cheating and falsification of submissions), but not Wiebe's (disqualification based upon a technicality). Wiebe did resubmit a legitimate score and beat Mitchel's bogus MAME submission. Kudos to him!

[VectorGamer]

W in TF?

 

 

https://www.gofundme.com/arcadefire-billy-mitchell-fringe

[+x=usr(1536)]

W in TF?

 

https://www.gofundme.com/arcadefire-billy-mitchell-fringe

 

Someone please tell me this is a joke.

 

Frankly, I'd rather see this being funded as an actual stage show:

 

[mr_me]

W in TF?

 

 

https://www.gofundme.com/arcadefire-billy-mitchell-fringe

I learned it costs $2500 for a Billy M appearance.

[Cynicaster]

I think there is a difference between not understanding submissions guidelines and cheating.

 

 

Exactly! In fact, this distinction has its own fancy-sounding legal terms that are used to establish the level of culpability in a crime: actus reus and mens rea. Seems pretty obvious to me we may have the former on Steve, but not the latter.

 

Besides, nobody with any credibility questions Steve's ability to score 1mil on a legit DK machine. Billy, on the other hand, has not a single verifiable instance of achieving that feat. This kind of matters in DK lore, even though both Steve and Billy are nowhere near the top anymore, because if recognition must go to somebody for being the first to achieve the milestone of 1mil, then I'd prefer it go to the candidate who has at least irrefutably demonstrated his ability to do it.

[Andromeda Stardust]

Why Billy still tries to maintain his innocence is beyond me. He made a pubic statement recently maintaining his innocence. Sorry I have lost all respect for this man at this point. YOU CHEATED. OWN UP TO IT.

 

 

I was expecting a public apology statement and instead he just continues the charade. Shame on you Billy...

[Andromeda Stardust]

W in TF?

 

 

https://www.gofundme.com/arcadefire-billy-mitchell-fringe

 

 

 

"A fool and his money are soon parted."

 

~Proverbs 21:20, KJV

 

[+Spriggy]

Edited April 25, 2018 by spriggamortis

[Andromeda Stardust]

$80 raised by 5 people in 4 days. The community isn't quite so foolish as one might expect. But if a super-funder contributes $4920 in the last hour, I'm calling shenanigans. Billy could certainly afford it, assuming his hot sauce business isn't in the crapper...

[H.E.R.O.]

Billy was Walter's golden goose. As Billy's celebrity grew, so did Twin Galaxies. As likable as Walter is, nobody should fall for the naivete routine.

 

I don't see needing $5000 for a rebuttal video either. Dwayne Richard did two rebuttal videos that are on YouTube that were probably done on a regular video camera.

Edited April 25, 2018 by H.E.R.O.

[bigfriendly]

Bet that Brian Kuh made the donations under an alias:)

[Andromeda Stardust]

Big youtube star wants money to buy a new camera and other toys. Literally all he has to do is sit in front of a camera, do a cheesy sing song he hastily scribbled in a notebook, and consider the pledge fulfilled.

 

Well unless someone funds the"meet billy mitchel" pledge level. What if Billy refuses to play ball, not show up like he did in King of Kong?

[Asaki]

Then you would feel honored to have received "the Billy Mitchell treatment".

 

Hopefully he gives you his phone number too, so you can leave him messages that he will never reply to.

[+DZ-Jay]

I recently watched Dwayne Richard's documentary, "The King of Cons," and I found it very interesting.

 

Unfortunately, in my view, Dwayne has the same credibility as Walter Day, Mitchel, Rjchamp, etc., which is to say none at all.

 

I don't doubt that the big conspiracy to which he alludes could be true -- it probably is. It's just that it is hard to believe anything brought forth by any of them.

 

dZ.

[Great Hierophant]

To have a score disqualified is one thing, rules can change or a player may not have recognized that his hardware was not 100% arcade authentic. It's really easy to do when finding replacement can be difficult.

 

To be banned for cheating requires dishonesty. Billy presented these Donkey Kong score submissions as having occurred on real hardware and denied using something else when challenged. To the score-recognizing boards, his disingenuousness has been proven to their satisfaction. I don't see any mass protests of Twin Galaxies or Guiness Book of World Records because they chose not to recognize a person whom they have found to have serious integrity issues.

[Andromeda Stardust]

To have a score disqualified is one thing, rules can change or a player may not have recognized that his hardware was not 100% arcade authentic. It's really easy to do when finding replacement can be difficult.

 

To be banned for cheating requires dishonesty. Billy presented these Donkey Kong score submissions as having occurred on real hardware and denied using something else when challenged. To the score-recognizing boards, his disingenuousness has been proven to their satisfaction. I don't see any mass protests of Twin Galaxies or Guiness Book of World Records because they chose not to recognize a person whom they have found to have serious integrity issues.

Very good point. Just like I said earlier, I think that Steve Weibe was disqualified on technicality, not being a dishonest cheat like Billy Mitchel. Walter Day even said Steve was a trooper, and recognized him for showing up and setting a live high score at Twin Galaxies. But Billy Mitchel turned out to be 100 times the con man in real life compared to the arrogant douche that King of Kong portrayed him to be. I always though his movie persona was acting, never realized until recently that he's really a grade A scumbag IRL.

 

I would also call out that Walter Day should not have accepted Billy's taped submission so readily, without the technical scrutiny that comes with all submissions. Had what's his name sat in the bedroom reviewing the tape over a period of hours or even days, I don't think it would be so readily accepted. IF it was questionable at the live showing, why was it ever accepted to begin with? Were the King of Kong directors in on the scam? Did they help Billy fake his MAME high score to create drama for the movie?

 

So many unanswered questions that we may never get to the bottom of.

[+DZ-Jay]

Very good point. Just like I said earlier, I think that Steve Weibe was disqualified on technicality, not being a dishonest cheat like Billy Mitchel. Walter Day even said Steve was a trooper, and recognized him for showing up and setting a live high score at Twin Galaxies. But Billy Mitchel turned out to be 100 times the con man in real life compared to the arrogant douche that King of Kong portrayed him to be. I always though his movie persona was acting, never realized until recently that he's really a grade A scumbag IRL.

 

I would also call out that Walter Day should not have accepted Billy's taped submission so readily, without the technical scrutiny that comes with all submissions. Had what's his name sat in the bedroom reviewing the tape over a period of hours or even days, I don't think it would be so readily accepted. IF it was questionable at the live showing, why was it ever accepted to begin with? Were the King of Kong directors in on the scam? Did they help Billy fake his MAME high score to create drama for the movie?

 

So many unanswered questions that we may never get to the bottom of.

In "The King of Cons," it is Dwayne Richard's contention that Weibe was in on it as well, with Mitchell and Day.

 

That's if we could believe him. He also has an axe to grind and let's not forget that he was part of the boy's club.

 

dZ.

[Asaki]

Did they help Billy fake his MAME high score to create drama for the movie?

Like I said, if they did, then they helped him fake his other "live" scores too, and I'm not sure that that benefits the film. (aside from that really terrible DVD bonus feature)

[mr_me]

Very good point. Just like I said earlier, I think that Steve Weibe was disqualified on technicality, not being a dishonest cheat like Billy Mitchel. ...

Using an 8-way joystick is cheating. These guys know how to use it to their advantage. How do you know he wasn't dishonest about it? Regardless of the cheating they are both great donkey kong players, both having held legitimate world record scores. Edited April 28, 2018 by mr_me

[Great Hierophant]

The difference between Wiebe's 8-way joystick and Mitchell's tapes is that the latter tried to pass off the recordings as having been taken on original hardware. Wiebe could hardly pass off an 8-way joystick as a 4-way joystick, anyone watching would have found out.