Forgotten Worlds: The Kong Off 2011 and Pinburgh 2011

Yes, I used to eat this cereal, as a kid.

Ever since the release of the documentary The King of Kong: Fistful of Quarters, there's been a renewed interest in the competition for the highest score in classic arcade games, especially Donkey Kong.  Such websites as Twin Galaxies, the official archive of video game high scores, remain busy with every new world record that is broken (they also serve as the only resource for high scores for the Guinness Book of World Records).  For the past few years, the competition for the top score in the classic Nintendo game has been characterized by two men: Billy Mitchell, veteran arcade record holder, and Steve Wiebe, who beat Mitchell's record during the filming of The King of Kong.  Two years ago, a new challenger arose and made a name for himself in record time.  Newcomer Dr. Hank Chien came from out of nowhere and claimed the top score in Donkey Kong -- an accomplishment that remains his to this day.

It is this newly revived environment of competition that sets the stage for the first ever Kong Off.  This past weekend, sixteen arcade enthusiasts headed to Richie Knucklez Arcade Games in Flemington, NJ to compete for the top score in Donkey Kong.  Many others attended the event, some to watch and cheer on their favorite players, while others came to break their own records in other arcade classics.  After the smoke cleared, Hank Chien, also known as Dr. Kong, after the new documentary about his quest for the top, came in first place with 994,400 points -- not high enough to beat his world record score, but enough to cement him at the pinnacle, for now.  Steve Wiebe came in a close second place with 986,900 points while another arcade youngblood, Eric Howard, claimed third with 941,800 points.  Billy Mitchell placed in 7th with 821,200 points, but I'm sure that we'll see him push for the top spot again very soon.

Merchandise available for the event included this actual

arcade marquee, which, of course, is already sold out.

Apparently, the Kong Off was a great success.  It's not very often you have the stars of these Donkey Kong documentaries together under one roof to compete, so it must have been a blast (I wish I was there).  Hopefully, this won't be the last Kong Off and we'll see the tournament become an annual event (they may not be able to get Billy, Steve, and Hank to come back every year, but you never know).

But New Jersey wasn't the only place getting some tournament arcade action this weekend.  The Professional Amateur Pinball Association held the Pinburgh 2011 tournament in Pennsylvania, which, from the videos I've seen, was huge.

 

 Pinball, pterodactyls, and sexy Valkyrie women -- this poster has it all

The tournament was held in a huge facility with a metric buttload of pinball tables -- too many to mention here.  Getting into the tournament cost $100, but I heard that proceeds went to charity.  Hell, if you bought a $10 roll of tokens, $20 went to the Western Pennsylvania Humane Society (which they collected a grand total of $12,550).  Not only that, but each roll of tokens had a special custom made token for the event that you can't find anywhere else.

With all these tournaments and arcade game shows going on in the US, I need to get out of state more often.

Until next time, keep your scores high and the quarters flowing.