"The King of Kong"

When I thought about competitive play when it comes to video games, I picture a bunch of “geeky” teenage boys challenging each other in Call of Duty or Madden NFL. I never would have imagined that there was a whole professional industry surrounding video game competitions. A strong argument is made in “ The King of Kong” that playing classic arcade games in a competitive manner is as much of a sport as playing football or basketball is. This concept was at first hard to grasp but after witnessing the hardship, dedication, and tears gamers put into beating high scores set by others, I found myself rooting for the underdog just as I would in any other sporting event. I was surprised that there was even a company, called Twin Galaxies, that kept all the record scores in a database and acted as a sort of referee so that no one gained the upper hand through cheating. The movie featured Billy Mitchell, the world record holder of Donkey Kong as well as other games, and Steve Weibe, a nameless newcomer in the gaming world. Billy Mitchell was portrayed as a weird, creepy, and devious man that was the “Obi-Wan” of the gaming world, meaning he was the master, the player closest to perfection, and had to defend his title. Steve Weibe was the average family man that got into the game after seeing Billy’s score and thinking that he could beat it. Weibe broke the stereotype of the appearance of the average gamer while Billy enforced it. I really loved the movie and it taught me a lot about the world of competitive gaming but the only part I disagree with is the fact that a record does not have to be set live, which enables some people to tamper with the video and cheat.