Billy Mitchell was once known as a champion Donkey Kong player but this has since been refuted by the bodies that govern the records of the game. Twin Galaxies works with Guinness World Records to verify achievements that happen in video games, and the organization stripped Billy Mitchell of his Donkey Kong records in 2018. This seemed to be the final word on the records and the controversial Billy Mitchell, but the player now appears to have struck back.
While Billy Mitchell has been a mainstay in the Donkey Kong community the player gained greater attention in The King of Kong documentary which set him as the antagonist of an inspiring tale. The documentary raised doubts about Mitchell’s ability to perform his scores live and Twin Galaxies investigated the machine that the player uses. Twin Galaxies concluded that Mitchell used an emulator and that his records were not valid. Since then Billy Mitchell has set out to reclaim his title and the player has now achieved this goal.
Guinness World Records Editor-in-Chief Craig Glenday revealed the decision in a video and stated that the organization “review[ed] both the existing evidence and newly sourced eyewitness testimony, plus some new expert gameplay analyses and hardware verification. In the end, we found that there just wasn’t sufficient evidence to support the disqualification across the board.” While this is not glowing support of the talents that Mitchell possesses, the player seems to be pleased with the result that restores his Donkey Kong record.
Many will be surprised that Guinness World Records have overturned the decision of their partner but the situation did seem to be taking a personal direction. There has been tension between Mitchell and the CEO of Twin Galaxies, Ars Technica, who has responded to the events with the simple image below.
The reinstated Donkey Kong record holder has been threatening legal action against Guinness World Records and Twin Galaxies citing defamation. This claim seems to be dropped in wake of this action by Guinness World Records but there may be lingering animosity between Mitchell and Twin Galaxies. Despite both sides having a firm stance on the legitimacy of the record, it is clear that Mitchell managed to provide enough evidence to cast the ruling into doubt.
Whether people agree with the legitimacy of Mitchell’s claims or not, the player put together a compelling argument to get their title back. Mitchell has used several sources to support the validity of his gameplay and a current record holder on Donkey Kong supported the claims. While this seems like it should be the end of the drama surrounding the player, the response of Ars Technica suggests trouble could occur once more.
Source: Ars Technica
