Month: June 2020

Billy Mitchell’s fight to clear his name and put it back in the video game record books appears to have been a success. The Donkey Kong player and subject of the King of Kong documentary has apparently been successful in his quest to overturn a ruling that banned his records after cheating accusations from many, including rival Steve Wiebe.
Mitchell said he would fight the decision, and in 2019 he threatened a lawsuit against the company for the ban. Wiebe, meanwhile, called the decision “surreal,” though even with Mitchell’s records taken down he no longer held the crown, either.
But it seems Mitchell won his case with Guinness World Records. Earlier in the week, Mitchell announced that the company had decided to reinstate his records, once again making him the King of Kong. Mitchell issued a statement on Pac-Man-like letterhead saying his records were reinstated.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Guinness World Records has officially announced the full reinstatement of my Pac-Man and Donkey Kong records as a result of an independent, fair, and unbiased investigation. GWR also recognizes me as the first million-point Donkey Kong player. See below
pic.twitter.com/LFOvkg3WiI
— Billy Mitchell (@BillyPacman) June 18, 2020
The initial allegations against Mitchell are a bit complicated, but Twin Galaxies, a group Guinness uses for gaming records, ruled in 2018 that Mitchell’s high scores were not valid because he may have used a Multiple Arcade Machine Emulator (MAME) for his Donkey Kong and Pac-Man records instead of a genuine arcade machine.
“In this case, a re-examination of the records in question and the emergence of key eyewitness and expert testimonials led to a reversal of earlier disqualifications and the reinstating of Mr. Mitchell’s original records,” the Guinness statement said. “The records archive has been updated accordingly to reflect this.”
Records Mitchell reclaimed include his original 874,300-point outing from back in 1982, a 1,062,800-point game he recorded in 2010 and a notation for being the first person to reach the “kill screen” and score 1 million points in an arcade game.

Donald Trump’s return to the campaign trail amid the COVID-19 pandemic didn’t go off the way his campaign hoped on Saturday. CNN reported that the campaign expected a sold out BOK Center and around 40,000 people outside at an overflow rally. But Saturday night brought images of plenty of empty seats in Tulsa and an overflow rally that was abruptly canceled because no one was outside.
The Trump campaign quickly blamed counter-protesters for not allowing people to enter the arena, but reports on the scene from accredited media said that was not the case. Whether it was a rumored campaign by K Pop fans or TikTok teens to flood the campaign with huge requests for tickets or simple hubris, the crowd that showed up on Saturday was much smaller than anyone organizing the rally anticipated.
Tour of empty seats. #TrumpRally pic.twitter.com/UNPDHl43kG
— Stephen Rodrick (@stephenrodrick) June 20, 2020
Here’s a panorama taken by CNN’s @DJJudd as Trump took the stage. pic.twitter.com/o3TU5JsMQV
— Daniel Dale (@ddale8) June 21, 2020
Both Trump and vice president Mike Pence were scheduled to speak to the crowd outside the venue, but as the rally grew closer it was clear that the “overflow” area didn’t have any actually in it. The campaign soon canceled the planned speeches and started to take down parts of the stage before the rally inside began.
The Leftovers (2020) pic.twitter.com/1rfmavsgbi
— pourmecoffee (@pourmecoffee) June 20, 2020
Secret Service has moved crowd back from the overflow stage so it can be broken down. pic.twitter.com/iIxXfnpOPn
— Dave Weigel (@daveweigel) June 20, 2020
Many people on Twitter made a comparison to Fyre Fest, the viral concert failure that spawned a pair of movies and a million tweets.
This is President Trump’s Fyre Fest. pic.twitter.com/USYQ6e94gM
— David Cicilline (@davidcicilline) June 20, 2020
Trump’s rally looking like Fyre Fest pic.twitter.com/ioUkNCPYLQ
— The Libyan (@NoDaysOff85) June 21, 2020
This reminds me of the Fyre Fest pic.twitter.com/mDSpnKGcC1
— Jay Scott Smith (@JayScottSmith) June 21, 2020
It’s the Trump version of the Fyre Festival. https://t.co/TTGROpgV7z
— Katie Phang (@KatiePhang) June 20, 2020
A number of people tweeted out the infamous picture of the Fyre Fest luxury meals when comparing it to the rally.
Do you think they’re giving out those sandwiches again at the Fyre Festival 2.0… I mean #TulsaTrumpRally. pic.twitter.com/4dWHcBga8j
— Dana Alyss (@DanaAlyss) June 21, 2020
look. They got some good gourmet food at the rally at least pic.twitter.com/DxchubiUxG
— Sam Stein (@samstein) June 20, 2020
On the plus side, every #TrumpRally attendee was treated to a free gourmet lunch pic.twitter.com/3THiLSt1eN
— Eric Haywood (@EricHaywood) June 20, 2020
Even Cardi B had a laugh at Trump’s expense.
Puuurrrrrrrrrrrrr https://t.co/6pIER6y7dX
— iamcardib (@iamcardib) June 21, 2020
Later during CNN’s coverage of the rally, a commentator on the network actually compared it to Fyre Festival. Trump’s Tulsa rally probably won’t end up with quite the disaster fallout that Fyre Fest had, but it’s clear the night did not go down like the president hoped.