A Review of The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters

One of my good friends told me about this documentary called The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters. Going by title alone, I had no idea what the film was going to be about until I read the summary. After reading the summary I was not exactly sure I wanted to waste 79 minutes of my life on a movie about people who try to break records playing arcade games.

At the beginning of the film the movie focuses on a guy named Billy Mitchell. Mitchell became very famous in the 1980's for his ability to play arcade games. He had a few world records but his greatest record was on the arcade game Donkey Kong. It highlights not only his ability regarding arcade games but it also shows he has at least some ability when it comes to business ventures (he created some sort of wing sauce). The film shows that he is revered as one of the, if not the best, arcade game player of all time.

About 1/3 of the way through the movie we are introduced to Steve Wiebe. He is portrayed as this intelligent guy who has had a few bad breaks in life. After losing his job, Wiebe begins playing Donkey Kong in his spare time to see if he can break Mitchell's record. Wiebe breaks Mitchell's record on Donkey Kong machine in his garage but there is some controvery over the score because Wiebe received aid from one of Mitchell's arch enemies. I know it sounds crazy but stay with me. The gaming community has decided not to validate Wiebe's score because of the aid Wiebe received from Mitchell's arch enemy so Wiebe decides to go to Florida to validate his score at a sanctioned event. I know, it is hard not to laugh as you read this, but I speak the truth.

Weibe makes his way to Florida where he break Mitchell's record in an official way. Walter Day, the man when it comes to validating scores for video games, is even there to see it. But wait, you know something crazy is going to happen when abunch of nerds get together. Despite not showing up in person, Mitchell sends in a video tape of him break the 1,000,000 point mark in Donkey Kong. Something that had not been done at that time and taking away some of the glory from Wiebe's accomplishment.

The movie ends with Wiebe trying to break Mitchell's video recorded high game in front of a live audience. Wiebe has asked Mitchell to join him at the event but Mitchell decides not to play. Despite the fact that Wiebe cannot break the 1,000,000 point mark in front of a live crowd, he still gets the last laugh.

Never in my life could I picture myself enjoying a documentary about people who spend their lives playing arcade games. You will enjoy meeting Walter Day, a guy who spends his every moment refeering the video game world. You will find yourself rooting for Steve Wiebe, all around good guy, as he goes against the crazy and dramatic Billy Mitchell in this highly entertaining and well done documentary.