Steve Wiebe Tries Again To Be KING OF KONG

Steve Wiebe, the underdog, would-be videogame high score record breaker who was the subject of the 2007 documentary The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters, will try to recapture his briefly held title of highest scorer on the classic arcade game Donkey Kong. He’ll be making the attempt today at the E3 electronics and video game expo. Cable channel G4 will be covering the record-breaking attempt as part of their live  continuing coverage of the expo.

The 2007 documentary followed Wiebe’s attempt to best the high score for Donkey Kong held for over two decades by arcade gaming star Billy Mitchell. After a few failed attempts, Wiebe succeeded, in the process becoming the first person to score over a million points on the game. However, his elation was short-lived as Mitchell quickly produced a video tape showing him surpassing Wiebe’s score.

Wiebe has tried four times since the release of the film to reclaim the record, but has not managed to do so yet. He has, however, surpassed the one million point mark a second time and is still the only gamer to do so in public play.

Officiating the attempt will be the video game record-keeping association Twin Galaxies, providing the game machine that Wiebe will play. Twin Galaxies came under criticism in the King Of Kong documentary for apparently favoring Mitchell in some of their judging decisions. Twin Galaxies founder Walter Day has addressed several of the points made by the film at the organization’s website.