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by Ice Cream Jonsey 09/03/2007, 6:22pm PDT |
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I never liked Donkey Kong. I thought that the first level was brutal to the point of being stupid. Mario can jump over a barrel on one level and bang his head against a barrel on the level above him and die. So in game terms, I guess his head punches through the red girder or something and, and... well, no, it was just lazily programmed.
Furthermore, the Atari 2600 version was absolutely fucking retarded. It looked like shit and played like shit. I didn't really get into arcade games until MAME came about, because the 2600 versions of so many games made them seem very stupid.
I still don't think that Donkey Kong is a great game. Zookeeper does a lot of the same things, but I find it a lot more rewarding. But here's the thing that the movie King of Kong told me: you can apparently "control" what ladders the barrels go down by moving Mario/Jumpman and flicking the joystick a certain way.
That does sort of change everything. The game goes from a random hodge podge of brutality to a balancing act. You're spinning plates between jumping barrels, controlling barrels, hammering barrels, and considering the value of the bonus timer. Of course, none of the home versions of this game have that feature built in (because apparently three or four guys in the world knew about it until Steve Wiebe mentioned it in the documentary) so they are still ridiculously unfair. My opinion of DK changed after seeing the movie. I can kind of get how people find the challenges it presents to be entertaining. It would be even better if world record tapes were released to the public, but apparently everyone involved is worried some normal joe will see them, go "a-ha!" and break their scores.
As for the actual documentary - there's a lot of things at work. None of the guys, except for Wiebe, seem to feel they came off particularly well. They are freaking out over at the forum on twingalaxies.com, and rightfully so in some cases. There was a lot of creative editing. At one point the documentary makes it look like Billy Mitchell is too good to have a quick conversation with Wiebe, when really they did talk for a bit. On the other hand, some guys come off poorly and rightfully so. Nobody came up to the guys being interviewed and said, "We are doing a movie that makes your buddy Billy Mitchell look like the bad guy and you'll probably come off like an asshole as well, while we prop up our childhood friend Steve."
Furthermore, the documentary spends a lot of time trying to get the two DK players to "play each other." But that's not important. Someone has a high score, another guy wants to beat it. Were they going to go head-to-head, so that one player waits an hour to play as the first guy goes through the game? Were they going to have two DK machines at a location and play next to each other? One guy watch while the other goes ahead with his game in 1P mode? Ray just beat Risk II in three movies. If we go to "Funspot" and play and I take seven moves and beat him... great. I didn't break the world record for Risk II. Who gives a shit? Benji Molina hit two home runs in a game for the Giants this year when his teammate Barry Bonds went 1-3 with a walk. Molina is not the all-time home run leader. It sort of hangs over the movie, like how the first Pirates movie has a 50 minute scene where people try to kill unkillable pirate zombies.
(All that being said, nothing would make me happier than if Mr. Awesome, Roy Shildt, were to visit Caltrops. He'd fit in perfectly here.)
ICJ |
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King of Kong non-review (verdict: negative) by Grumah 09/02/2007, 2:50pm PDT
Jsoh exposes problem with modern documentaries: the oddball subjects! NT by Errol Morris' career is over. 09/02/2007, 8:06pm PDT
I tried out for a Tetris tournament once... when I was 7 or something NT by Grumah 09/03/2007, 12:39am PDT
Did you mean Werner Herzog? NT by Google 09/03/2007, 2:30am PDT
No, I meant Errol Morris, asshole, but Herzog is done too. NT by Him and his wacky topics. 09/03/2007, 2:37am PDT
You must've meant Herzog, no one else qualifies as much as he does. NT by Google 09/03/2007, 3:07am PDT
Herzog does fiction occassionally. Morris is pure doc. NT by And commercials. 09/03/2007, 5:47am PDT
Herzog Zwei, being German for Duke 2, is pronounced Haetsok Tsvai. NT by Wikipedia 09/03/2007, 7:10am PDT
Kitty haet sock. NT by pic of unhappy cat in a sock 09/03/2007, 8:08am PDT
it's more like hurts augh zzzvy NT by Quentin Beck 09/03/2007, 11:30pm PDT
More pronunciation tips from Australians, please. NT by Caltrops 09/03/2007, 11:47pm PDT
hey watch this by Quentin Beck 02/07/2008, 2:18pm PST
PAULINE was the name of Mario's Earth-girlfriend, as depicted in Donkey Kong. NT by Wikipedia 09/03/2007, 7:22am PDT
Your King of Kong primer by Ice Cream Jonsey 09/03/2007, 6:22pm PDT
It's out on DVD(Rip) now, and I loved it. by Fussbett 02/07/2008, 1:03pm PST
PS: I also enjoyed the quick glimpses of Todd Rogers, but wished for more. by Fussbett 02/07/2008, 1:18pm PST
PPS: While poking around the TG site I noticed that my Mr. Do HS puts me at #13 by Fussbett 02/08/2008, 2:35am PST
TIDDLYWINKS CHAMPIONSHIP LIVE ON TV RIGHT NOW by Grumah 02/07/2008, 4:15pm PST
I still can't find your actual opinion on the movie. :( NT by Jhoh Creebul, Witch Toucher O_O 02/08/2008, 1:08am PST
This is a word for word recreaction of Jso's original post. by Jhoh Creebul, Witch Toucher O_O 02/08/2008, 1:10am PST
Billy Mitchell calls the Onion AV Club by Fussbett 02/08/2008, 12:55pm PST
That was interesting, thanks. NT by bink 02/08/2008, 4:02pm PST
Saw this yesterday and really enjoyed it. by skip 08/02/2012, 5:29pm PDT
Huh, I thought Wiebe came off almost as bad as Kuh. by Jerry Whorebach 02/22/2008, 10:30pm PST
Scot Rubin makes these guys look like the Evil Knievel by Ice Cream Jonsey 03/14/2008, 9:40pm PDT
"Scot Rubin on line one." "The inventor of Crash Bandicoot? Put him through." by Jerry Whorebach 03/14/2008, 11:44pm PDT
The King of Kong DVD extras, part one million. by Fussbett 03/15/2008, 12:14am PDT
Fussbett feels about deleting posts the way God feels about sin. by Fullofkittens 03/15/2008, 7:52am PDT
What would be your opinion now of the story? by Let's Do It Doggy Style 02/01/2012, 8:40pm PST
as a drama of nerd vs jock (who both play dk), it was actually a decent movie by sdroa jists 02/02/2012, 1:24am PST
Billy Mitchell is a jock? by motherfuckerfoodeater 02/02/2012, 9:21am PST
jooooooooooooooooooooooocks! NT by Gabe 02/02/2012, 9:30am PST
Steve Wiebe live stream of record attempt by Fussbett 06/02/2009, 10:07am PDT
I haven't see it available to rent anywhere, even the superhip place across lans NT by Fullofkittens 06/02/2009, 11:37am PDT
I could download it but I still don't really care enough NT by Weyoun Voidbringer 06/02/2009, 11:41am PDT
JsohDoesn'tCareCount++ NT by Fussbett 06/02/2009, 11:53am PDT
it's available for download, but downloading it would be too much work NT by Weyoun Voidbringer 06/02/2009, 12:10pm PDT
So, he doesn't care? NT by Worm 06/02/2009, 12:59pm PDT
Maybe you just need more context by FABIO 06/02/2009, 1:26pm PDT
The camera in fucking Journey had more bandwidth than this fucking thing NT by Ice Cream Jonsey 06/02/2009, 12:58pm PDT
Re: The camera in fucking Journey had more bandwidth than this fucking thing by Fortinbras 06/02/2009, 1:53pm PDT
2 minds, 80 columns: the ICJ/Fortinbras AIM log story NT by Ray of Light 06/02/2009, 2:16pm PDT
That's what I get for dropping it in a notepad file NT by Fortinbras 06/02/2009, 2:44pm PDT
Also it was Gtalk NT by Fortinbras 06/02/2009, 2:44pm PDT
Any chat log with Fortinbras just makes me wish for an INC-Fussbett log NT by The Littlest Hobo 06/02/2009, 3:02pm PDT
Shit. I didn't realize that would be posted. I would have been funnier. NT by Ice Cream Jonsey 06/02/2009, 4:35pm PDT
Atoning for my sins by Bodybag 06/02/2009, 1:57pm PDT
so far the movie isn't about donky kong at all: A+ 4 stars NT by Weyoun Voidbringer 06/02/2009, 2:35pm PDT
Congratulations! NT by Shinji 06/02/2009, 3:10pm PDT
^_^ by Weyoun Voidbringer 06/02/2009, 4:20pm PDT
Re: ^_^ by Creexuls, a monster >:3 06/02/2009, 5:48pm PDT
It's so much easier to watch it when it's right in a post. :3 NT by Creexuls, a monster >:3 06/02/2009, 8:27pm PDT
So what were the rumors of Billy "Duder" Wilson playing up the villainy? by Creexuls, a monster >:3 06/02/2009, 8:55pm PDT
EPILOGUE by Fussbett 04/12/2018, 4:06pm PDT
The arcade community always helps a man up. by reeeeeeeeeeee 04/12/2018, 10:28pm PDT
Been following the feverish lead up by 25c 04/14/2018, 2:44pm PDT
Re: Been following the feverish lead up by Shredder 04/14/2018, 5:51pm PDT
Flack has the most balanced take and description of all of it. by Ice Cream Jonsey 04/19/2018, 6:14pm PDT
The "Oops Billy" Guy by oh dear 10/30/2020, 4:33pm PDT
Help me solve the Daisy mystery in the top post NT by Mysterio (mystery spotter) 07/08/2022, 11:16am PDT
Hmm - the broken image link was a Ukraine flag with the words "No War" on it by Mysterio (mystery spotter) 07/08/2022, 2:36pm PDT
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