Originally published at: http://boingboing.net/2016/07/22/king-of-kong-also-the-prince-o.html
…
And even today we speak his name in hushed and reverent tones.
10 Likes
Up until last year or so, he had a truly weird space in the Orlando Airport, the King of Kong Arcade. It was a small space decorated in Donkey Kong artwork, but the only games there were prize-winning games like a claw machine, and I think a pinball machine or two. No Donkey Kong at all. But you could buy Billy Mitchell t-shirts, ties, drink koozies, and of course, his signature barbecue sauce.
3 Likes
Wup-dee. Call me when he’s the Boss of BurgerTime!
9 Likes
Well, duh. Donkey Kong is not something worthy of mere traveling peasants, but something to be reserved for its King.
3 Likes
So… which is it, Pac-Man or Ms. Pac-Man? I assumed that conflating the two was just lazy video editing but at 1:15 Mr. Mitchell says “And keep your eye right here…” and narrates a move that’s clearly on a Ms. Pac Man screen.
Screw Pac-Man, Ms. Pac-Man and the rest of the Man family. There is only BurgerTime.
8 Likes
a) Clearly I clicked on the wrong ‘reply’ button. Oops.
b) Given that I judge all video games based on the quality of their snack-related graphics, BurgerTime is clearly better than Pac-Man. But neither holds a candle to Bubble Bobble! Snackwise, I mean.
5 Likes
wasn’t he more of the villain than the star of that particular movie?
9 Likes
I respect only the Sultan of Sinistar.
5 Likes
Uh, this was known. Pretty sure they made reference to it in King of Kong.
1 Like
Meh!
I knew ( and still know ) a guy who could clock defender!!
It was an awesome experience to watch him do it, we would get him drinks and roll cigarettes for him.
He was shortly afterwards banned from most of the arcades 
3 Likes
Bow before me, the Titan of Tempest, the Jehovah of Joust, and the …er… Ambassador of Addams Family Pinball.
6 Likes
For those of us not as well-versed as @nungesser in Addams Family:
Also, how about the Prince of PIN·BOT?
4 Likes
I have Williams Pinball for my Wii because I can’t find any real pinball machines in the area anymore and LOVE Pin-Bot. And for what it’s worth have three of the top five scores (haven’t cracked number one).
Someday…
And I still fondly remember when my favorite bar had an Addams Family pinball machine. Many a time I’d buy a drink and leave it untouched while I played.
1 Like
He was the Boss of Burger Time from 1985 until 2004 when some young upstart claimed the crown. That’s right, they play for actual golden crowns.
6 Likes
The best pinball simulator I’ve found is Pinball Arcade, which is available for lots of platforms. It does a pretty terrific job of recreating the feel of actual machines including lots of extremely rare games including one of my favorites, Elvira’s Scared Stiff.
I ended up buying an Addams Family pinball machine a few years back, which is fun, and discovered the huge mod scene for it. There’s tons of people making modifications for that pinball machine, since it’s so popular. You can buy lighting effects, toys, all sorts of things. Some friends and myself sell a hand-sculpted bearskin rug toy for the playfield and have done pretty good business online. It’s wacky!
1 Like
Try http://pinballmap.com, you might be surprised. We’re in a bit of a renaissance right now. Here in KC, we’ve got three very good venues with about 20 tables among them. There are also monthly tournaments at two of the locations and a league at the third. Also, between Stern, Spooky, and Jersey Jack, we’ll have about five new tables this year.
2 Likes
Spooky is awesome. I love what they’re doing! And they’re keeping costs low, which arcade owners appreciate.
I wish I could say the same for Jersey Jack, who are trying so damn hard but keep missing deadlines. A friend of mine who runs a pinball arcade pre-ordered their Hobbit machine two years ago for almost $9,000 and is still waiting with no delivery date, and her Wizard of Oz machine won’t stay running for more than a week at a time without repair.
2 Likes
There is none greater than the Colonel of Crazy Kong.
1 Like
