The evidence against Billy Mitchell

[gaknar]

https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2020/06/guinness-reinstates-billy-mitchells-donkey-kong-pac-man-records/

This is some unbelievable bullshit.

[ersatz_cats]

https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2020/06/guinness-reinstates-billy-mitchells-donkey-kong-pac-man-records/

This is some unbelievable bullshit.

Yeah, it's pretty ridiculous. It's obvious Guinness' "investigation" did not include basically anything that wasn't fed directly to them by Team Billy, lies and contradictions be damned.  (Seriously?  You're going to reinstate the 1.047m which and both now claim was never a submission, but still want credit for?)

For whatever it's worth, I'll state on the record that Guinness never reached out to me for input into their "investigation" - something which Twin Galaxies did do. Not that I'm important. I'm a nobody. But I've clearly done the legwork, and I'm surely qualified to advocate the "Billy is guilty" position as the independent observer that I am.  It's not hard to find me, and I would've been happy to answer any of their questions.  Doesn't seem like they even bothered to read this post.

It's a sham decision, and an insult to all competitive gamers who worked and sacrificed to legitimately earn their accomplishments.

I suppose I should probably do yet another update on this.

[FBX]

I just find it shocking Billy was able to get Robbie Lakeman to 'vouch' for the tapes in question as being totally legit. I can't imagine ANY of the top players doing that for Billy unless a little 'payola' was going on.

[Shamrock]

https://arstechnica.com/gaming/2020/06/guinness-reinstates-billy-mitchells-donkey-kong-pac-man-records/

This is some unbelievable bullshit.

Yeah, it's pretty ridiculous. It's obvious Guinness' "investigation" did not include basically anything that wasn't fed directly to them by Team Billy, lies and contradictions be damned.  (Seriously?  You're going to reinstate the 1.047m which and both now claim was never a submission, but still want credit for?)

For whatever it's worth, I'll state on the record that Guinness never reached out to me for input into their "investigation" - something which Twin Galaxies did do. Not that I'm important. I'm a nobody. But I've clearly done the legwork, and I'm surely qualified to advocate the "Billy is guilty" position as the independent observer that I am.  It's not hard to find me, and I would've been happy to answer any of their questions.  Doesn't seem like they even bothered to read this post.

It's a sham decision, and an insult to all competitive gamers who worked and sacrificed to legitimately earn their accomplishments.

I suppose I should probably do yet another update on this.

UPDATE OR RIOT!

I'm just kidding. We always appreciate extra insight into these kinds of things

[RTM]

I am SO thrilled to know that Billy claimed in his evidence package that I stole his 1.047M tape at the ACAM 2005 event, for which Kuh confirmed as much as part of Billy's "evidence package", and then later posted the score to TG to make him look bad, even though Walter's own words in the TG forum on KoK stated that Billy was to send me the master tape in the mail for verification and entry into the TG database. And this is never mind how he also threw Dwayne under the bus.

So very nice to hear that once again the people at Guinness caved in scared rabbits much as they did when Roy called them up prior to the 2007 edition and they accepted what he told them about "Missile Command" settings without a shred of fact-finding on their part.

This is why I blasted Walter on the TG forums in early 2007 and got my account deleted for doing so, when I told him to either demand a retraction from Guinness or to immediately stop doing business with them.

I can only hope that Jace has the backbone to avoid doing business with them again in the here and now.

Billy gets his way yet again after trampling on his former friends and colleagues with libelous accusations. I'm guessing that he feels he can because to quote Billy in the first person, "I'm Billy Mitchell". Well good for you, Billy...feel proud.

EDIT - I removed the part about Kuh signing an affidavit as part of the "evidence package"...on that I am unclear having not read this 156-page monstrocity for many months

[Weehawk]

I am SO thrilled to know that Billy claimed in his evidence package that I stole his 1.047M tape at the ACAM 2005 event, for which Kuh signed an affidavit confirming as much as part of Billy's "evidence package", and then later posted the score to TG to make him look bad...

http://www.classicarcadegaming.com/forums/index.php/topic,679.msg15575.html#msg15575

Sup, Robert. Long time no see. You been okay?

[Snowflake]

far be it from me to defend billy. and though its not at all far from me to argue wiht you rtm, this is an honest question. I read all the publicly available lawsuit stuff. Its true you were accused of entering the scores without their permission, and many people have already explained the problems with that accusation. I dont recall the accusation of you stealing tapes. I could be wrong, but I dont believe you were accused of theft.  Maybe an implication i missed? but i dont think it was explicit at least

[RTM]

I didn't "archive" the so-called "evidence package", and I don't have the time of day to search for it, but within the early section there is mention at some point, either by Billy and/or by Kuh, stating that I stole the tape at the ACAM 2005 event, and either within the same "evidence" page or elsewhere it states that I posted that very score to make Billy look bad.

[RTM]

Well, I decided to spend a few minutes and I did end up finding a link to the original 156-page "evidence package". I am told that this document may have changes one or more times since inception, and I have no idea what these purported other incarnations are, what changes were involved, or where they can be viewed.

In any event, I found the following three pages and highlighted specific sections which is Billy's version of what happened to the 1.047M tape after the 2005 ACAM event, and these are contrary to what Walter himself subsequently wrote in TG's forum on KoK afterwards about Billy mailing me the master tape...

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1BMbW-_fSwCFQ1Kzl59pj7TnoQiuAdgcJ/view

[RTM]

Here's the 2nd relevant page and highlighted section...

[RTM]

And finally here's the third relevant page and highlighted section...

[Snowflake]

ok, so implication then right?

without doubt you're explicitly accused of entering the score malicioulsy without approval. I acknowledged that accusations from the beginning. My only question is on stealing the tape

on the surface it reads to me that you were never given the tape. if you were never given the tape you could not have entered it. I guess it took the implication to be that you didnt have the tape and so any entry was automatically fraudulent. You seem to be taking the implication to be if you didnt receive the tape you must've stolen it? am i interperting this correctly?

[RTM]

Lastly, Walter's own words...

https://www.twingalaxies.com/showthread.php/118762-Issue-4-Why-Billy-Mitchell-s-Videotape-score-was-Accepted

Quote - "I, Walter Day, am solely responsible for accepting Billy Mitchell's videotaped score during the Funspot 2005 event. When Billy requested recognition for the score over the phone, asking that it be viewed as an official submission, as shown in the movie, I approved the score believing that the problem of the frame-skips would be minor and that Billy's original master tape -- when it would finally arrive -- would prove to be free of any defects that were seen on the \"duplicate\" tape shown in the movie. But, before the Funspot weekend was over, I realized I had made a mistake and planned on taking the score down when I returned to my office the next day, on Monday. But, before I could take the score down, Chief Referee Robert Mruczek, on behalf of the Twin Galaxies Board of Referees, took the score down. They also agreed that it was a mistake to accept the score."

     There is at least one other post that Walter made but it's late and this is good enough.

[RTM]

ok, so implication then right?

without doubt you're explicitly accused of entering the score malicioulsy without approval. I acknowledged that accusations from the beginning. My only question is on stealing the tape

on the surface it reads to me that you were never given the tape. if you were never given the tape you could not have entered it. I guess it took the implication to be that you didnt have the tape and so any entry was automatically fraudulent. You seem to be taking the implication to be if you didnt receive the tape you must've stolen it? am i interperting this correctly?

RTM REPLY - taken/stolen...either would have been without permission as it was Kuh's "charge" to, in Billy's own words, to "guard that tape with his life". I had Walter's approval to enter the score as he was fully cognizant that Billy would be sending me the "master tape" subsequent to the ACAM 2005 event. That tape did not actually arrive to my home for quite a few months towards the latter part of the year. Upon receipt it was reviewed, especially for the two critical moments (mid-range 600K and roll-over to all zeros)

The tape was shipped to me for the purpose of validation and subsequent database entry, which it was.

Unlike Billy who saves shipping labels, the only thing I had to save on behalf of TG was physical tapes and accompanying score submission documentation, otherwise I would have been maintaining a small-sized warehouse in my apartment. As it was the totality of my TG "collection" of tapes, held on behalf of TG, attained a maximum capacity of approx 1600 VHS tapes and some other mediums, and occupying the combined size of a large refrigerator when all the boxes were piled one on top of the other.

That aside, the same same later became part of the Feb 2006 MTV interview which I am sure that Billy would like to squash now but he can't.

Now, the whereabouts of the original 1.047M performance from the ACAM 2005 event...not the "master tape" but the one shown at the event...I have no idea where that one ended up, though I am sure that at some point this might have been mentioned in one of the thousands of forum and social media posts discussing that event and subsequent activity.

Hopefully that helps to answer your question.

[RTM]

For whatever it's worth, I'll state on the record that Guinness never reached out to me for input into their "investigation" - something which Twin Galaxies did do. Not that I'm important. I'm a nobody. But I've clearly done the legwork, and I'm surely qualified to advocate the "Billy is guilty" position as the independent observer that I am.  It's not hard to find me, and I would've been happy to answer any of their questions.  Doesn't seem like they even bothered to read this post.

RTM REPLY - they never bothered to fact-check when Roy told them he played at harder difficulty settings than Tony prior to the release of the 2007 edition...so in effect back then they took the words of someone with a vested interest in the outcome with no much as validating his claim. History has repeated itself 14 years later.