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New "Perfect Game" Donkey Kong Record May Be Unbeatable (polygon.com)

Posted by EditorDavid on from the now-Mario-retires dept.

An anonymous reader writes: Standing in front on a Donkey Kong arcade cabinet, Wes Copeland set a new all-time high score on Thursday, playing Donkey Kong for 3 hours, 20 minutes, and scoring 1,218,000 points."It's how he took the title, though that's so staggering," reports Polygon. "Copeland did not lose a single Mario in the game. He took his first life all the way from the first level all the way to the end, cashing in the extra lives to obliterate all comers." Since the game ends after 22 levels, it will be difficult to surpass Copeland's "perfect game".

For comparison, Steve Wiebe set a high score in 2007 with just 695,500 points in the documentary "The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters," eventually bumping his score up to 1,064,500 by 2010. But Thursday, posting a picture of his new high score on Facebook, Copeland announced that "This will be my last record score. I don't believe I can put up a game any higher than this."

37 of 77 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Wes the Neckbeard by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Some men are just better than you. They can hit a world record and bang chicks. Get over it.

  2. Re:And nothing of value was created by Drakster · · Score: 1

    That wouldn't stop anything. Have we stopped playing Chess since any human can be beaten by an AI?

  3. Meh. by meerling · · Score: 3, Interesting

    I've given up caring about other peoples video game high scores when all the cheating started to really heat up.
    If you're interested in that kind of drama, I'm sure you could google it pretty easily.
    Though back in the 80s I did meet and have lunch with the world champ of Asteroids at that time. He had so many free lives, we walked over to the cafe, had lunch, and when we got back to the machine, it was still going!

    (Cue the immature fools with a worse sense of humor than mine to start up the asteroids jokes now...)

  4. Pretty sure he died at 3:12:45 by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

    Am I trippin? In the video of the feat, he eats a fire barrel at 3:12:45. Does that not count?

    1. Re:Pretty sure he died at 3:12:45 by Sowelu · · Score: 5, Informative

      Oh! I think I see what's going on. The game only has 22 levels, and you are not directly awarded extra points for extra lives remaining. Instead, if you run out the clock on a life and score all possible points, then you've converted that extra life into points. So get to the end, blow all but the final life getting points, and finally complete the game. Confusingly written, but correct play.

    2. Re:Pretty sure he died at 3:12:45 by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

      Am I trippin? In the video of the feat, he eats a fire barrel at 3:12:45. Does that not count?

      You watched it in it's entirety?

      Yeah, you're trippin'.

    3. Re:Pretty sure he died at 3:12:45 by phizi0n · · Score: 2

      Thanks for clarifying that they have to die to convert the lives into points but the OP's reference to 22 levels still seems to be completely irrelevant or at least lacking any context for why it is important.

    4. Re:Pretty sure he died at 3:12:45 by AmiMoJo · · Score: 4, Informative

      The 22nd level is a "kill screen". Due to a bug in the game it can't be completed because the time limit for the level is too short to finish it. Many games of that era had similar bugs due to either a lack of testing or the developers thinking that people simply would never get that far. PacMan is probably the most well known example, with level 255 being corrupt and impossible to complete.

      --
      const int one = 65536; (Silvermoon, Texture.cs)
      SJW, n: "Someone I don't like, and by the way I'm a fuckwit" - AC
    5. Re:Pretty sure he died at 3:12:45 by cdrudge · · Score: 1

      You watched it in it's entirety?

      I noticed that point of the game too. I watched most of the first level of play, then skipped to a random spot close to the end just before the 3:12:45 point.

    6. Re:Pretty sure he died at 3:12:45 by tlhIngan · · Score: 1

      PacMan is probably the most well known example, with level 255 being corrupt and impossible to complete.

      I thought it was level 256, for obvious reasons (the level counter wrapped so there was no actual level 0).

  5. That's literally what it means by Sowelu · · Score: 3, Insightful

    If it's beatable, then it's not a perfect game.

    1. Re:That's literally what it means by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Yes, you retarded faggot, that's what literally fucking means. Cuntslabs such as yourself need to be fucking murdered and fed to the more intelligent.

      Words can have multiple meanings. Now fuck off, kill yourself, and be my fucking steak you fucking retard.

    2. Re:That's literally what it means by gumbi+west · · Score: 1

      Level 22 is a kill screen. It's just a question of how many points you get before getting there (if you get there) and, apparently, there (when you get there).

  6. Re:I'm pretty sure he died by Sowelu · · Score: 3, Informative

    Huh, my first comment didn't post so this might be duplicated. You're not actually awarded points for extra lives; if you beat the last level with lives remaining, they're wasted. So you get to the last level, then spend all lives except your last one collecting as many points as are possible during a life, and finally beat the game with your last life. Confusingly written, but correct play.

  7. Re: [Going off-topic] This is where UBI would go.. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

    I get it in some ways. People pay lots of money to watch sports, while the players spend a lot of their lives training. I get the value in setting a record for running the fastest marathon, setting the single season record for most home runs, or laying down the fastest lap ever on a particular circuit in an F1 car. While I don't find intrinsic value in watching someone play Donkey Kong, I do enjoy watching sports. Maybe someone else's tastes are different. A lot of those sports have origins from skills that are actually useful. You can look up the legend of why a marathon is called a marathon, and why there's a place I'm Greece named Marathon. I certainly can appreciate driving fast cars and the skill and precision required to navigate some circuits. Some of those things are also stuff I did for fun and I'm sure many other people did as well. I certainly appreciate racing someone or trying to hit a ball farther than anyone else. I guess either you get it or you don't.

  8. Re:[Going off-topic] This is where UBI would go... by Sarten-X · · Score: 2

    How exactly would he have "consumed" GDP?

    GDP is a measurement of economic strength because it measures how much value is transferred in transactions. Standing at an arcade console increases GDP, because he's using electricity and paying the utility company for it. He's digesting food, for which money was paid to the farmers, bakers, processors, packagers, distributors, and retailers. Those companies then spend their income on other things, further raising GDP.

    He certainly could have done something with his time that might have led to even more addition to GDP, but there are very few ways in which someone can actually reduce GDP.

    --
    You do not have a moral or legal right to do absolutely anything you want.
  9. Probably not Unbeatable by wisnoskij · · Score: 1

    While he never died, I am sure the same feat could be replicated faster, or take longer and get more points for jumping over barrels/etc.

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    Troll is not a replacement for I disagree.
    1. Re:Probably not Unbeatable by hcs_$reboot · · Score: 1

      That's why there is a "may" in the title, probably.

      --
      Slashdot, fix the reply notifications... You won't get away with it...
  10. Re: And nothing of value was created by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    My mom is Roseanne. You had sex with Roseanne? LOL!!!

  11. Re: Wes the Neckbeard by ThreeKelvin · · Score: 1

    Go home dad - You're drunk!

  12. Re: Wes the Neckbeard by Opportunist · · Score: 4, Funny

    While I admire your power to raise the dead, I do question your method.

    --
    We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
  13. Re:So? by phantomfive · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Some things are more important than work, Mr AC.
    Do it for the love, not for the money.

    --
    "First they came for the slanderers and i said nothing."
  14. Re: And nothing of value was created by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    My mom has been dead for over 30 years. Necrophilia - gross.

  15. play the fixed rom that has no kill screen by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Informative

    http://donhodges.com/how_high_can_you_get.htm

    1. Re: play the fixed rom that has no kill screen by LocalH · · Score: 1

      So burn it to EPROMs and play it on a real cabinet. It still wouldn't be a "Donkey Kong" WR, but it would be a "Donkey Kong with fixed kill screen" WR. Same way that exporting song charts from one Guitar Hero game to another to, say, FC GH1 songs on an engine with easier hammer-ons, doesn't count as a GH1 FC.

      --
      FC Closer
  16. Re:[Going off-topic] This is where UBI would go... by AK+Marc · · Score: 1

    By your logic, advertising and entertainment of all kinds doesn't contribute to GDP. GDP is measure of "finished goods and services" and an advertisement is a finished service. When you pull out "non productive" services, as defined by you, you just cut the GDP of the country, by lots in countries like the USA with a service economy.

    --
    Learn to love Alaska
  17. Re:But if you had guaranteed basic income... by angel'o'sphere · · Score: 1

    There are people that "work inside of games", you know?

    --
    Cost free eBook I read (by iBook/Kobo/Amazon/ObookO/Gutenberg etc.): "The Green Odyssey" by Philip Jose Farmer.
  18. King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters by tgibson · · Score: 1

    I would strongly recommend this documentary. Absolutely compelling.

  19. Re: Wes the Neckbeard by davester666 · · Score: 1

    She's not that hard to shop for. A condom tree every couple of weeks....

    --
    Sleep your way to a whiter smile...date a dentist!
  20. Someone's still playing Donkey Kong by aglider · · Score: 3, Funny

    This is the real news here!

    --
    Sent as ripples into the electromagnetic field. No single photon has been harmed in the process.
  21. Re:Who is by BlackHawk-666 · · Score: 2

    Donkey Kong's dank meme posting cousin.

    --
    All those moments will be lost in time, like tears in rain.
  22. Mario who? by UberVegeta · · Score: 5, Insightful

    "Didn't lose a single Mario"

    Who the hell is Mario? This is Donkey Kong. Did you mean Jumpman?

    --
    I knew I needed to stop reading Slashdot and finish my PhD when I started to miss articles by Bennett Haselton.
    1. Re:Mario who? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      You're expecting Polygon to actually know about video games?

    2. Re:Mario who? by gameboyhippo · · Score: 2

      It is canon that Jumpman is Mario.

  23. One life? by bytesex · · Score: 1

    I think I see him lose one life at least just before he finished.

    --
    Religion is what happens when nature strikes and groupthink goes wrong.
  24. Re:So? by BasilBrush · · Score: 1

    What an empty life you lead if you only do things for your job.

  25. faked by peawormsworth · · Score: 1

    So Donkey Kong got hacked you say? And the playing was faked? How interesting.