Interview w/ Billy Mitchell

Last week I reviewed a new documentary called The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters. Great movie, it's one of my favorites of 2007. It's the story of................just read the review first, and then come back to this post. The point is that after I made that post, I received an e-mail a couple days later from someone giving me great compliments about the review, as well as my amazing writing skills (can't argue with that). It was signed "Billy Mitchell". For real. The same Billy Mitchell who, in the review, I called a "larger-than-life douchebag", and even compared to Big Ern from Kingpin.

I wrote him back, and we carried on a long conversation about the film and how it portrayed him. I didn't apologize for my statements, and he didn't ask me to. He is well aware of what makes a movie good, and that you need a "bad guy" just as much as a hero. I asked him if I could interview him for the blog, and he was all in, so for your reading pleasure, here is my phone conversation with the "gamer of the century" Billy Mitchell.................

DAA Presents:
The Man, the Myth, the Hair

Billy Mitchell: Mr. Sandman! What's your real name, by the way?

Sandman: Mike. Doesn't sound as cool, huh? How are you doing Billy?

BM: I'm doing great, glad to talk.

S: Great, let's get this started. I'm not really too interested in the actual movie since you've already cleared up so many things through public statements and other interviews. But I do want to ask you one thing that sort of pertains to the film and the way you were portrayed. I assume I'm not the first blogger/critic that you've contacted the way you originally did with me?

BM: Oh no, if I see any article or review about me, I always like to send a quick e-mail to the writer, mostly positive.

S: Is that your way of showing people you're really not this villain as portrayed in the movie, or is it something more spontaneous?

BM: It's really just my way of saying "thank you". These people, including you, this is their profession and they put a lot of effort into writing the piece. I can't get too angry because they can only report on what they see. My father was always tough with the "thank you". I learned how important it was very early on, and so I always show appreciation whether it's a journalist or a family coming by my restaurant to meet Billy Mitchell and play a game.

S: But sometimes, don't you read some of these no-name bloggers bashing you online and just scream at the screen like, "What the hell have YOU accomplished!!?"

BM: (laughs) I try not to let it get to me, I stay positive.

S: Okay. Because I've accomplished things, Billy Mitchell. I want you to know that. One time in the 4th grade I got a trophy for baseball. Well........you know, all the kids got 'em, it was more of a participation trophy, but I'm still proud.

BM: (laughs) I will say this, though. And this is the first time I've ever told this to anybody about the movie, but what really flipped my lid was when I realized that the producers included Roy Schultz in the film (NOTE: Roy Schultz is a fellow gamer who had negative things to say about Billy in the documentary). For 20 years now I've avoided Roy. He is one of the most unethical and unpleasant humans you will ever meet. I choose not to deal with him because of past threats of violence, and the producers promised me that they would not include him in the film. After the movie was completed I was denied a copy of the screener, although the "hero" Steve Weibe was given one. These producers, I let them into my home and trusted them. So when I finally saw the movie and found out that Roy was involved I flipped my lid.

S: That's understandable. Like I said in our past conversation, I'm a lid-flipper. If I was in your shoes............

BM: I'm not mad at how I was portrayed, but I really didn't like how others were portrayed. They criminalized good friends of mine, claiming that they broke into Steve Weibe's house when even Steve himself will tell you that is false. It's just a movie, it's Hollywood. I mean, you don't really believe that I sit there and answer every call like, "Hello, World Record Headquarters" do you??

S: Well.........you did it at least once that I know of.

BM: True (laughs). But my point is the odds of catching me in that state even once are about as good as you breaking the world record on Donkey Kong.

S: You know, one of the things I actually thought was missing from the movie was a more in-depth look at this whole underground gaming community. It really seems like a huge subculture that I never knew existed, at least not to that extent. In your own words, how would you describe the competitive gaming community to someone like me who has no idea?

BM: I've been asked that a lot over the years. There was one reporter in particular, a lady who came to an arcade with me and they were filming and she asked, "How do you explain this? This is crazy! People spending every waking hour here playing video games!" And I just looked at her and asked, "Wasn't there something that you did when you were a kid as a hobby?" And she said she used to play softball. So I told her, "Okay, you played softball. And if you weren't playing it, you were watching another team play, or talking about it with friends who also played softball. You played on weekends, in your spare time whenever you could, and you kept those memories after responsibilities took over." She said "Yeah". So I said, "Well, as kids we didn't play softball, we played arcade games. We played 40-50 hours a week, and now that we are grown up we still play if we have leisure time. We have less and less time as responsibilities come but it's still what we remember, a common bond." That's how I would explain it.

S: Sure. Is it still just as much of an obsession as it was when you were a kid?

BM: The truth is that the last time I played ANY video game was when I broke my last record, months and months ago. My son plays football, daughter plays sports, my wife is doing her thesis for her doctorate........I just don't have the time anymore. I've lived and died in a breath with gaming. Eventually you replace your dreams with other dreams.

S: Well put. From what I have seen in the movies and TV shows dedicated to this topic, it seems as if classic arcade games like PacMan and Donkey Kong are held in a higher regard than newer games. Is that the case, or is the classic gaming thing just more of a small specialized part of it?

BM: No, you are very perceptive. Games of today are definitely looked down upon by many people in the gaming world. I always make the comparison that some people can get by on their looks, while others have to get by on a whole lot more. The games of today have such amazing graphics, the technology is so great, but the result is that many of them are just getting by on looks alone. Many gamers, including myself, argue that classic games had a lot more depth. They weren't a lot of kicking and punching and blood flying everywhere. There was more skill involved in the actual game play.

S: So, you would say it takes a higher skill level to.........

BM: To reach the highest levels in the older games, yes. It's a common saying that "video games" started in 1987. That's when the machines started showing up where you die and you don't really die, you know. It just asks you "Do you want to continue??" And you just put in another quarter and keep playing right where you left off. It was a joke we used to tell guys, "Oh you got a new record? How much did it cost you?" Before 1986, with the classic games you couldn't do that, you had to make every game count. It was about conquering the unknown.

S: Where I grew up, video games were never really a hobby on the level that they are in your world. I assume that it's more of a suburban middle-America phenomenon. Would you consider it a fringe culture, something made up of social outcasts......or is it much more mainstream than I'm giving it credit for?

BM: Oh, classic gamers are definitely outsiders. If you took the Top 100 gamers, what I would call the "inner circle", well over half of them are what many people would consider dysfunctional. Not me.........I don't say that, but other people might. These are extremely introverted people. But the other half are the complete opposite. I have gamer friends who are attorneys, scientists, writers, obviously very functional people. We always say, "Half of us are dysfunctional, and the other half just pretend we aren't." (laughs)

S: Sometimes it can get to the point of being a problem in other areas of social life?

BM: I've thought about this a lot. When people do things with their minds, like psychics and mystics, it's a noted fact that a large amount of these types of people end up in losing their minds and going to insane asylums. I sometimes think that when you play a video game, you are calculating and processing things on a level where maybe your mind doesn't belong. If you can do something to fry or overload a computer hard-drive, maybe that's also the case with the human brain. When I walk into my restaurant, I see things that you don't see. This door is more squeaky than it was last week, 80% of the tables are full. It's not always fun. Sometimes it's annoying.

S: How often do you practice? Do gamers train like football players and other athletes?

BM: Normally when you come under pressure, you perform better. You don't have to practice much.

S: Practice or not, you've accomplished some major records over the years. But what was the biggest failure you've had?

BM: That's a good one, I've never been asked that. I thought at one time that I would be able to make a living at video games, and that's the hardest thing truthfully. I thought I could operate arcades and have fun, earn a living with my passion, and that wasn't at all the case. Even when I had my kids, I thought I could balance my passions with my responsibilities, and it's not even close. My kids took over (laughs).

S: I definitely know how that is. You were in an MTV episode of True Life about gamers.

BM: I sure was.

S: See, I do my research. One thing that stuck out from that show was when you mentioned the "groupies" that you and the other famous gamers were getting back in the 80's. Describe that scene for me.

BM: Well, there were two parts to that, the guys and the girls. With the guys, it was more about comradery and competition. There was one time back in the 80's, I walked into an arcade in San Francisco and there was one guy I had already been warned about. He had it out for me, and he was so on fire. He wanted to hurt me, because the record I claimed on PacMan, he didn't think it was possible. So I had my eye out for this guy. And I didn't know that he was sitting behind me already, watching me play the whole time with this real intense look. Once I got to a certain point in the game that was certain death for anybody, no matter how good a player, all of the sudden I hear him wail, "This guy is FUCKING AWESOME" (NOTE: Billy didn't say the F-word. He doesn't use profanity). He's screaming and getting excited. Every move I make, he's saying it over and over, "This guy is fucking awesome!!" This is a guy who 5 minutes ago wanted to smack me, and now I'm his favorite player. So that's the guys.

S: The girls, get to the girls.

BM: When it came to the girls, first of all there was always more guys than girls in these arcades. But the girls would come up and want your autograph, a picture. The truth of the matter is when you're a kid, you have less responsibility. Now that I have a wife and kids, BOY do I have responsibility (laughs). All the guys in professional sports, you don't want to mess up and read about yourself in the papers, you know. I always carry a picture of my wife in my pocket, and I'm not bashful about showing it. If a girl seems TOO happy about seeing me, I just start talking about my wife. You're 22 now.........

S: Correct.

BM: In your "hey-day" you might say.........if you sat down at a bar next to a nice looking girl, and she just started talking about her husband and showing you pictures, you'd go find another bar stool, right?

S: Hell yeah. Maybe a whole different bar.

BM: So you know.

S: Speaking of wives, my wife is from Florida, her family still lives there. I know you have a chain of restaurants down there (Rickey's). Next time we go I might have to stop by. What would you recommend I order?

BM: Gotta have the wings! Matter fact, e-mail me your address and I'll send you the Habanero hot sauce.

S: Dope. Alright, this is a movie blog, and you're somethin' of an 80's icon, so what's your favorite 80's movie?

BM: Too many to name. People always talk about how much time we spent in the arcade, but the truth is every minute we didn't spend there we were in a movie theater. We saw EVERYTHING. We'd watch one, then go back to the arcade again. My favorites? Any action movie, anything with Harrison Ford, all the Star Wars, anything with Sylvester Stallone. To everyone's surprise, not the geeky movies or the ones about computers.

S: So no War Games?

BM: (laughs) That's actually a good one. Anything with Matthew Broderick in it.

S: One of the things that was consistently brought up in almost every review I read for The King of Kong was your hairstyle. Even your wikipedia page mentions it.

BM: Yeah, if you see any picture of me from the 80's, you'll notice that I always had short hair. It wasn't until the mid-90's when I was 30 years old, that rebellious stage, that I started growing this. It's just that most pictures of me are from 1999. I guess I'm somebody who doesn't like change.

S: Fair enough.

BM: It's funny but I always notice that the ones who pick on me the most are always the bald guys (laughs). Sometimes I do wonder if maybe it's time for me to get a haircut, but I think I'll wait until I stop playing games.

S: You like that it's recognizable for now.

BM: Yes, definitely. I was walking through Times Square and people would run up to me and want to take pictures. It's flattering.

S: Do you think you could win in a fight against a real live gorilla who somehow learned how to throw barrels?

BM: I'm sure I could. People don't realize but if you get to the end of the game in Donkey Kong, Mario has a hammer but he also has a gun under his belt (laughs). No, the truth is if I come across a gorilla throwing barrels I'm gonna run like hell.

S: Good answer, Billy. Good answer. Well as you know, I'm a rapper here in Texas, and because of that most of my readers all over the world are Hip Hop fans. Are you a fan of Hip Hop at all?

BM: Actually, I can't say that there's a single bit of music that I don't enjoy. All genres. But when I have the radio on it's usually talk shows.

S: So, you like rap?

BM: Yeah.

S: Can you name any of your favorite artists?

BM: No.


*Uncomfortable silence*


S: Well Billy, thanks again for talking to me. I now officially retract my statement, you are definitely not a douchebag. Anything else you'd like to add before we go?

BM: Well, what I've learned from gaming is that whatever you enjoy, whatever your passion, if you develop an attitude to do that to the best of your ability then you will be successful. The same passion I have for gaming is the same that I have for business, for being a better father and husband. A passion for success doesn't sit in one aspect of your life, it runs through all of them. That's what gaming has done for me. The fact that someone even wanted to make a film about me just shows that's when it's all said and done, I'll still be Billy Mitchell, and they'll still be whoever they are. I can't be mad.