- In this corner: The challenger, Steve Wiebe. Steve's life has been an unimpressive series of disappointments, but that's never stopped him from being a genuinely nice guy. He's finally found a goal for himself, though, and that is to become the best Donkey Kong player in the world. In fact, he's already beaten the top score on his home machine, but the referees remain skeptical. He'll have to prove himself in public to earn the right to be the next King of Kong.
- In this corner: The champion, Billy Mitchell. Billy is a perfectionist accustomed to being on top of the world. His records in Pac-Man and Donkey Kong continue to impress, but it's been a while since he's played in public. These days, he's morphed into the self-described "all-around most seasoned person in the hot sauce/chicken wing industry," and he seems to be avoiding a direct confrontation with Wiebe. But don't worry, his aloofness hasn't diminished his self-confidence one bit, and everyone suspects that he's "got something planned."
- In this other corner: A bunch of eccentric characters. There's Walter Day, video game referee, transcendental meditator, and likable founder of Twin Galaxies, the World's leading authority on video game records. And Robert Mruczek, devoted referee whose job is to review exceedingly monotonous tapes of video game achievements, including a "two-day Nibbler performance," whatever that means. Or how about Brian Kuh, who just wants to get that killscreen, but who also comes across as a rather pitiful Billy Mitchell sycophant. My personal favorite is the almost universally avoided Roy "Mr. Awesome" Shildt, who just wants to "be a celebrity for a day," with his high score at Missile Command, personalized license plates (MR AWESM), and self-produced "Mr. Awesome's Guide to Girls" video. And I didn't even have space to describe the guy who plays games using his feet or the nice old woman who loves Q-Bert.
- King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters is one of these documentaries in which the subjects are so intrinsically fascinating that little talent was required to assemble a watchable film. That said, the filmmakers constructed a story that, in my opinion, was even more engaging than expected. One assumes that the precise level of conflict between Wiebe and Mitchell was exaggerated, but the two competitors' personalities are so completely antithetical to one another that their eventual conflict seems inevitable and natural. One wonders, though, who ends up being the real champion? Nice guy or not, all indications are that Wiebe has sacrificed most of his family life to play Donkey Kong, even going so far as to refuse to wipe his child's bottom during a great game. Mitchell, on the other hand, seems to have diversified his interests over the years, although it's not obvious that this experience has improved his personality. Perhaps Wiebe's young daughter is the lone voice of reason when she points out that "some people sort of ruin their lives" to be in the Guinness Book of World Records. Yes, they do.
- My favorite coda to all of this is that Billy Mitchell called up The Onion's AV Club and ended up giving an interview.
- In case you're still not convinced that he earned his nickname, Mr. Awesome's video emulates Patton, complete with the gigantic flag. He also uses the word "chumpatizing" in an interview.
