Did he or didn't he, I could care less. I met Billy Mitchell at FreePlay in Orlando this past year. We shook hands and chatted a bit about the mundane, not about video game records, where are you from that sort of thing. " Have you seen the the Homebrews? Cupcade and Polybius?" cool stuff. EA was there and we happened to be standing by their table where there was to be some sort of raffle. A kid, probably 10 to 12 years of age came up, and asked for a raffle ticket. He was denied as the age of entry was 18 or over. He was told if a parent would sign they'd be happy to issue him a ticket and grab some swag from the table. The kid was hurt, I think he was just dropped off for the day and his parents would pick him up later. Before I could do anything, Billy jumped in, "Hey!, I need a ticket!, to which EA handed him one immediately and he grabbed some swag as well. We found the kid, and Billy handed over the loot telling him "If you win, come get me, I'm here all day and I'll claim your prize for you. But make sure you come to me first." I stayed for at least three drawings, but alas the kid didn't win. I had hoped he won in one of the later drawings. Billy also has a wicked sense of humor. I'm not sure if it was people playing the giant Donkey Kong, which Billy was offering advice, or people that had him pose for photos. But throughout the day, I noticed many people with small photos of Billy Mitchell giving a thumbs up pasted to the back of their shirts. I think he was clapping people on the back and leaving his mark, so to speak. There is a video somewhere on YouTube from a talk he gave while in Orlando. Someone asked about King of Kong and his portrayal as the villain. He said he'd become aware pretty early as to how he was being portrayed and said "Do you know how much fun it is to play the bad guy?". I'm no fanboy, and video games are not the be all, end all of my life. I just happened to meet some guy whose name I recognized and he made my day that much better. Not because of some championship but because we shared some friendly conversation at a pretty cool event. Whatever the outcome, Billy's ok in my book.
Regards,
Scam