Dr. Kong Won't Stop!

November 5th, 2012 - It was bound to happen.

Just yesterday, while working on material for The Kong Off 2, I explained that the world record was actually more likely to be broken amidst all of the practice taking place in the weeks leading up to the event than at the event itself.

This was especially likely given that Hank Chien shared months ago that he would play at a more extreme pace in preparation for the Kong Off, with the rationale that "this way my tournament pace will seem easy, much like training for a marathon at high altitudes."

Today Twin Galaxies broke the news on their Facebook page (the only functioning website they have at the moment) that Chien has, for the fifth time in a row, and the third time in 2012 alone, beaten himself for the world record: pressing the new high score 10,900 points further to 1,138,600.

The score is not yet official, likely won't be verified until after the Kong Off 2, and won't be added to the leaderboard until it is, but it brings a new twist to the atmosphere going into the competition. Chien is now an even more intimidating force than before (as if he weren't already intimidating enough).

A certain French-Canadian rival is not taking this news well, and has forced himself to don the Shirt of Shame:

Is the elusive 1,200,000 score—the "nail in Kong's coffin"—coming even sooner than we might have expected?

I won't bet on it happening at the Kong Off 2, but at the rate Hank has been moving, he might be on Level 15 of that very game as we speak.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hank should give someone else a chance. This is awesome though.

Hank Chien said...

I've heard this reaction from a few people. It surprises me everytime I hear it. When Dean broke his own MAME record (probably more times than I broke my own arcade record), he didn't receive the same reaction. When Usain Bolt broke his own 100m dash world record, he did not receive that response. Why me? I took a long break from DK (almost a year), knowing I had the ability to break my own 1.09M record, yet no one broke it. Let me know what you would like me to do: stop practicing DK with the Kong Off approaching, or build up a library of tapes so that when someone breaks it, I can just submit from my library. A world record is not a world record if it's not the highest score. The are several people capable of beating that score. Vincent has come close several times. It's not like an unbalanced high school football game.

Anonymous said...

They're just haters Hank, let em hate.

Brett Burnell said...

Hank, keep doing what you're doing. My guess is if someone other than you wins the Kong Off or breaks the world record, they will feel "cheated" if it isn't against you. Maybe that's just me but I doubt it...

Anonymous said...

go hank go!

Anonymous said...

Dominate, Hank. Just freakin' destroy this contest and end it for all time.

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