Day 2 Recap: Saglio Takes First (By 300 Points!) On Last Quarter; Chien Will Not Repeat As Kong Off Champion

Dean Saglio and Hank Chien

July 30th, 2016 - Kong Offs 1 through 4 have been a Hank Chien and Jeff Willms dynasty - with Chien winning the first and fourth, and Willms going back-to-back in the second and third.

We can't be sure whether or not Willms will emerge with another victory tomorrow, but he is still in contention.

Chien, though, is not, having finished the high score portion of the tournament outside of the top 8, and thus eliminated from Sunday's head-to-head finals.

Copeland In! Lemay Survives!

Early in the day, current world record holder Wes Copeland finally found his bearings and pushed his way from the bottom of the leaderboard into 4th place, ensuring himself a place on Sunday.

Then, as Day 2 drew toward "last quarter", all eyes turned to the low-hanging fruit.

The players in the top 7 spots were secure with scores well over a million points. But Vincent Lemay's 993,500 from Day 1 (over 50,000 points below the 7th place score) was still clinging to 8th... with a bright red target on its back.

Players still outside of the bubble (namely Chien, Ethan Daniels, and Daniel Desjardins) all set out on a last-quarter hunt for their tournament lives, with Lemay himself alongside them mounting a defense, trying to increase the score they were trying to beat.

One by one they fell (Daniels coming closest about 60,000 points short), but Kong managed to stave them all off, leaving Vincent alive to fight the final day, surprised but happy.

Earlier, Lemay had a little Facebook fun with the situation:

Nobody, including Lemay, expected his score to hold, but "Lemay math" prevailed. Let us never doubt it again.

That left just one last piece of business to be decided.

Saglio Snatches First Place From Lakeman

It's almost a rule in Donkey Kong tournaments that last-quarter will bring drama, and often a stunning upset. Dean Saglio did the honors this time. Having already secured a top 8 spot earlier in the tournament, Saglio was free to spend Day 2 playing at a higher pace in pursuit of Lakeman's Day 1 best.

He did it by a hair, a single barrel smash on the kill screen bridging the gap.

Saglio, who has experienced much disappointment in tournaments - Kong Offs in particular - was thrilled.

"Fifth time's the charm for being at the top of the high score competition. It took until Kong Off 5 to get to the top of the leaderboard. So, psyched about that. It took every barrel to get there."

In one fell swoop, Saglio earned tournament vindication, the high score first place prize money, and extracted a little payback from Lakeman, who just last month eclipsed 1.2 million and beat Saglio's personal best, pushing Saglio into third on the all-time scoreboard.

Tonight must have felt good.

Lakeman and Copeland at the announcer table

Here are the full standings as of the end of Day 2:

Rank	Player	Best Score
1	Dean Saglio	1,135,600
2	Robbie Lakeman	1,135,300
3	Jeff Willms	1,071,200
4	Wes Copeland	1,061,200
5	Steve Wiltshire	1,054,400
6	Jeff Wolfe	1,049,700
7	Jason Wade	1,046,900
8	Vincent Lemay	993,500
9	Ethan Daniels	933,900
10	Hank Chien	885,000
11	Tanner Fokkens	884,100
12	Mick Winzeler	778,600
13	Daniel Desjardins	727,300
14	Eric Tessler	581,200

Meanwhile this very day, in an adjacent section of the (massive) David L. Lawrence Convention Center removed from the ReplayFX/Kong Off event, a rally was held for and presided over by none other than candidate Hillary Clinton herself!

Did they stop by to check out the action at the Kong Off? We will never know, but the ReplayFX staff commented on the situation by offering up a candidate of their own:

Whether you're planning to vote for Trump, Clinton, or Kong, be sure to watch the Kong Off 5 live stream starting at 9 AM Eastern for the final head-to-head matchups!

Hammering Hank Chien Wins The Kong Off 4! Lakeman Defeated In Final Round Grudge Match

Photo: Jeff Harrist

August 3rd, 2015 - Hank Chien tasted sweet revenge on Sunday when the deposed world record holder defeated his usurper, the current King of Kong Robbie Lakeman, in an ultimate final round grudge match at the Kong Off 4.

Chien may no longer be on top of the all-time high score standings, but another Kong Off win (his second after the the inaugural installment in 2011) is a comeback to be proud of.

The always amazing Jeff Willms submitted the event's highest overall score, and if not for the new head-to-head finals, would have successfully defended his Kong Off title once again for an unprecedented three in a row.

The Bracket Tourney

Sunday's single-elimination bracket tournament—consisting of eight players in seven matches and seeded by Friday and Saturday's high score competition—initially met with wide skepticism. Players and observers were unsure whether or not the format could succeed, being so radical a departure from the traditional model.

Scores for this "one-and-done" style were indeed relatively low compared to those attained in isolated, individual sessions, where players can enjoy the luxury of multiple attempts and easily-aborted weak games, with only their very best game ultimately mattering.

But when limited to one game, against a specific player, entirely new dynamics are introduced, and the community at large came away very pleasantly surprised with the excitement, pressure, and novelty of this much more direct form of competition.

Commentary At Last!

Several weeks ago, during Steve Wiebe's appearance at the Mall of America, Mitchell Elliott was a guest on the live stream, and offered superb running commentary on the action, helping viewers to better comprehend what they were watching. It was a taste of what was to come this past weekend.

Donkey Kong live-streamed games and tournaments have always struggled with the problem of a game that is notoriously spectator-unfriendly. For the uninitiated, it's slow, hard to understand, and tactically arcane.

As Jesse Hicks of the Verge described it in his 2013 piece on the Kong Off 3: "To the casual eye it's something less than poetry in motion."

On Sunday, expert players including Wes Copeland, Ethan Daniels, Dean Saglio, as well as Wiebe, Elliot, and others, sat down in the ReplayFX broadcast booth to do their part making Donkey Kong more accessible. For the first time ever, Kong Off matches were streamed with play-by-play announcers, and the results were very well-received.

I've wanted commentary for a long time and it was wonderful to see how strong and professional it turned out to be.

Here is the final Lakeman versus Chien match. If you've ever wanted to understand just what goes into playing this game at a high level, I recommend giving it a listen:

On To Next Year

The Kong Off 5 has already been scheduled for next year, where Hank Chien will defend his title at the same location and on the same weekend at ReplayFX in Pittsburgh.

Thanks to Richie Knucklez for his hard work in making the Kong Offs happen, and to many others who help in so many ways behind the scenes. Photographer William McEvoy deserves special mention for his talents, covering the last three Kong Offs, as well as other classic gaming events around the country. Needless to say, McEvoy's work has been indispensable to my blog posts.

I'd also like to thank renowned gaming journalist and Gamasutra publisher Simon Carless, who over the weekend Tweeted a link to the coverage here and sent some curious traffic in this direction. The gaming and tech press has always been kind to Donkey Blog and it is always appreciated.

And on the subject of traffic...

It's pure serendipity that it would happen within a fortnight or so of a Kong Off coming to a close, but it would seem that my pageview counter's rollover to 1 million is imminent! When I started this blog four years ago, it was a pet project that I never would have foreseen hitting that milestone. My "score" here is higher than my personal best at the game. Much gratitude goes out to the many thousands who have linked, reddited, Tweeted, shared, read, commented, and encouraged.

Congratulations to Hank, Jeff, and all the other competitors for another well-played Kong Off!

Hard at work on Kong Off Row

Ethan Daniels' understated reaction to a Steve Wiebe autograph

Richie Knucklez and Alan Radue with the champion's barstool Radue created for the event

The Kong Off 4 lineup (left to right): Walter Day, Jason Wade, Ethan Daniels, Dean Saglio, Jeff Wolfe, Steve Wiltshire, Wes Copeland, Mike Groesbeck, Daniel Desjardins, Steve Wiebe, Vincent Lemay, Jeff Willms, Hank Chien, Eric Tessler, Jeff Harrist, Robbie Lakeman, Billy Mitchell

All photos: William McEvoy

Day 2 Recap: Willms In Command; Saglio Comes Up Short At World Record Pace

Former world record holder Steve Wiebe alongside current champ Robbie Lakeman on Day 2
Photo: William McEvoy

August 1st, 2015 - The action at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center in Pittsburgh took a familiar turn today, setting an ominous tone for tomorrow.

For the third consecutive Kong Off, Jeff Willms has emerged with the event's highest score. If the format were the same as in previous years, the brilliant Canadian phenom would now be celebrating a three-peat.

However, the Kong Off 4 is a whole new game. Just hours from now, the players will meet for the final day, a single-elimination bracketed standoff between the 8 highest-scoring players from these first two days.

The format will entail a major change in strategy—one that emphasizes safety and survival over scoring pace—and has never been so much as tested before. Can Willms master it on the fly? Or will the Kong Off finally have a new reigning champion?

Jeff Willms (right) taking a chess break with Ethan Daniels, Steve Wiebe, and Mitchell Elliott
Photo: William McEvoy

Here is the final leaderboard for the high score segment:

Rank	Player	Best Score
1	Jeff Willms	1,093,000
2	Robbie Lakeman	1,069,700
3	Wes Copeland	1,060,900
4	Dean Saglio	1,060,800
5	Mike Groesbeck	1,028,600
6	Hank Chien	1,010,800
7	Ethan Daniels	1,009,400
8	Vincent Lemay	1,009,000
9	Steve Wiltshire	1,005,900
10	Jeff Wolfe	991,800
11	Dan Desjardins	869,700
12	Shaun Boyd	857,700
13	Steve Wiebe	842,800
14	Eric Tessler	821,100
15	Jason Wade	787,700
16	Mick Winzeler	784,400

Giving us these matches for Sunday's first round:

Willms vs. Lemay
Lakeman vs. Daniels
Copeland vs. Chien
Saglio vs. Groesbeck

Wiltshire Bubbled On Last Quarter

There is never a shortage of "last quarter drop" drama in Donkey Kong tournaments, as veterans of past Kong Offs and Donkey Kong Online Opens will be quick to recall. Today's action stayed true to form, with not one but two players pushing through their hail-mary games to wrest their way into the finals.

After Hank Chien and Mike Groesbeck secured 5th and 6th, Steve Wiltshire sat in 7th, with Vincent Lemay rounding out the top 8.

Then, after last quarter was called, Ethan Daniels came alive to push Wiltshire to the edge of the bubble and Lemay out into 9th.

Time to take off the shirt.

Lemay, on his final game, had only one shot to retake top 8 standing... and the shot hit its target, beating Wiltshire by just 3,100 points.

"I might cry" Wiltshire said with a smile on his face, watching the action from directly behind Lemay's machine. They shook hands, Wiltshire departed in 9th, and a white-suited Billy Mitchell joined the shirtless French-Canadian bodybuilder in his obligatory celebration pose.

Photo: Hank Chien

Saglio Almost Breaks The World Record

Every ill-fated Donkey Kong world record attempt will fail for one of two reasons: either because the player reached the game's kill screen without maintaining the pace needed to earn enough points, or because he lost all four lives along the way.

Earlier today, Dean Saglio had the pace, but his four lives weren't enough. We came very close to seeing the Donkey Kong world record broken this afternoon, when the grandmaster unexpectedly succumbed on board 94 (of 117) with 960,300 points.

Taken to the end, the game would have beaten Robbie Lakeman's score, and to an extent that would likely have closed the book on the world record chase. Saglio already did the deed on the MAME emulator almost two years ago with a virtually unbeatable score, and many believe that he will ultimately be the last to hold the record on the arcade platform when he finally attains one similar to it on original hardware. But today would not be the day.

The Grand Finale

Action is scheduled to begin at 9 AM Eastern, and will be streamed at http://www.twitch.tv/richieknucklez. Join us then to see who will take home the belt, the barstool, and $4,000 cash!

Lakeman Breaks His Own Record Live at Funspot, One Month Before Kong Off 4!

June 25th, 2015 - Honoring the tradition set by former champions Steve Wiebe (who did it in front of the King of Kong cameras in 2005), followed by Hank Chien in 2011, Robbie Lakeman sat down yesterday morning at the fabled "possessed" Donkey Kong machine at Funspot in New Hampshire and broke the Donkey Kong world record.

Lakeman (right) during the attempt, with none other than the legendary Brian Kuh

Lakeman's final score of 1,158,400, pushes the record 13,600 points higher than his previous mark, set in December of last year, which, in turn, came after Lakeman first became champion in September.

That makes three in a row, with Lakeman's reign beginning to take on a Chien-like tone: he beats himself... and then he beats himself again.

Here, in a chart that only a Donkey Kong player could love, Jeremy Young, following along diligently during the replay streamed tonight on Twitch TV, breaks down the action board-by-board (click to enlarge, if you dare):

Are There Any Points Left?

In a word, yes. But not many.

While Dean Saglio essentially buried "keyboard DK" using the MAME emulator almost two years ago with his immaculate 1,206,800 performance (a virtually perfect game of total mastery), and while Lakeman's score today is going to be an ornery one to top with an arcade-style control panel, nobody is ready to formally call off the hunt on the original, "official" arcade machine record.

Hank Chien seems to have moved on from Donkey Kong after abdicating the title last year, but Lakeman still has close rivals with an active interest, namely Wes Copeland (pictured right) and Ethan Daniels, who are today's hardest-working Donkey Kong grinders.

Copeland finally cracked the "1.1" barrier in January, but is still working on improving his scoring pace. Even after Lakeman's imposing fortification today, Copeland has pledged to continue undaunted in his quest to beat him.

Daniels, meanwhile, was poised to crack into the top 10 with his own 1.1 million-plus score just a couple of weeks ago, when a passing thunderstorm asserted itself with a kill screen of its own. Just 8 boards away from Donkey Kong's famous game-ending programming bug (and with Daniels on the live stream audibly coaching himself not to think about the flashing and rumbling outside), his worst fears were realized when a power-cycle kicked him in the teeth and the game was suddenly, horribly over. Daniels took it in stride, and will, no doubt, soon push one of his high-pace runs to the end. This particular game would not have beaten the record (it would only have been a personal best) but Daniels has shown himself to be capable of a run that could.

January's Near-Miss

It was only a few months ago that Lakeman was in considerable jeopardy of losing the position that he shored up today.

As reported previously, Dean Saglio travelled to Ethan Daniels' home in January to try for an unprecedented $3,000 world record bounty offered during the 6th and final Donkey Kong Online Open tournament.

Over a grueling four days of play, Saglio came agonizingly close in not one, not two, but three close but ill-fated attempts. Nerves, fatigue, and bad luck stopped him painfully short, over 90% of the way to the target in each case. Not a heart was left unbroken among the fans watching online, many of them believing Saglio to be the true King of Kong since late last decade, based on his emulator scores, and seeing this as his chance to make it undisputable on original arcade hardware. It was not to be.

One might wonder after Saglio's close-call torture and Daniels' power outage, compared to today's relatively smooth victory by Lakeman, if perhaps the demon haunting the Funspot Donkey Kong might have moved to the Daniels residence?

There was, at any rate, no cash prize for Lakeman in the context of today's attempt, nor even a single spectator to be found in that same corridor where Wiebe and Chien preceded him in making history. The prize was simply to raise the bar. But for a classic arcade competitor, that's quite enough. Anything else is a bonus.

Kong Off 4 Next Month

The new world record stands as the perfect prelude to the Kong Off 4, which will take place at the ReplayFX Arcade and Gaming Festival next month in Pittsburgh (note the Steelers-themed color scheme).

More information on the event (which will feature a high score contest, followed by an exciting bracket-style competition on its final day) can be found at kongoff.com.

Congratulations once again to Robbie Lakeman! If the record is never broken again—and I must admit to having my doubts, with the score now so close to the ceiling—we could not have hoped for a more fitting way for it to come to rest: live and in person, on the same machine that two previous records were set, in one of the last great classic arcades in the world.