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!

Day 1 Recap: Lakeman In Control

July 30th, 2016 - The phenomenal Robbie Lakeman wasted no time on the first day of Kong Off competition in securing his place in Sunday's bracketed finals.

On the very first quarter-drop of the tournament, Lakeman scored 1,135,300, not merely guaranteeing that he would make the cut (while putting heavy pressure on his world-record rival Wes Copeland), but in doing so, managed to pull off the highest score ever achieved at a Kong Off.

Mirroring the Day 1 results from last year's Kong Off 4, 2nd and 3rd place were held by the always-reliable Dean Saglio and Jeff Willms, followed by strong showings from Jason Wade and a focused Steve Wiltshire, who came determined not to repeat history. He ended up on the wrong side of the bubble in 9th place at the very end of Day 2 of the Kong Off 4. His 1,043,600 is not a lock, but is likely to hold up.

The million mark has yet to be breached by anyone else in the field, but rest assured, it will be. Vincent Lemay came the closest with 993,500.

Billy "USA" Mitchell honoring his long-running tradition - taunting Canadians - while Jeff Willms (right) works to cover the exchange rate

Tanner Fokkens who became the youngest Donkey Kong kill-screener in the game's history last year at the tender age of 16, holds 7th position.

Ending the day in 8th place, defending Kong Off champion Hank Chien managed 851,000, but will have his work cut out for him if he wants to survive to Sunday.

Here are the full standings as of the end of Day 1:

Rank	Player	Best Score
1	Robbie Lakeman	1,135,300
2	Dean Saglio	1,084,100
3	Jeff Willms	1,071,200
4	Jason Wade	1,046,900
5	Steve Wiltshire	1,043,600
6	Vincent Lemay	993,500
7	Tanner Fokkens	884,100
8	Hank Chien	851,000
9	Ethan Daniels	824,800
10	Wes Copeland	815,100
11	Mick Winzeler	778,600
12	Eric Tessler	581,200

Sadly, Steve Wiebe, whose role in The King of Kong is one of the reasons we're all here in the first place, encountered a last-minute family emergency and was unable to attend this year's event. His presence is missed, but the show must go on.

Will Copeland pull ahead of Lakeman? Will Chien have the opportunity to defend his title? Might the great Saglio finally get a chance to walk away from a Kong Off with the belt?

Stay tuned to Kong Off 5 live stream and the official scoreboard to find out, and thanks to Polygon for sending viewers our way!

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!

The Top 10 Is Fully-Loaded As The Limelight Shines On DK

January 5th, 2015 - Competitive Donkey Kong is getting "face time" yet again—and on this occasion, it's the ink-and-paper kind!

A little over a week after Robbie Lakeman broke the world record in September, I was contacted by Sam Rowe, a journalist from the UK who was interested in preparing a feature on the high score chase.

It just so happened that Lakeman and other top players Hank Chien, Ethan Daniels, Vincent Lemay, and Wes Copeland were about to meet in New Jersey in October for an informal "mini-Kong Off" at Richie Knucklez Arcade. Sam spent a few days with them, getting to know the players and more about their world.

The next month, Sam's story made it into a few different publications—including two of the UK's more widely-read lifestyle magazines, Forever Sports and ShortList.

Soon to come will be an interview with Robbie Lakeman for AskMen, as part of his continuing rounds as the reigning King of Kong.

Robbie Riding High

Strange as it may seem, it would appear that the people of Earth still want to know who their Donkey Kong champion is.

The story of Robbie Lakeman's new world record spread wider than I thought it would, to blogs, websites, and newswires large and small.

The hype continues up to the present moment. This past week, Robbie was picked to be one of Polygon's 50 Admirable Gaming People of 2014.

Here's Robbie talking about his achievement with his local TV affiliate:

Speaking for myself, being the source to break a "new world champion" announcement was one of the last of the to do's that I needed to cross off of the bucket list for this blog. It was a pleasure to tip off the first domino.

I love this community, my close, personal connection to it, and am happy to be known as "the guy who writes articles" on its behalf. I was thrilled to be there with Robbie and my friends as his game played out on Twitch. The blog post was an all-nighter, but needless to say, well worth it. (The highlight for me: a write-up in The AV Club, a sister publication of The Onion, which had some very kind words for my work.)

What has not been widely-reported is that on December 1st, Robbie actually managed to push his own record a bit further (by 3,000 points), in a run that ended with 1,144,800 points. This new score, having occurred so quickly after the game that beat Chien, and not being much more than a cherry on top, admittedly happened very quietly. In fact, word did not spread outside of the DK community. Congratulations were forthcoming nonetheless, and the record will now be that much tougher to beat.

Kiehl Crashes Into The Chien Force Field

Hank Chien may have finally lost the world record for the arcade platform, but his mythical "force field" seems to still be menacing everyone whose name isn't Robbie Lakeman.

Mark Kiehl, who has been his characteristically-quiet self ever since taking 4th place on the all-time list over two years ago, recently reclaimed that very same spot on the much tougher leaderboard of today.

In so doing, Kiehl dutifully honored what is quickly becoming a bona fide tradition... just barely missing Hank Chien. He managed to slip into the impossibly tight space between "Dr. Kong" and Ross Benziger, coming 1,000 points shy of Chien's former world record.

(Almost) Ten 1.1s

I must confess, I never thought that I would see it come to pass.

The ten highest-scoring Donkey Kong players in the world are now all sporting personal bests within the "max-out" range - that once-elusive 100,000 point corridor between 1.1 and 1.2 million points.

10th place—now held by Wes Copeland at 1,099,500—technically falls just short, but he's clawing to push through (more on that below). Copeland's score, along with the aforementioned recent performance by Mark Kiehl, and Steve Wiltshire several months ago, have loaded the bases going into the 6th (and final) Donkey Kong Online Open which begins this week.

Just a little over two years ago, when the Kong Off 2 was about to get underway, only two players other than then-champ Hank Chien had crossed 1.1: Dean Saglio and Jeff Willms. The rest of the field (headed by Steve Wiebe in 4th with 1,064,500) was quite a distance behind.

The gap has closed in the 26 months since, and now the traffic snarl around the top score has gotten even more chaotic.

Coping With Copeland

Copeland (left)
with world champion Robbie Lakeman and Vincent Lemay

Wes Copeland, a young programmer analyst from Arkansas who came in second place in the Donkey Kong Online Open #2 earlier in 2014, took down first place in DKO #4 this past August.

Copeland's aforementioned 1,099,500 point performance came a little over a month later on September 30th, and now rounds out the all-time top 10.

Having only played Donkey Kong for about a year and a half, "Copie" is blowing minds. Suddenly the field has (yet another) world record-capable player to contend with.

The road to cracking 1.1 has been tough, but Copeland's determination is tougher. As he recently put it on Donkey Kong Forum:

"Truth be told, playing at 1.1 pace on a daily basis has removed all joy and fun from the game for me. The game feels more like a job at the moment because of how hard I'm grinding on a daily basis, but I mentally can't stop until I know my score reflects what I think my potential is."

Copie is currently locked in a full-time battle with the game, his goal being to play every day, often for 8 hours or more, until he crosses the 1.1 mark. None of us doubt that he will do it soon enough.

Saglio's Fingerprint On The Big Bang Theory

As the recent magazine articles were being prepped, competitive Donkey Kong managed to find its way (by the subtlest of measures) onto primetime network television.

A brief scene on a recent episode of CBS's hit sitcom The Big Bang Theory depicted Leonard locked into "the game of his life" on a Donkey Kong arcade cabinet.

A brief shot of the monitor caught the eagle eye of none other than Vincent Lemay, who noted that the score read 464,100 on Level 9. Lemay, knowing that only one player had ever accomplished such a feat, checked to confirm his suspicion, and discovered that the game footage being piped into the cabinet for the scene was indeed none other than Dean Saglio's MAME world record!

How, why, and by whom the footage was inserted in the show remains a mystery, but it was a fun moment for the community, and a great homage (even if unintentional) to Saglio's epic performance.

(Skip to 1:30 to check out the scene.)

The Donkey Kong Online Open #6 Starts Wednesday!

Check back here soon, as the 6th and final installment in the Donkey Kong Online Open tournament series (which began last February) will kick off Wednesday night at 9 PM Pacific. A brief event preview will be posted prior to the start time.

Follow this link to Donkey Kong Forum for more information on how to register and compete.

Hank Chien and Vincent Lemay's Kong Off 3 Rivalry on Spike TV

December 7th, 2014 - More exciting media coverage from the Kong Off 3!

Earlier tonight, during their Video Game Awards show, Spike TV aired a brilliant 5-minute segment (shot by Vice Magazine) showcasing the rivalry between Hank Chien and Vincent Lemay.

A longer version, featuring a deeper look at the tournament as a whole, will be coming to the Vice YouTube channel within the next few days (look for an update to this post then).

Does the camera love these two or what?

UPDATE - December 14th: Vice has posted the full version of the documentary, along with a write-up on the tournament. As it turned out, the final film is only slightly longer than the version that ran on Spike TV, with a few additional scenes and slight variations in the cut.

The film has been making the rounds, including the front page of Digg.com and even the Huffington Post.

This is a great piece of "short filmmaking" and has received a good deal of interest and response, racking up over 50,000 views in under three days.

Vincent is having the proverbial "rotten fruit" thrown at him by commenters, but that was his intention of course! We, his friends in the community, know the score: Vincent is a goofball and was being a heel for the cameras. He was, in any case, well-prepared for another run-in with hostile Internet folk, having caught a good deal of shit from his appearance in Kotaku earlier this year after nearly breaking the world record. He's laughing and we are laughing with him.

Special thanks to Vice for linking to Donkey Blog's Kong Off 3 Results (next-to-last paragraph of their write-up), and welcome to the new visitors from there, as well as this inrush of Kong-curious Googlers!

Next up is The Verge, who have scheduled their piece on the Kong Off 3 for Tuesday, December 17th.

The Kong Off 3 is Set!

November 11th, 2013 - The October 25th deadline to crack the Twin Galaxies Top 12 has come and gone, and the three Wildcard Qualifier tournaments are in the books.

After months of spirited action, 22 players—12 for coveted "dedicated machine" honors, and 10 online pre-qualifiers for the Wildcard Division (who will play on shared machines)—are headed for Denver and their chance at a share of the Kong Off 3 prize purse of over $5,000.

The battle begins in just four days.

Robbie Lakeman: "I Feel Like I Could Take On Hank"

August 4th, 2013 - Last October, four days after the door closed on the one million point cutoff for getting a dedicated machine among the main lineup at the Kong Off 2, I wrote a tribute to those who weren't able to "roll it" in time.

During the very moments when I was readying that post, an up-and-coming Donkey Konger named Robbie Lakeman was in the midst of a live stream that would end with his first-ever kill screen.

Lemay Breaks the Record... Almost

Three Champions: Present, Past, and Future(?)

January 12th, 2013 - Just over 24 hours ago, Vincent Lemay scored 1,135,900 points on a "classic red" Donkey Kong arcade machine in an incredible 2 hour, 58 minute performance that officially places Lemay second on the all-time scoreboard... and only 2,700 points behind Hank Chien's 1st-place score of 1,138,600.

Lemay has been holed up with the machine for over a week in a back office at the 1up arcade/bar (Twin Galaxies' new headquarters) in Denver, Colorado on an extended multi-day campaign of world record attempts.

Lemay World Record Attempt Underway

January 3rd, 2013 - Vincent Lemay is currently in the midst of a multi-day Donkey Kong world record attempt at The 1up barcade in Denver, Colorado.

There wasn't much to see in today's action, and I mean that literally—a very blurry webcam made Lemay's gameplay nearly impossible to follow, but this issue will reportedly be resolved tomorrow.

Vincent himself posted an update on his progress to Facebook:

A Kill For Lemay; Saglio Crushing

November 17th 2012, 2:25 PM MST - Vincent Lemay has just reached the first kill screen of the Kong Off 2 with a final score of 988,000!

Meanwhile, Dean Saglio is working on an enormous score. He passed the 1 million mark just as Vincent was finishing his game. If Saglio finishes, there is a good chance that the game may win him the tournament.

Saglio Working On a Monster

November 17th 2012, 1:19 PM MST - Dean Saglio (playing alongside Ben Falls) is not technically in the scoring lead, but has the best game currently going. He just ended level 11 with over 500,000 points (on pace for approximaly 1,050,000), with all lives remaining.

[Update 2:00 PM: one life gone, now approximately 1,060,000 pace. If this game goes all the way, the field will have a very, very hard time with it.]

Vincent Lemay and Ben Falls are both ahead of Saglio in score, but are at a lower pace and have few lives remaining.

[Update 2:00 PM: Falls' run is over (ending at 745,700). He has started again. Lemay is over 840,000 and closing in on the final four levels. His pace cannot beat Saglio's.]

[Update 2:20 PM: POSSIBLE KILL SCREEN! Lemay, who has now already beaten his final Kong Off 1 score, is only minutes away from the kill!]

Wiebe and Chien trail significantly.

[Update 1:30 PM: a game of Chien's just ended at approximately 450,000. His machine is empty for the time being.]

Play Is Underway

November 17th 2012, 12:03 PM MST - The event has finally begun (just a lot of interviews and control panel tweaking going on up to now). Word is that 6 streams are in the process of being set up.

Three streams are currently live:
http://www.twitch.tv/kongoff - Left: Vincent Lemay; Right: Wildcard #1
http://www.twitch.tv/kongoff1 - Left: Dean Saglio; Right: Ben Falls
http://www.twitch.tv/kongoff2 - Left: Steve Wiebe; Right: Hank Chien

All can be viewed simultaneously here: http://aurcade.com/events/live.aspx

Technical kinks are being worked out.

Kong Off Eve

November 16th 2012, 11:59 PM MST - The competitors have assembled!

Play begins in 10 hours (10:00 Mountain Time).

Keep an eye on Donkey Blog for periodic updates on the latest from Kong Off Row, as well as links to live streams.

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The 1up, Denver, CO. (Photo: Johnathan McCourt)

Team Red (Vincent Lemay and wildcard player Allen Staal) getting in a little practice. (Photo: Jeff Harrist)

Freshly-installed Kong Off 2 marquees! (Photo: Jeff Harrist)

This morning Hank Chien, Richie Knucklez, and Jourdan Adler appeared on a Denver morning show to promote the event:

The Kong Off 2: Rating the Lineup (and Picking the Winner)

This is risky.

If you're the guy with the Donkey Kong blog, people want to know how you're calling the Kong Off 2 (and will feel cheated if you don't!) But you never know who you might offend.

So at the risk of ruffling feathers, here is how I break down this year's lineup.

Rattling Their Sabers...

November 15th 2012, 4:00 PM MST - This morning, the following threatening note was slipped under the door of Hank Chien's hotel room by an unknown party:

Upon discovery of the note, Youmee Im, the First Lady of Kong, looked at Chien and asked if he had a comeback, to which the champion replied "Hank Chien always has a comeback."

A firm and fearless rejoinder to the sender, complete with the friendly roommate greeting (suggesting that these mighty warriors intend to keep innocent bystanders safe during the clash that looms on the horizon).

At least we know that the champion considers Dean a threat... if nobody else.

More than 40 hours remain until official play begins, but the game is very much afoot...

Dr. Kong Won't Stop!

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

Lemay Puts Up a Monster

"It's like playing fucking Battlezone..."

October 21st, 2012 - Struggling with a glitching video board that has turned his Donkey Kong machine into "Slender Kong," world record contender Vincent Lemay just played through a rip roaring kill-screener that reached a final point total of 1,084,500... beating the standing officially-ranked scores of both Steve Wiebe and Billy Mitchell.

Kong Off 2 Player Profile: Vincent Lemay

The Donkey Kong World Record: The Real History, From 1982 to Today

Since Billy Mitchell's epochal achievement of 874,300 points on August 13, 1982, the Donkey Kong world record has undergone a winding and controversial journey.

Seven men have reigned as champion—Billy Mitchell, Tim Sczerby, Steve Wiebe, Hank Chien, Robbie Lakeman, Wes Copeland, and John McCurdy—with much back-and-forth between each (except for Sczerby, who is the only of the group to break the record just once).