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South Florida Video Gamer Has Guinness World Records Restored

Billy Mitchell, Marco Mah
Video game record holder, Billy Mitchelll and Marco Mah of BANDAI NAMCO Entertainment America seen at the PAC-MAN’S Official 35th Birthday Celebration at LEVEL 257 on Friday, May 22, 2015 in Schaumburg, IL. (Photo by Barry Brecheisen/Invision/AP)

Billy Mitchell has regained his title as the “King of Kong.”

The Weston resident had his Donkey Kong and Pac-Man records reinstated by Guinness World Records on Thursday, two years after they were taken away, due to allegations that he cheated.

“In the light of compelling new evidence received by Guinness World Records, the Records Management Team has decided to reverse decisions made in April 2018 in regards to videogame high scores achieved by Billy Mitchell between 1982 and 2010,” Guinness said in a news release.

The reinstated records include the first perfect score in Pac-Man, which Mitchell achieved in in July 1999, in addition to four Donkey Kong high scores recorded in 1982, 2005, 2007 and 2010.

“Yes, it was devastating, to think that you could have all that and somebody could simply come up and rob you of it,” Mitchell said in an interview with Miami television station WPLG.

He was featured in the 2007 documentary, “The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters.”

The cheating accusations questioned whether Mitchell had used emulation software instead of the original video game hardware to set records.

Twin Galaxies, the company that tracks video game world records, removed Mitchell’s scores, banned him from submitting results in the future, and notified Guinness in April of 2018.

Mitchell denied the claims and appealed Guinness’ initial ruling that disqualified his scores.

Craig Glenday, editor-in-chief of Guinness World Records, says the appeal process included reexamining evidence and soliciting new eyewitness testimony.

“In the end, we found that there just wasn’t sufficient evidence to support the disqualification across the board,” Glenday explains in a video message posted on Guinness’ YouTube page.