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On like Donkey Kong; new champion crowned with record score
In 2011, surgeon Hank Chien broke the then-record score for Donkey Kong, and became - for the second time - the world champion of the classic game. But all kings of Kong eventually fall from the Empire State Building their throne, and so it was with Chien, whose title has now passed to a man named Robbie Lakeman. The Donkey Kong Blog, a website dedicated to following the Donkey Kong competitive scene, reports Lakeman's score as 1,141,800 - a relatively narrow victory over Chien's score of 1,138,600. Interestingly, while Lakeman typically streamed his attempts at beating the record, the run that resulted in his new title was instead uploaded after the fact. However, you can watch the whole four-hour ordeal by checking out the video after the break.
Hank Chien reclaims King of Kong title
This is one of those stories we scarcely need to report, as we're sure you felt it somewhere deep in your bones, but there's a new (old) King of Kong. As the unmistakable feeling of the tectonic plates shifting below your feet will attest, the honor was taken by plastic surgeon Hank Chien with a Donkey Kong score of 1,068,000 in two hours and 45 minutes. Chien takes the title from Steve Wiebe (1,064,500) who took it from Billy Mitchell in September (1,062,800) who took it from Chien (1,061,700) who won the title in March of 2010, besting Mitchell's 1,050,200, which had stood for three years. In related news, Joystiq has recently broken its own record for "Most Stories About the Donkey Kong High Score in One Year" and you don't see anybody writing a frigging blog post about that.
Meet the new King of Kong
If your internet hasn't been abuzz with rumors about Hank Chien, the new King of Kong, then maybe you've been frequenting the wrong chat rooms. "He literally appeared out of nowhere," people are saying. "He was locked in a basement with the game and a 6-month supply of canned foods," some have claimed. Since setting the Donkey Kong high score, Chien has been "pelvis-deep in cocaine and highly-desirable sexual partners," one reporter wrote. If you want the real scoop, look no further than this Details interview with Chien, whose record-breaking score of 1,061,700 on a Donkey Kong arcade machine has propelled him into internet notoriety alongside celebrated characters like Steve Wiebe and Billy Mitchell. The young champion, however, knows how quickly fame can come and go. "My score is very beatable."
There is a new King of Kong
Sorry, it's not a sequel to King of Kong, the documentary that showed the battle between ruthless Billy Mitchell and nice guy Steve Wiebe to become the world's best Donkey Kong player. This is a new guy on the scene, 35-year-old plastic surgeon Hank Chien, who's just taken the world record in the game according to Twin Galaxies with 1,061,700 points after a two-and-a-half-hour session. Chien says he expects that the honor will keep him "pelvis-deep in cocaine and highly-desirable sexual partners for all of my days." Or at least we bet he was thinking that.
