Comments on: King of Kong (review)

By: Justin

Justin — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 06:32:13 +0000

I just watched it, on your recommendation. Man, that’s one crazy movie. I especially liked the part where the daughter says that some people ruin their lives trying to get a world record. Sounds like someone doesn’t like daddy spending all his time with Mario!

This makes me feel like less of a crappy dad to my 2 year old though :)

By: Rick Almeida

Rick Almeida — Sat, 03 May 2008 13:24:49 +0000

“Jason Scott is a bitter filmmaker.”

Jason Scott is a gifted filmmaker and an opinionated person, for sure, but he is the antithesis of “bitter.”

By: CantChoose

CantChoose — Sat, 03 May 2008 09:57:38 +0000

Saw this first now.

“Several million years of evolution has not prepared birds to cope with plate glass windows.”

Evolution does not prepare for anything. Evolution is always a response. Sure you know but I just had to say it. :)

By: CantChoose

CantChoose — Sat, 03 May 2008 07:41:58 +0000

Passion is a funny thing and since it’s an intense experience it will not always go in the positive direction. Jealousy to lovers I guess. But what genuinely suprise me time and time again is the range of passion thats out there. The things people dedicate their lives to, and deeple feel for is jaw dropping. Ofcourse it can go wrong sometimes but I think the freedom we have to do what we feel like, is the most fantastic thing this planet has ever seen. I had almost forgot about this movie but I’m seeing it as soon as possible. Because like ‘Airguitar nation’ and ‘north western: the making of an movie’ I respect anyone who has found their passion, no matter what it is. Because accidents bring us forward, and who knows what a passion for something can bring. More that one example of one activity has discovered something that was completely unrelated.

By: dos4gw

dos4gw — Fri, 02 May 2008 06:54:16 +0000

I saw King Of Kong a month or so ago, and I must say, it was a compelling story. What struck me was the characters- so genuine in their passion for something that seems so… well not trivial, more possibly misguided. You’re right about just Having Fun- I think that there is a point where having a passion for something is not acceptable if you’re ignoring your children (or other important interpersonal relationships/etc) because of it.

Can I just say at this point that I love your blog, your material is fascinating, and as a developer myself, I can relate to many of the stories. One more subscriber here!

By: The Oracle

The Oracle — Fri, 02 May 2008 00:13:18 +0000

Jason Scott is a bitter filmmaker.

By: landon

landon — Thu, 01 May 2008 16:08:44 +0000

[edit; I should at least get the title of the movie right]

By: Thomas

Thomas — Thu, 01 May 2008 15:23:02 +0000

Jason Scott, who has made a documentary on BBS’s and is working on another about text adventures does much care for King of Kong (I haven’t seen it and have no opinion). If you want to be a little sad wrt the movie though you should read http://ascii.textfiles.com/archives/000574.html.

By: landon

landon — Thu, 01 May 2008 14:43:44 +0000

Yeah. The contender doesn’t live too far from me (I know someone who lives on his street).

I’m not tempted to like go over to his house and have him try it out. He’d probably savage it: “You didn’t get the sandpile motion right, this sucks,” that kind of thing. And he’d be right. :-)

I think that the important thing is to Have Fun. And when that stops, don’t try to convince yourself that you’re still having fun, or that it will be a ton of fun later (unless that’s true), but go do something else. Nearly all games have plateaus, and it’s important to distinguish these from Not Having Fun, but getting stuck is not a good idea. My opinion.

By: BJW

BJW — Thu, 01 May 2008 14:25:59 +0000

is it weird to watch something like that when you are/were intimately involved with the subject matter? I know it’s about the arcade version, but you know those people probably put tons of hours on the Atari version in the past. I imagine it’s somewhat surreal…