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Kaptain M'Bargo
Missile Command, interviews
Roy Schildt is pissed off. Also known as “Mr. Awesome,” last year’s King of Kong documentary gave the world a look into the mind of this 53-year old Missile Command record holding video game veteran. Now the Minus World spelunks deeper into his grudges, triumphs and hopes in this exclusive interview.
How’d you get started playing video games? What was the first video game you ever played?
I got started in the early 80’s just like a lot of people when the big video game craze started out with Space Invaders. Missile Command really kicked it off for me but Space Invaders was more or less the beginning of the golden age, that’s when everything started for everybody I assume.
Tell us about the day you achieved your high score for Missile Command.
What, the world record? I got the first world record for Missile Command in 1984, a 1.4 million score for the Guinness Book of World Records and the next year I got a 1.6 million score for the 1985-1986 Guinness Book.
Do you remember what you did to celebrate the night you got these scores?
Um, I really don’t want to talk about. There’s all sorts of controversy going on with people tape recording me and as far as I can tell, there’s all kinds of idiots calling me up and trying to get some kind of information to use against me so I’m really not interested in answering any questions about that.
That’s fine. For the record, though, we’re big fans of you at the site and that’s the last thing we’d want to do.
Yeah I really don’t want to say much about what goes on around there because these idiots at Twin Galaxies are still snaking me any chance they get and trying to look for any dirt they can possibly twist up and use against me. I wrote a book about it, though, I’m re-releasing it through royawesome.com, so that’s the way it goes.
Did playing video games competitively take the fun out of it for you? Or did that kind of add to it? Because nowadays there isn’t much of a negative social stigma towards competitive video gaming; there’s tournaments and leagues everywhere and its guys like you who helped make that possible.
Well it was kind of a chore after awhile because when I did set that record in 1985, there was a big deal going on with the Hall of Fame and everything and a lot of guys felt I didn’t deserve that record. I did it a few days after the end of a contest. I did my record on July 3rd and the contest ended June 30th so a lot of people thought I didn’t deserve the record because I played outside the limits of the contest. The fact of the matter is, the Missile Command machine was way late by the time I got there and as a result Walter Day (founder of Twin Galaxies) let me play a few extra days and that’s…Bill Mitchell has been behind it all along. He’s been trying to invalidate my Missile Command score and Walter Day does more or less whatever (Bill) tells him to do.
So is that basically what sparked the whole feud between you, Billy Mitchell, and Twin Galaxies?
Yeah, he’s just jealous, that’s all. That leads us to The King Of Kong. See back in 1985, Bill Mitchell had 5 world records and I only had 1 world record on Missile Command. He was upset because I got into the Hall of Fame and he didn’t. so he said “I have 5 records, you only have 1, how’d you get in?” And I said “well the Missile Command is a super record and you have 5 mediocre records” which really annoyed him. Then suddenly 20 years later, all of his records are gone and the Missile Command record is still there. His last score to go was the Donkey Kong score. When Steve Wiebe broke his Donkey Kong score, he didn’t have any world records left, and in the course of dealing with him and Twin Galaxies I pointed that out and I tried to do it in a very nice way. I told Walter he should remind Bill that I still have my Missile Command record but all his records are gone so he shouldn’t be so upset about me being in the Hall of Fame.
Right.
So instead of saying what a normal person would say, “yeah, Roy might be an A-hole but at least he’s a great player who deserves to be in the Hall of Fame” he decided he was gonna get his Donkey Kong score back no matter what he had to do and take down my Missile Command score no matter what he had to do. That’s the kind of psycho bastard that Bill is. Twin Galaxies told me to replay my score and that’s exactly what I did. Every time they throw a hoop at me, I clear it. They said get a million points, I cleared that. They said get a million points with a certain quality control standard, I did that. Every time I do something, they find a reason to up the ante until they’re only satisfied when I play the score live (laughs)
Seems like it’s almost as if they’re constantly trying to downplay and discourage you.
They even stopped me from playing live by banning me from Fun Spot so I couldn’t even play.
How is that possible?
Well these guys are the most unbelievable assholes. You think the King of Kong was bullshit, you ain’t seen nothing yet. Bill Mitchell claimed they used hidden cameras and all this bullshit and blablabla…that they didn’t show the truth, but come on, it’s obvious what (Twin Galaxies) is doing. They caught them with their pants down, they exposed them for the assholes that they are and the truth is even 3 times to 10 times worse than the film shows. They didn’t show all the other ridiculous stuff that they do, it’s unbelievable and it’s off the map. I mean, that movie actually does show the good side of Twin Galaxies and Bill Mitchell.
Well when we saw The King of Kong, we walked away saying obviously that Bill Mitchell seemed like a dickhead. But to give him the benefit of the doubt, we started researching the “real” him and reading all of his interviews. And he was still a dickhead.
Well yeah, this guys is so far off the map it’s like OJ Simpson saying he’s innocent.
It’s tough to take anybody seriously with that haircut. He looks like a bear cage janitor.
Haha, a bear cage janitor at the zoo.
What would you do if you had 5 minutes alone in a room with him? No windows, no repercussions.
I dunno, I think we’d obviously try to beat each other to death. Maybe that’s where it’ll go. This guy…he’s crazy and he’s got a lot of money. He wouldn’t have the balls to do anything on his own but he could certainly pay someone to do it. He might wait a few years and send somebody after me. Hire a hitman or something. Everything about him is bullshit. The guy is the most obnoxious, unfair person you could ever deal with. He thinks the whole world is out to get him so you better get them first. That’s how he lives his life. How can you ever really be at peace with someone like that?
Did you otherwise have a favorable experience working on King of Kong? Do you feel like you got something good out if it?
Well yeah, because Twin Galaxies was telling Guinness and everybody else that I was a psycho and liar but after seeing the King of Kong, people said “hey wait a minute, we’ve gotta think twice about what (Twin Galaxies) is telling us.” Obviously in the movie, they portrayed me as Bill’s nemesis, which I am. I’m the good guy trying to take down the bad guy.
Yeah, I’m sure the kids really look up to you.
Well I don’t think they’re gonna be looking up to me because I’ve done a lot of risqué stuff. You saw me in The King of Kong standing there in the nude with that girl in front of me (laughs). As a matter of fact, my line in that scene was “a gnarly piece of poon tang,” remember that part?
Of course, it was the best line in the movie.
That line is the reason it went to PG-13. On the DVD, Ed Cunningham mentions that in the review of the film. It wasn’t because of the photograph; it was because of that gnarly piece of poon tang line.
What are the chances of us seeing a Missile Command documentary? It seems like there’s just as much drama and chaos surrounding that.
You know, I’ve made more enemies than I care to mention. I’m a no nonsense, non-bullshit type of guy so I have a tendency to make enemies. I had a rough childhood so I don’t have that great of a personality. It’s not that I’m trying to be mean, I’m just not a friendly person. But I’m a good guy and an honest guy and when there’s bullshit out there, I’m gonna tack it on.
What similarities, if any, do you see between Missile Command and the war in Iraq?
It’s always a war. As they say in the King of Kong, this society is based on war and games. The real war is to get the higher Missile Command score recognized and the war in Iraq is to get democracy recognized over the assholes. It’s the same mindset with a different goal.
Do you still play video games? Play any modern games recently or do you just stick with the classics?
I don’t even have time. I just spend all my time playing Missile Command. Hopefully soon I can get to the point where I can retire from it permanently. I’ve been wanting to retire from Missile Command since the day I started playing it again. I’m constantly looking for a final way to get out and stop playing and look back with pride and satisfaction but every time I turn around, there’s more bullshit I have to deal with. But as long as I’ve come this far, I can’t just walk away from it knowing there might be something left undone.
How long does it take you to get within high score range in Missile Command? I’ve never lasted more than 5 minutes in the game, I’m utterly terrible.
The record took approximately an hour and 20 minutes. I just found out that you can submit scores to Guinness without even having to deal with Twin Galaxies, so that’s a positive thing and a negative thing. Now you have to have witnesses, you have to film the whole thing. But I’m looking into it. Anything is better than dealing with Twin Galaxies.
Alright Roy, thank you for speaking to us today. One last question, though. What would you do if you could be named king of the earth for a day?
King of the earth? Me? For a Day?
Yup, the whole planet is yours.
I dunno, I’d have to think on that one. World peace? Should I go for the pad answer? I guess I should then.
You rock, Roy! Get more awesome at www.royawesome.com and check out The King Of King DVD. And don’t even waste your time trying to beat him in Missile Command, he’ll kick your ass in his sleep, chump.
20 comments 
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07.3.2008 ,
at 12:52 am
I bet Mr. Awesome gets the gnarliest pieces of poontang out there.
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07.3.2008 ,
at 7:01 am
I can’t wait to get my hands on that king of king DVD!
Nice interview, I think I’ll look into the book too. -
07.3.2008 ,
at 7:23 am
Here we go again with Roy lying thru his teeth for teh sake of publicity anf attempting to preserve a non-existing “legacy” score.
Roy harrassed TG referees and associates for years since 1984, uses and twists information against THEM, and now in this interview as he always does, he says that others are the ones doing this to him. Besides the lie of the score itself, this is just plain BS.
Roy has been jealous of Bill ever since Bill was nominated as the Player of the Century back in 1999 by the President of Namco and he stops at nothing to discredit BIll or Twin Galaxies.
I wish I could be interviewed to give the counterpoints to all the bullcrap that Roy just spewed above. Read this all at your own risk…it;’s enough BS to turn you to stone if you’re not careful.
Robert T Mruczek
Former Twin Galaxies Chief referee
Star Wars classic arcade marathon champion -
07.3.2008 ,
at 8:21 am
Roy Schildt… Mr. Awesome… When I saw King of Kong, I could see there was something about this guy that wasn’t making the rest of the story…Its pretty clear that he must be a good player…and I believe him when he says that he got a high score…but if it were through the specific tourney methods is something that I’m unsure of.
However, the guy just seems to be a complete arse, “Mr. Aweseome” and also his guide to girls, wtf is this…? Its clear he has some major issues, I can certainly see him taking things way too far… In his own little world he is king he is Awesome, the only problem is…no one in the real world saw it that way…and thus his own ego destroys himself…
As for Billy Mitchell…he is like a Roy Schildt who got fame and recognition which only enflamed his ego to the point where he thinks he is a God of Gaming…Don’t get me wrong, I’m sure he is immensly skilled…but man… Everything he does or says shows all to well how much he thinks of himself…
From watching King of Kong, it really did seem like the people at Twin Galaxies did seem to be way to subserviant to him…Walter Day, to me, seems to absoultly worship the ground Billy walks on…and it shames me to see one of the nicest and seemingly honest of people treating Billy like royalty… But yeah I think I’ll end my rant here, I suppose there is alot I dont know about the people and I can only make my judgements from what I see in King of Kong and from random interviews on the internet…
Speaking of which the Interview with Mr. Awesome from King of Kong: http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=x3gW_91bjkg
Oh also…Mr Mruczek, kudos to watching hours and hours of gaming videos, you must have seen some amazing players with new and amazing ways to play classic games…and I’m sure been bored out of your mind seeing the same thing over and over again.
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07.3.2008 ,
at 8:46 am
The thing that’s wrong here is all of you people still believe that “The King of Kong” is real. IT’S NOT. IT’S JUST A MOVIE NOT A DOCUMENTARY!!!!!!!!! And as for roy, well he’s been way out there since 1985. And not worth my time. I know what happend in Victoria I was there I saw him play and I saw his scores. He never achieved what he is saying.The proof has been told and written down. So bye bye Mr. OOOOsum.
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07.3.2008 ,
at 9:37 am
If King of Kong is fake…then its one of the biggest hoaxes in internet and movie history…hell even guiness is in on it!
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07.3.2008 ,
at 11:17 am
ummm I never thought “gnarly” should be used to describe poon-tang in a positive way… I may have to get Webster’s in on this as well.
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07.3.2008 ,
at 11:17 am
Roy has been spilling his line of crap to ANYONE who will listen to him for over 25yrs, and now hes gotten to the point where he even believes in his own line of crap, pretty sad huh.
To think that he has NOT moved on in his life and that the only purpose that his life has is to constantly fight to get noticed. Roy always has bashed Twin Galaxies but yet he wants to be recognized by them …why is that…. what kind of a moron does that. I think that this interview only shows us how wrapped up in his own world of BS he really is and that the people who set this interview up are one sided if they bite into his line of crap. COME ONE get with the program doesn’t anyone see that we TOO are biting right into his line of BS, by acknowledging him. The King of Kong was based on a Rocky movie while Ed Cunningham and Seth Gordon were watching it and came up with the idea of The King of Krap. after all its a documentary that was made and produced by saps who just wanted to make a quick buck….and there you go. … they made their quick buck and now want to continue and make more of a quick buck money on a movie about what we already saw as a documentary. Come on we are all tired of seeing this mud slinging between Bill Mitchell, Roy Shildt and Twin Galaxies , cant we move on to something better…..so my suggestion to you Roy is to climb back into your closet under the stairs and play your Missile Command game for the next 100 years and leave us alone and, maybe we will all have some peace. -
07.3.2008 ,
at 11:35 am
No mention of Tony Temple then and his recognised curent highest score on Missile Command?
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07.3.2008 ,
at 12:06 pm
Harry, aside from saying that Billy Mitchell comes off as a dick (which does not by any means negate what he’s accomplished in the world of video gaming) i think we were relatively objective with this interview. I’d be glad to reach out to Twin Galaxies and hear the other side of things should they feel the need to have them addressed. That being said, if you think we arranged this whole thing to make a “quick buck” off of The King of Kong, you are a malnourished, socially repugnant quasi-functional retard. We did it for the same reason we do everything else on this site - we love video games. If you poke around here a bit you’ll realize that should never be in question.
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07.3.2008 ,
at 12:38 pm
Retard is one nasty word. Perhaps you don’t realise - don’t care?
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07.3.2008 ,
at 12:53 pm
Robert Mzurcek? It didn’t take you long to find this fresh interview on Roy and continue to smear his name. Let his side be told. It’s more believable than taking Billy’s side all the time.
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07.5.2008 ,
at 2:55 am
You know, I may be remembering incorrectly, but I’m pretty sure there used to be a time, back when the internet started, when people didn’t post their REAL NAME when flaming someone.
Since this IS the internet, and it’s become very clear that all the three of you are here to do is yell and call people names, why would you give that information out? Just… why?
If you’re smart, you’ll take this hint, stop complaining, and save yourselves the dishonor of being displayed here any further. -
07.5.2008 ,
at 5:36 pm
agent b ,
I did not or have not implied that you and/or your faculty are making a quick buck on the King of Kong movie if you got that impression i apologize.
I was however referring to Ed Cunningham and his band of goonies that twist and contort the information that they display to the viewing public. Yes Bill Mitchell comes off as a major penis in the movie but then again with all the footage that Ed and Company have, they would be able to make anyone even mother Theresa look like a dick. All i was saying is your source if information was ill , meaning your source was Roy Bullshit’ya Shildt everything that spews out of his mouth is negative, so it makes me wonder why a great site like you have would waste the time and effort in giving this pompas arrogant ass the time of day to further fuel his already inflated ego. Lets keep this fun and entertaining because like you and your team of staff, i love gaming too and do love this site. -
07.7.2008 ,
at 2:24 pm
Harry, apologies if I came off as a bit harsh and reactionary. Like I stated earlier, I’d love to reach out to other parties involved in this whole thing and hear all sides. We went with Roy first because he was great in the film and the conversations with him prior to the interview were very natural and promising. We weren’t really trying to set out to create a companion piece to the DVD as much as we were trying to give Mr. Awesome some shine as a unique personality, which you have to admit he is, whether you side with his views or not.
Thanks for checking the site and I respect your kind words for it. I’ll be contacting Mr. Mruczek today and hopefully he can throw his hat into the ring in interview form. -
07.7.2008 ,
at 7:19 pm
Hi Agent B:
I’d be happy to do an interview for you.
A lot of people may be surprised to know that I don’t worship the ground that Bill walks on either. He’s a great gamer, he donates to charity, takes care of his family yes, but he has the propensity to come off as being arrogant in many of his gaming interviews. I really wish he wouldn’t do that, but that’s his choice.
Roy’s a great player, easily one of the top three of all time. I know for a fact that he can pull off 600K+. A newcomer recently came onto the gaming scene who has reached around 880K playing at the settings that Roy prefers, so be it Tony or this new person from Funspot’s latest event, the saga of Roy and his fellow MC players will just keep on going…probably until their boards burn out and they can’t find any new ones to compete on !!
Anyway, I’d be happy to share some info with you. Drop me a private E-MAIL (I’m assuming you can see the E-MAIL address I provided when submitting this reply) and we can work out an interview.
Robert
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07.15.2008 ,
at 4:35 am
Great interview Agent B and Roy, from watching king of kong I had been interested in learning a bit more about roy schildt minus the BS… Without turning this comment into too much about Billy, I feel that he is a D-bag of the highest calibre, which is plain to see in how he reacted to Steve being in his restaurant and when Billy actually made an appearance at the tournament in Bill’s area… There’s healthy competition, and then there is being a blatant asshole that cant deal with someone competing against him… As for roy, you are bad ass regardless… I imagine it takes a lot of patience to deal with the kind of BS that TG slings around, they seem entirely too friendly to each other and stuck up each others asses to ever be seen as subjective… Gummy substances for example, seriously, c’mon… I would love to hear robert explain that one in the upcoming interview… I respect all the work and efforts that Robert put into the gaming community, but if it went down like that, your integrity is suspect… Grats on sending Kuh down there to help evaluate things, nothing like letting people who’s scores are being taken down in on the evaluation process… Not to mention I’ve got a feeling Billy had plenty of time watching Steve’s tape which allowed him to learn new point pressing techniques, I think Roy hit the nail on the head when he said Billy was playing with a great advantage… The best part of the movie by far apart from Roy dechumpatizing and being BA, is when Kuh looked like he ate a shit sandwich and was about to cry when Steve got the kill screen and they talked to Kuh about it… I loved how they kept the camera on him for a few extra seconds while he was lookin pathetic… I’ve got me and two friends buying DK boxes right now with the only intention of knocking him out of the top ten, because we feel his score is less than stellar and he has no reason to be on there… Contender my ass… We are all hittin 100k and better scores after 1 day of playing, after not playing since we were kids when it came out… Again thanks for the insightful interview agent B and roy, good luck to you both in the future…
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07.15.2008 ,
at 10:38 am
King of Kong was the best movie I’ve seen this year and has given me inspiration to contiue playing video games for fun.
Billy Mitchell is a ridiculous parody of himself! What a douche bag! Maxim voted him the Dorkus Maximus of both the last and current century! Couldn’t agree more!
Bottom line for me is that these games represent the PAST. Setting a score against a computer by memorizing patterns is garbage. The Neo-Golden Age of video games is about multiplayer and competing against other humans. Human opponents are infinitly more unpredictable then a computer and therefore multiplayer games will always be superior to single player games.
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07.15.2008 ,
at 10:53 am
As an example: How many people know who the world record holder is for most basketball free throws made in a row? Dr. Tom Amberry. Amberry holds the Guinness World Record of 2,740 free throws made in a row in 1994. Amazing! But nobody knows who is.
Ask anybody who the best basketball player of all time is and they’ll say Michael Jordan. Why? Because he can score when the best players in the world are trying to stop him!
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10.2.2008 ,
at 1:02 pm
I’m so glad I was alerted to this. Truly, this is a perfect view of one man’s descent into insanity.
