MTV profiles video game referee
by Christopher Grant 
{ Feb 23rd 2006 at 3:00AM }
Stephen Totilo has written a fascinating profile of Twin Galaxies' former chief referee Robert Mruczek for MTV. The 41 year-old
shares an apartment with his parents in Brooklyn, laboriously screens videotapes of high scores, and was even offering
bounties using his own money to encourage gamers to attempt high scores he especially wanted to see broken. Totilo
writes:"Saying that Mruczek knows gaming is like saying Stephen Hawking knows about time and space. He says the maximum score possible in 'Pole Position' is common knowledge and, as far as he knows, no one has ever reached it. He knows how 'Ms. Pac-Man' ends: at level 133, after which the player will see either one, two, three, four or eight glitch screens... He was once quizzed by a radio show, being asked to listen to someone playing a mystery video game. He didn't just correctly guess the game ('Space Invaders') or the version (Atari 2600). He says he counted the sounds of the explosions and guessed the score within 30 points."
The struggle for high scores remains, for the most part, an anachronistic relic from the heyday of arcade gaming, which makes the popularity of Mruczek's work all the more interesting; yet, the globally managed high score leaderboard on XBLA titles like Geometry Wars threatens to further obviate the necessity of these services.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
MegaWatts @ Feb 23rd 2006 4:32AM
"The 41 year-old shares an apartment with his parents in Brooklyn, laboriously screens videotapes of high scores, and even offering bounties with his own money to encourage gamers to attempt high scores"
Okay this must be prank from Joystiq. There is no way in hell this guy actually exists. If true then "Stop feeding him cheese!" (from a ad in Canada)
Repsode @ Feb 23rd 2006 5:22AM
Anyone else think he looks like Andy from the great comedy little britain
http://www.bbc.co.uk/comedy/littlebritain/
(One on the right)
Don Jose @ Feb 23rd 2006 7:11AM
If this isn't a prank, I want that dude to autograph my half-functional copy of pinball for NES.
C. Grant @ Feb 23rd 2006 9:02AM
If you'd read the article, it would pretty quickly confirm that it's not a hoax. This guy is hardcore, I'd love an autograph!
coalhalo @ Feb 23rd 2006 10:33AM
Whoaaa...nerd alert. While I can give him credit for his ability to know all things gaming, he is 41 years old and lives with his parents. That is soo sad. Since it's an aprtment in Brooklyn, he does not fit the ultimate sterotype of living in his mom's basement, but other than that he comes damn close to dictionary definition of nerd. BTW, in the profile the truth comes out that this guy has been unable to pay out his bounties to some of the winners. You would think that since he does'nt have to pay a mortgage (or rent) he could pony up the cash. And yes he does bear a resemblance to LittleBritan's Andy, just give him a wheelchair.