Supporters of game-based movies have had to suffer through a lot in recent months. Dead or Alive, Postal and the DVD release of Game Box 1.0 have all assaulted our senses and our sensibilities since the start of the year. Now, finally, a good game-based movie has come along and, unfortunately, it's only viewable in five theaters nationwide.

The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters opens today in New York (two theaters), LA, Seattle and Austin, Texas. The movie's limited release extends to seven more cities next week and four more the week after on its way to eventual release in 25 total cities.

Reviews of the film continue to be overwhelmingly positive, with only one bad review among the 25 currently listed on Rotten Tomatoes (not quite 100% fresh anymore, but still close). If you want to encourage quality, non-fiction video game film-making and you're lucky enough to live in one of the above cities, vote with your wallets and buy tickets for the opening weekend. You'll be glad you did.

Xbox 360 Pac-Man World Champion Carlos Romero (Pachuca, México)
On Monday, Microsoft was struggling to generate interest in the Xbox 360 Pac-Man World Championship partly because those in-the-know had kept their mouths shut about the Iwatani-made Pac-Man sequel to be unveiled during the event, and partly because, well, this was just Pac-Man. Fearing that the championship would be ignored -- and the game announcement unnoticed -- Xbox 360 group product manager Aaron Greenberg let it be known that "video game history" would be made through a surprise revelation during the competition. Though Greenberg would later back out of his overstatement, word had spread, rumors ignited, and, for a moment, all eyes were watching for a megaton out of SupperClub in Manhattan's Times Square. The news came and went with a few groans and a shrug.

But someone was listening with eager anticipation last September when Microsoft announced plans to co-host a Pac-Man World Championship with the game's creator Toru Iwatani. Most of us were too busy tracking Sony and Nintendo's last-minute moves to notice -- just about everything Microsoft dragged overseas to Tokyo Game Show seemed irrelevant at the time. But when Microsoft again talked "World Championship" in mid-April, this time with a date and details, a few more ears perked up and a few more Xbox 360s were sold (yeah, just for Pac-Man -- and just a few). And then, on Wednesday, April 25th, some of us started competing.

Billy "Video Game Player of the Century" Mitchell has broken his silence, speaking out against the documentary The King of Kong, which casts the former Donkey Kong high score holder as the film's villain. "I guess they paint me as a son of a gun," reflects Mitchell, who hasn't seen the movie. He guesses right.

Mitchell and cohorts recently spoke to MTV about Seth Gordon's reality-based film. Gordon and crew whittled away more than 300 hours of footage to forge a playful drama detailing Donkey Konger Steve Wiebe's journey to the top of the record books -- all, of course, at the expense of Mitchell's image. And, according to former Twin Galaxies referee Robert Mruczek, The King of Kong is also "full of holes." For example, Mitchell and Wiebe had rubbed shoulders back in 2004 (before the documentary was filmed), during the Classic Gaming Expo -- they even played Donkey Kong! Whereas, the film implies that Mitchell has avoided almost all public interaction with Wiebe and has shied away from playing Donkey Kong in his rival's presence. More surprising is that Billy Mitchell wasn't even the Donkey King high score holder at the time shooting for the movie began. That honor had belonged to no-name Tim Sczerby, who is conspicuously absent from Gordon's film.

It's easy to confuse documentary filmmaking with fact-based accounts. But don't be fooled, these cost-effective movies can be just as contrived as VH1's next B-list reality gimmick. Unfortunately, the "actors" can end up being the victims. But maybe Mitchell should heed a friend's advice and cash in on his new reputation. America loves its villains ( ...and loves to pay to see 'em villainate).

It's a fun week in the Rodeo, the sort of week driven by slow news and few releases, the sort of week that forces hosts to dig deep, let go of the magic feather and try to find the entertainment power that was inside them all along.

The Hotspot: A story of tragedy, triumph and boredom on the Hotspot as a caller tells about working in an arcade while Billy Mitchell was trying to break the Pac-Man record. Long story short: A kid unplugs the machine, tragedy and hilarity ensue.

Truth is stranger than fiction. And while it needs to be threaded by a capable hand, even Donkey Kong can be woven into a compelling canvas that examines the comically-profound idiosyncrasies that drive human competition. The King of Kong, director Seth Gordon's first feature, is a remarkable film that documents the little-seen niche of competitive gaming, as waged on '80s-era, coin-op arcade machines.

"That ape is very, very cunning, and he will do what he needs to, to stop you," warns a Funspot regular, squeezed into a t-shirt emblazoned with a geeky kung fu joke. The same could be said of Billy Mitchell, the film's antagonist, a blown-dry Machismo americanus and heir to the Rickey's World Famous [Hot] Sauce empire. Mitchell (above), whose 3-letter high score handle (typically one's initials) is U-S-A (notice the Liberty tie?), is stiff and threatening, at least to the mild-mannered circle he maintains a firm grip on. He regards his "Video Game Player of the [20th] Century" title as a symbol of patriotic heroism. Speaking of symbols, Mitchell's wife's cleavage is paraded on screen like a tangible manifestation of his ballooned ego, which is predictably deflated by Gordon's touching narrative of the first true challenger of the Donkey Kong high score; a score set by Mitchell more than two decades ago.

Microsoft and Toru Iwatani (he's the creator of Pac-Man) announced plans for a World Championship where the top 10 Xbox Live Arcade ranked Pac-Man players in the world will be flown to New York City to do battle. There'll be cherries and pretzels flying everywhere folks, it won't be pretty. There's not much info yet except that the contest will begin in "early 2007" and will presumably be won by someone with a lot of free time and abnormal reflexes.

Initial response: Will players be allowed to use their own controllers? What if the one of the top 10 players was rocking something like this, and the others weren't? It's no secret that the otherwise stellar Xbox 360 gamepad has a serious weakness in the D-pad department. Weak D-pad or not, just make sure Billy Mitchell (pictured) doesn't get his robotic mitts on an Xbox 360 between now and then, or you can kiss your chances of winning goodbye. Perfect. Score.


Microsoft's TGS press briefing:
XBLA hits Tokyo with Contra and friends
Xbox 360 to add 1080p support, PS3 to lose bullet point
HD-DVD add-on hits Japan Nov. 17th for ¥19,800
Blue Dragon hits Japan this holiday

MTV News' Stephen Totilo took the tired top-10 list and turned it on its ear. The new question: who are "the 10 most influential gamers of all time"? The metric: "gamers whose time playing actually affected the culture, creation or business of video games ...." The results: SHOCKING.

Actually they're rather interesting. While our good friend (and aspiring pugilist) Uwe Boll didn't make the cut, there are plenty of names you will recognize. How about the Penny Arcade guys? Or Life magazine profilee, and heavily mulleted arcade champ, Billy Mitchell? Or the two guys who blurred the boundaries between gamers and developers when they created Counterstrike? Or how about either of the picks who populate the user-modifiable online world of Second Life.

With only 200,000 "players," Second Life represents an interesting facet to this list. While the world is nowhere near as popular as its MMO-cousin World of Warcraft, the unique marketplace system of Second Life encourages entrepreneurship and creativity. Like the list's virtual real estate mogul Ailin Graef, whose 2005 profits were estimated at over $100,000 (mental note: ditch blogging, become a virtual real estate mogul).

Who's missing? And you can't say yourself.