Thanks for the second interview, Ersatz. Sorry the sound on my end came in low, my voice was a bit on the tired side plus as I get older my voice has attained a natural "gravelly" sound.
Do you have the document (audio?) where you break down in real time how King of Kong had misleading editing? I know you mentioned in a previous interview with Ersatz but I have never been able to find it.
@@beesterscardcorner9668 not the audio, but an EXCEL file which maps out specific time-stamps within KoK where what is said differs from what the truth is.
@Robert Mruczek thanks for the reply and your time. Would you be willing to share the file? I have been a fan of the film for years and given everything we've learned since, it would be great to watch the doc with that document handy.
@@arnoldw5399 thanks, but I've always considered myself a 6 or at best a 6.5 on the scale of arcade gaming skills and at best a 7 on Atari 2600 skills. I do well on a few titles and average on most.
@@robertmruczek7587 I appreciate your modesty, and I also refer to the countless days you have committed to measuring, authenticating and monitoring gamer scores. It has encouraged many of us to be greater, and in a sense bring about a stronger gamer community
With so many egos and ulterior motives in that scene, Robert especially stands out as a real down-to-earth honest guy. Thanks to you both for providing this interview.
Great interview! It was such a treat to start off with the questions people have been thinking about... Robert Mruczek's perspective is fascinating and logical! Awesome discussion & more then a few good laughs! Cheers and thank you
I like how the only one to come out of the old tg line up not looking like a scum bag is Robert. Seems to be a genuine dude who took seriously the upholding of record keeping. We all appreciate your hard work and tireless efforts to help build the community
thanks, but my fellow referees and TG staffers Tom Votava, Stephen Knox and Greg Erway had spotless reputations !! I'm sure that there were more as well.
Great interview, Robert’s depth of knowledge and experience on these issues make for a highly stimulating interview. That said I did want to interject an additional perspective on the question of a player killing themselves early in a game when they have achieved a world record rather than keep going. In the discussion you highlighted a personal example from Robert about him having guests coming over, so time constraints and if someone only set out to achieve a first to score X recorded and don’t care about holding the high score record but other than that you both have no idea why someone would do it other than showboating. Well, a reason I thought of and one I projected onto Billy when I was a bit of a fan boy was that of trying to keep the record achievable within your ability. The thing is while most people never achieve their potential, in the realm of competitive sports even with the best will in the world a person can just hit a wall they can’t overcome. So, when a person breaks a world record, if they are conscious that they are dangerously close to the very edge of their skill level, rather than keep playing until they hit it, it may be in their interest to tap out early. That way if and when the record is taken back, there is a chance this other player may unintentionally die within your skill set so you can take the record back. You could psych out other players might be less interested in playing another long game when to them it might seem like you are showboating because you are so confident in your ability rather that desperately on the fence hoping and praying the next world record won’t take the game to far. Think of an auction, do you make as your first bid your maximum bid? Or do you start small and try to throw off a rival bidder by making them think they could go much higher? While I now know Billy is a cheater so longer project such advanced strategy onto him I do still think my points have merit.
Great interview, thanks! Unfortunate that that the volume is so horribly low, but the parts I could sort of hear on my [crappy] laptop were great ... thanks!!
Every few months I search Robert's name in YT looking for new interviews. He's a great communicator IMO and rare in that he's funny but doesn't laugh at his own jokes.
@@robertmruczek7587 Yo, Rob. You're one of the legendary figures of gaming to me and many others. Have you or would you consider using your RUclips account or other social media to share some of / all of the art, gaming footage and overall knowledge you've amassed over the years? Would be fascinating to see just how extensive your collections and historical documentations are of your passions. One question for you; What was the last modern game you fully enjoyed and is there anything that interests you for the future of gaming?
@@thefrankiepalmeri actually I used to have about two dozen selected gaming videos posted and between the trolling on RUclips and the toxicity at the TG forum I had to shut down my channel. As for the last modern game I fully enjoyed that would have to be "Doom 3" from way back in 2005. I must have played that thru completion at least 150 times. Before that it was "Crazy Taxi" (Arcade and Sega DC), "Wacky Races" (Sega DC), "18 Wheeler" (Arcade and Sega DC), "Simpsons Road Rage" (XBox), "Circus Maximus" (XBox). Also for the PC "Command and Conquer 3", "Burnout Paradise 2" and though I have never actually played it I thoroughly enjoy watching "Trackmania" and something I do not have the computer power for as of yet, I think it's called something like "Fortuna 5", a racing game with lots of quests and goals. I was into "World of Warcraft" and "Perfect World International" many years back but quit each after awhile. MMORPG's always fascinated me but I never dove in until about 2013 on Wow and a few years earlier on PW. "Diablo 2: LOD" also captivated me immensely but I lost out on the ability to replay that plus "Doom 3" when I migrated off Windows 7 which really ticked me off. There are a few modern-era games that I downloaded from the GOG site that I have not really started yet but which seemed of interest. Oh yes, "Big Mutha Truckers" for the XBox really captivated me for a bit...I enjoyed mostly driving thru the ever-changing scenery and weather conditions.
@@robertmruczek7587 Thanks for taking the time to write back, Robert. Shame you backed off from sharing online due to the trolling / scrutiny, but I totally understand how draining just avoiding and ignoring that kind of energy can be. Really interesting to see what games you gravitate towards. I have a feeling you would absolutely love playing Grand Theft Auto 5, at the very least if not just for the driving aspect of the game alone. Selfishly, I hope one day you decide to reboot your channel or some other kind of social media that can be a celebration of your contribution to gaming. You are one of the rare people who has a complete grasp on the analogue history of video games. All the best with whatever comes next and if you want to stay in touch my username is easily traceable online.
@@thefrankiepalmeri well, one player in particular on the TG forum came back every few years just to chime in and bash me incessantly and has been doing so ever since my chief referee days...which, considering I quite TG in Dec/06, means for nearly 20 years now so he's not going away anytime soon. His partner in crime started not long after the new TG forum reboot so for that one it's been nearly 10 years. There exists a number of gamers that are SO anti-old TG, meaning the "referee era", that I suspect such animosity will exist for the foreseeable future as the last of the "referee days" ended barely 10 years ago so the memories are fresh and heated. Gaming "documentaries" like "KoK", "Chasing Ghosts" and "High Score the Movie" are sadly a thing of the past as today's gaming community would not be receptive to them as the last era of gamers were, and the gamers from yesteryear are far less inclined to participate/contribute in today's gaming forum and efforts for reasonable fear of toxicity from those who hold it against anyone who was either part of the "old TG" referee era or even who had scores that were reviewed by the old referees. So that era in classic gaming history is apparently gone for good...and I blame it solely on those who will forever hold a grudge against the referee era of "old TG" no matter what.
Slightly related but not directly addressed: Was Corcoran definitely an accomplice to Todd Rogers's fake scores? Or is there a way Todd might have done it without Corcoran's intentional help? (Obviously Corcoran is terrible either way, but I'm curious whether we know Todd had an accomplice in this way.)
52:30 : plans for TG: using someone else's ideas and presenting them as your own can occur with some people who need time to mull it over and who are not that good at the matter in hand. They first dismiss the ideas, forget that these ideas were presented to them, then think about the matter in hand again and these ideas 'pop up' and they think they thought of them themselves. Happened with my dad with a guy at work...
after leaving TG I used to joke that Walter Day and his vision for TG...as well as later vision for the IVGHOF...was like the "underpants gnomes" from "South Park". I had a mock-meme drawn up that showed a gnome with a white beard and referee shirt standing under that sign that said "Phase 1: open a gaming museum...Phase 2: ???...Phase 3: PROFIT !!" because that's pretty much the Walter Day business model :)
@@whatever_it_takes6691 search youtube for "scene world magazine roy".. poor guy he should be celebrating that he was right about all this before anyone else, but instead he is on the defensive thinking its some conspiracy to take away his missile command record. which no one is trying to do.
@@whatever_it_takes6691 I posted a reply a day or two ago, but RUclips seems to have eaten my comment? Anyway, Shildt was interviewed twice by Scene World Magazine (podcast on RUclips) in the last couple years, who also interviewed Mruczek a little while later. Hope this comment stays visible.
I'm very saddened by it on a number of levels, especially because in November 2018., my last visit to Funspot, Rudy showed up as he had told me that he had recently moved nearby. She accompanied him and he was extremely well behaved for the most part while we were all talking, that is until the discussion turned to his scores and then he started to go on a rant but I quickly changed the subject matter to one that he was equally passionate about and thus his temper quelled. She was a bit impressed at how easily I was able to do that and I told her it was from years of practice in dealing with him. But the meeting was short and he went his separate way. I really thought he was trying and had found a new life for himself, but then what happened reached my way about what he did...and to who...and that really shocked me initially. His girlfriend seemed totally normal to me and I was sad that she was the unfortunate focal point of his rage that fateful day. As for his taking his own life, I knew he had issues with being "balanced" in life as I questioned his OCD claims on multiple occasions (he called it a disability and I vocally disagreed with him on that classification), but never once did I think he was potentially suicidal. Not once.
very saddened by it. During one of my very last visits to Funspot/ACAM Rudy and his GF showed up. He really seemed happy and far less angry towards everything, and his GF was a really nice person as well. I spoke to them for a few hours and that was the last I saw of him (and her). So very sad. I know a lot of gamers posted that they were aware of his gun proclivity and various serious threats, and a few even claimed to have warned local authorities. Towards the end, before or after the FUnspot meeting, I forget which, I granted him a Podcast interview which likely is still on YT somewhere, with the proviso that he knocked off his propensity to let out the colourful metaphors (i.e. curses). He admirably restrained himself for the majority of that Podcast so I really thought between that and my meeting with him that he was in the process of turning things around, plus he found a very nice GF as well. Dang shame.
oh, it was hours, not days !! Still not as bad as having to watch Bill Carlton's "Asteroids" marathon TWICE because he sent me a washed copy instead of the master reel and I could not consistently verify the score roll-overs due to the bluriness in that section of the screen. But the absolute worst...and I used to make light of this often...is anyone that has the misfortune of having to adjudicate a "Q*Bert" marathon. Nothing tired me out more in gaming, including playing the game, so I used to joke that if anyone ever sent in a marathon on tape that I'd forward it to a junior referee to watch :)
Thanks for the second interview, Ersatz. Sorry the sound on my end came in low, my voice was a bit on the tired side plus as I get older my voice has attained a natural "gravelly" sound.
sounds like MaMe
Do you have the document (audio?) where you break down in real time how King of Kong had misleading editing? I know you mentioned in a previous interview with Ersatz but I have never been able to find it.
@@beesterscardcorner9668 not the audio, but an EXCEL file which maps out specific time-stamps within KoK where what is said differs from what the truth is.
@Robert Mruczek thanks for the reply and your time. Would you be willing to share the file? I have been a fan of the film for years and given everything we've learned since, it would be great to watch the doc with that document handy.
@@beesterscardcorner9668 yeah agreed he should share it for us id be glad to do a watch along and review this stuff and comment on it
Sorry to everyone about the sound...it's largely my fault as my voice is not as strong as it once was. Pangs of getting old and grey :(
You're a cool dude, Robert. Your contributions to the gaming records are second to none.
@@arnoldw5399 thanks, but I've always considered myself a 6 or at best a 6.5 on the scale of arcade gaming skills and at best a 7 on Atari 2600 skills. I do well on a few titles and average on most.
@@robertmruczek7587 I appreciate your modesty, and I also refer to the countless days you have committed to measuring, authenticating and monitoring gamer scores. It has encouraged many of us to be greater, and in a sense bring about a stronger gamer community
We dont stop playing coz we get old, we get old coz we stop playing! Sending love to Robert and Rusty 😊
@@PippaPeerless poor little Rusty met his maker shortly after "Chasing Ghosts" filming. He was a good boy :)
Robert is an genuine OG in old school gaming. I love listening to this man talk, especially when the subject is Silly Bitchell.
With so many egos and ulterior motives in that scene, Robert especially stands out as a real down-to-earth honest guy. Thanks to you both for providing this interview.
You can tell Robert is genuine - need more people like him
Great interview! It was such a treat to start off with the questions people have been thinking about... Robert Mruczek's perspective is fascinating and logical! Awesome discussion & more then a few good laughs! Cheers and thank you
I like how the only one to come out of the old tg line up not looking like a scum bag is Robert. Seems to be a genuine dude who took seriously the upholding of record keeping. We all appreciate your hard work and tireless efforts to help build the community
thanks, but my fellow referees and TG staffers Tom Votava, Stephen Knox and Greg Erway had spotless reputations !! I'm sure that there were more as well.
@Robert Mruczek absolute legend! Thanks for your integrity and class!
Fascinating and informative...
Roy Shcildt interview next
Robert is a very passionate, honorable, honest and true champion of legit retro gaming high score competition
The real OG retro gamer. One of the only people ever involved with TG that I'd actually like to meet.
Great interview
Great interview, Robert’s depth of knowledge and experience on these issues make for a highly stimulating interview. That said I did want to interject an additional perspective on the question of a player killing themselves early in a game when they have achieved a world record rather than keep going. In the discussion you highlighted a personal example from Robert about him having guests coming over, so time constraints and if someone only set out to achieve a first to score X recorded and don’t care about holding the high score record but other than that you both have no idea why someone would do it other than showboating.
Well, a reason I thought of and one I projected onto Billy when I was a bit of a fan boy was that of trying to keep the record achievable within your ability. The thing is while most people never achieve their potential, in the realm of competitive sports even with the best will in the world a person can just hit a wall they can’t overcome. So, when a person breaks a world record, if they are conscious that they are dangerously close to the very edge of their skill level, rather than keep playing until they hit it, it may be in their interest to tap out early. That way if and when the record is taken back, there is a chance this other player may unintentionally die within your skill set so you can take the record back. You could psych out other players might be less interested in playing another long game when to them it might seem like you are showboating because you are so confident in your ability rather that desperately on the fence hoping and praying the next world record won’t take the game to far.
Think of an auction, do you make as your first bid your maximum bid? Or do you start small and try to throw off a rival bidder by making them think they could go much higher?
While I now know Billy is a cheater so longer project such advanced strategy onto him I do still think my points have merit.
Great interview. Try to repair the volume and reload. It's a great interview.
I could literally hear Robert talk about games and the history of high scores all day, he needs a podcast
Loved the Star Trek IV reference! I straight up laughed out loud.
This channel should have 50 000 subs
Great interview.
What a treat - i love this guy most in Chasing Ghosts and other things he has appeared in.
Long may he run.
🕹 👽👽👽👽
Great interview, thanks! Unfortunate that that the volume is so horribly low, but the parts I could sort of hear on my [crappy] laptop were great ... thanks!!
That and the periodically roaring CPU fan (or whatever it is) is also rather distracting. But eh, good interview nonetheless...
the volume is partially my fault...my voice is not as robust as it once was. Pangs of ageing.
Every few months I search Robert's name in YT looking for new interviews. He's a great communicator IMO and rare in that he's funny but doesn't laugh at his own jokes.
That must be because of the accountant in me :)
@@robertmruczek7587 Yo, Rob. You're one of the legendary figures of gaming to me and many others. Have you or would you consider using your RUclips account or other social media to share some of / all of the art, gaming footage and overall knowledge you've amassed over the years? Would be fascinating to see just how extensive your collections and historical documentations are of your passions. One question for you; What was the last modern game you fully enjoyed and is there anything that interests you for the future of gaming?
@@thefrankiepalmeri actually I used to have about two dozen selected gaming videos posted and between the trolling on RUclips and the toxicity at the TG forum I had to shut down my channel.
As for the last modern game I fully enjoyed that would have to be "Doom 3" from way back in 2005. I must have played that thru completion at least 150 times.
Before that it was "Crazy Taxi" (Arcade and Sega DC), "Wacky Races" (Sega DC), "18 Wheeler" (Arcade and Sega DC), "Simpsons Road Rage" (XBox), "Circus Maximus" (XBox).
Also for the PC "Command and Conquer 3", "Burnout Paradise 2" and though I have never actually played it I thoroughly enjoy watching "Trackmania" and something I do not have the computer power for as of yet, I think it's called something like "Fortuna 5", a racing game with lots of quests and goals.
I was into "World of Warcraft" and "Perfect World International" many years back but quit each after awhile. MMORPG's always fascinated me but I never dove in until about 2013 on Wow and a few years earlier on PW.
"Diablo 2: LOD" also captivated me immensely but I lost out on the ability to replay that plus "Doom 3" when I migrated off Windows 7 which really ticked me off.
There are a few modern-era games that I downloaded from the GOG site that I have not really started yet but which seemed of interest.
Oh yes, "Big Mutha Truckers" for the XBox really captivated me for a bit...I enjoyed mostly driving thru the ever-changing scenery and weather conditions.
@@robertmruczek7587
Thanks for taking the time to write back, Robert.
Shame you backed off from sharing online due to the trolling / scrutiny, but I totally understand how draining just avoiding and ignoring that kind of energy can be.
Really interesting to see what games you gravitate towards. I have a feeling you would absolutely love playing Grand Theft Auto 5, at the very least if not just for the driving aspect of the game alone.
Selfishly, I hope one day you decide to reboot your channel or some other kind of social media that can be a celebration of your contribution to gaming. You are one of the rare people who has a complete grasp on the analogue history of video games.
All the best with whatever comes next and if you want to stay in touch my username is easily traceable online.
@@thefrankiepalmeri well, one player in particular on the TG forum came back every few years just to chime in and bash me incessantly and has been doing so ever since my chief referee days...which, considering I quite TG in Dec/06, means for nearly 20 years now so he's not going away anytime soon. His partner in crime started not long after the new TG forum reboot so for that one it's been nearly 10 years.
There exists a number of gamers that are SO anti-old TG, meaning the "referee era", that I suspect such animosity will exist for the foreseeable future as the last of the "referee days" ended barely 10 years ago so the memories are fresh and heated.
Gaming "documentaries" like "KoK", "Chasing Ghosts" and "High Score the Movie" are sadly a thing of the past as today's gaming community would not be receptive to them as the last era of gamers were, and the gamers from yesteryear are far less inclined to participate/contribute in today's gaming forum and efforts for reasonable fear of toxicity from those who hold it against anyone who was either part of the "old TG" referee era or even who had scores that were reviewed by the old referees. So that era in classic gaming history is apparently gone for good...and I blame it solely on those who will forever hold a grudge against the referee era of "old TG" no matter what.
Thank you for this his such a good speaker
What is the annoying buzzing in the background? A phone in silent mode??
no white gummy substance in this interview, good stuff love hearing robert put the facts out there or have a intellectually balanced opinion.
Slightly related but not directly addressed: Was Corcoran definitely an accomplice to Todd Rogers's fake scores? Or is there a way Todd might have done it without Corcoran's intentional help? (Obviously Corcoran is terrible either way, but I'm curious whether we know Todd had an accomplice in this way.)
It is a definite fact but remains truly unproven since he still sits in prison today for sex crimes
52:30 : plans for TG: using someone else's ideas and presenting them as your own can occur with some people who need time to mull it over and who are not that good at the matter in hand. They first dismiss the ideas, forget that these ideas were presented to them, then think about the matter in hand again and these ideas 'pop up' and they think they thought of them themselves. Happened with my dad with a guy at work...
after leaving TG I used to joke that Walter Day and his vision for TG...as well as later vision for the IVGHOF...was like the "underpants gnomes" from "South Park". I had a mock-meme drawn up that showed a gnome with a white beard and referee shirt standing under that sign that said "Phase 1: open a gaming museum...Phase 2: ???...Phase 3: PROFIT !!" because that's pretty much the Walter Day business model :)
Hey you guys bring up Roy Shildt but neither of you mention what happened to him. Anyone have any idea where he is?
Have you heard anything about Roy?
@@whatever_it_takes6691 he was on a podcast recently, he had a wild take on the situation.
@@mrhocuspocus Wow I would love to hear that! Do you know the name of the podcast or how I could locate it?
@@whatever_it_takes6691 search youtube for "scene world magazine roy".. poor guy he should be celebrating that he was right about all this before anyone else, but instead he is on the defensive thinking its some conspiracy to take away his missile command record. which no one is trying to do.
@@whatever_it_takes6691 I posted a reply a day or two ago, but RUclips seems to have eaten my comment? Anyway, Shildt was interviewed twice by Scene World Magazine (podcast on RUclips) in the last couple years, who also interviewed Mruczek a little while later. Hope this comment stays visible.
Mruczek was the Frank Serpico of TG.
Good one, I like the analogy :)
Robert mrzeck what do think about rudy ferretti&what he did to his ex girlfriend.
I'm very saddened by it on a number of levels, especially because in November 2018., my last visit to Funspot, Rudy showed up as he had told me that he had recently moved nearby. She accompanied him and he was extremely well behaved for the most part while we were all talking, that is until the discussion turned to his scores and then he started to go on a rant but I quickly changed the subject matter to one that he was equally passionate about and thus his temper quelled. She was a bit impressed at how easily I was able to do that and I told her it was from years of practice in dealing with him. But the meeting was short and he went his separate way. I really thought he was trying and had found a new life for himself, but then what happened reached my way about what he did...and to who...and that really shocked me initially. His girlfriend seemed totally normal to me and I was sad that she was the unfortunate focal point of his rage that fateful day. As for his taking his own life, I knew he had issues with being "balanced" in life as I questioned his OCD claims on multiple occasions (he called it a disability and I vocally disagreed with him on that classification), but never once did I think he was potentially suicidal. Not once.
very saddened by it. During one of my very last visits to Funspot/ACAM Rudy and his GF showed up. He really seemed happy and far less angry towards everything, and his GF was a really nice person as well. I spoke to them for a few hours and that was the last I saw of him (and her). So very sad. I know a lot of gamers posted that they were aware of his gun proclivity and various serious threats, and a few even claimed to have warned local authorities. Towards the end, before or after the FUnspot meeting, I forget which, I granted him a Podcast interview which likely is still on YT somewhere, with the proviso that he knocked off his propensity to let out the colourful metaphors (i.e. curses). He admirably restrained himself for the majority of that Podcast so I really thought between that and my meeting with him that he was in the process of turning things around, plus he found a very nice GF as well. Dang shame.
✌️❤️🔮
watching nibler for 28 straight days its very exciting stuff :D
oh, it was hours, not days !! Still not as bad as having to watch Bill Carlton's "Asteroids" marathon TWICE because he sent me a washed copy instead of the master reel and I could not consistently verify the score roll-overs due to the bluriness in that section of the screen. But the absolute worst...and I used to make light of this often...is anyone that has the misfortune of having to adjudicate a "Q*Bert" marathon. Nothing tired me out more in gaming, including playing the game, so I used to joke that if anyone ever sent in a marathon on tape that I'd forward it to a junior referee to watch :)
@@robertmruczek7587 haha way to delegate thanks for the info epic ref effort
@@robertmruczek7587 is there a way to contact you for an interview or conversation?