In September 2021, this website launched with a massive, thoroughly researched series investigating a series of claims by disgraced video game cheater Billy Mitchell. Specifically, our focus was on his claimed perfect Pac-Man score in July 1999, his “Player of the Century” award from his friend Walter Day, and his trip to the Tokyo Game Show. This series was broken into nine parts, one for each of the nine hidden dots on original Pac-Man’s kill screen.
https://perfectpacman.com/2021/09/02/dot-one/
In “Dot One”, we introduce the series, discuss what the claims being examined are, and lay the groundwork for our research by reviewing some of Billy’s more astonishing video game lies totally unrelated to Pac-Man.
https://perfectpacman.com/2021/09/06/dot-two/
In “Dot Two”, we delve into the newspaper archives of the 1980s to identify the true original Pac-Man masters, and to get a sense of the early days of competitive Pac-Man. (Billy Mitchell does make an appearance in these early days… eventually.)
https://perfectpacman.com/2021/09/09/dot-three/
In “Dot Three”, we discuss Walter Day’s Twin Galaxies, from its financial hardship in the ’80s up to its revival in the ’90s. From there, we meet Billy’s Canadian rivals, who stole the show at the first Funspot tournament, before Billy’s secret sneak attack.
https://perfectpacman.com/2021/09/13/dot-four/
In “Dot Four”, we follow the Walter Day media hype train, as the story of Billy Mitchell’s “perfect game” slowly spreads across the newswire, wild exaggerations and all. And of course, we discuss Rick Fothergill’s perfect score, which somehow got left out of their narrative.
https://perfectpacman.com/2021/09/16/dot-five/
In “Dot Five”, we look back at more of Billy Mitchell’s supposed gaming legacy, with an eye toward the 1999 Classic Gaming Expo in Las Vegas, and the true origins of Billy’s claimed title of “Video Game Player of the Century”.
https://perfectpacman.com/2021/09/20/dot-six/
“Dot Six” takes us to Japan, where we review Billy’s exaggerated tales about his appearance at the Tokyo Game Show, and his dubious and often-changing story of meeting Masaya Nakamura’s “inner circle”.
https://perfectpacman.com/2021/09/23/dot-seven/
In “Dot Seven”, we review actual media coverage of Billy Mitchell’s appearance at the Tokyo Game Show, where we see his tall tales don’t line up with the permanent record. But that didn’t matter, as Billy and Walter Day still conjured the story they wanted to tell.
https://perfectpacman.com/2021/09/27/dot-eight/
“Dot Eight” looks at various related stories of Billy’s that have crept into his Pac-Man narrative over the years – such as his phantom “announcement”, his lies about winning a race, and his newer story about a bogus second perfect score in Japan.
https://perfectpacman.com/2021/09/30/dot-nine/
And finally, in “Dot Nine”, we look at never-before-seen footage from Billy’s claimed first perfect score on Pac-Man, and review the body of evidence in an attempt to answer the question of what really happened on July 3, 1999.