In this month's Esquire magazine, there is a 9-page article about this group of gamers who call themselves the Order of Light, and they are all from Memphis. Most work at Fed Ex, and the photos of these guys are PRICELESS I tell you. I can only imagine the amazing time the Esquire reporter had, sitting in these guys shitty apartments, for 72 hours straight, and watching and listening to the ever-rotating group of players geek out and dis on working in the Hub. It is sick, but fascinating. Do check it out - also it's the annual Dubious Achievements Issue, which is brilliant.

Last year, they were a prominent feature on a VH-1 documentary about video game obsessives. They were not the best part of the show, however. That title would have to go to the World Ms. Pac Man champion/World Record Holder, who somehow channeled his energy into creating the perfect (in his eyes) buffalo wing sauce. It shows him at the grocery store, late at night, hiding other brands and lining up, or "fronting" his brand across the entire wing sauce section.

ha, when i worked for PC World magazine they encouraged us to 'front' the PC Worlds in front of all other computer titles whenever we were at a newsstand.

They were on MTV's "True Life." I have it on tape if you want to see it. Pac Man guy was unreal. You'd have to see it to belive it.

Lacey - I would love to see that tape! If you wouldn't mind, would you drop me an email?
graphicswriter@hotmail

Thanks!

the guy your talking about is billy mitchell. here is a link.

http://jongy.tripod.com/History.html#billy

as i understand it, billy came out of retirement to challencge a group of canadians who owned the record. "I had the knowledge [to get the perfect Pac-Man score] in 1984, but my enthusiasm and the incentive to do it weren't there," Mitchell said. "We felt the Canadians were Johnny-come-latelys and needed to be put in their place."

GO USA

Billy Mitchell - the all time Pacman champion of the world

[Photo by Roger Amsden, The Weirs Times, Weirs Beach, New Hampshire.]

"I understand the behavior of the ghosts and am able to manipulate the ghosts into any corner of the board I choose. This allows me to clear the screen with no patterns. This was a more difficult method for the initial 18 screens. I chose to do it this way because I wanted to demonstrate the depths of my abilities. I wanted to raise the bar higher - to a level that no one else could match."

argh. those were great pictures.

but here's more info on billy mitchell, pac man champ, and hot sauce entrepreneur!
---------------------------------
"Pac-Man's split-screen is the most puzzling phenomenon in the entire video-game-playing universe," explains Billy Mitchell, President of Rickey's World Famous Sauce, a Hollywood, Florida-based hot sauce brand that is guaranteeing the hefty sum to the first Pac-Man player that can get through screen number 256 without losing their game. "And," adds Mitchell, "the game must follow Twin Galaxies' rules and be videotaped and witnessed by Walter Day, chief scorekeeper at the Twin Galaxies Intergalactic Scoreboard."

Contact Billy Mitchell at Rickey's World Famous Sauce c/o Rickey's Restaurant, 4799 Hollywood Blvd.,
Hollywood, FL, 33021, USA, Ph: (954)966-1424.

He goes into the local grogery store and moves his hot sauce to the front of the shelf in his spare time. Watching this guy on screen is very intense and completely incredible.
MH,
I'll get the tape back from a friend who is borrowing it.

the force is strong with you, Lacey.

no rush!

no, rush. rush!

i gotta see!

You do "gotta see."
I'm rushin'.

Hey this is far into the future, Lacey, but can me & Ryan have a screening when we are in MEM at the beginning of June? I gotta see this. I am just mentioning now as I might remember it if I do...we are driving from Portland, so I am sure we'll be giddy as hell anyway.

Yep!

I read this sad tidbit in equire too. So where exactly is the apartment complex that these geeks infest? Pretty mundane existance if you ask me. Sure video games are great but their no cursing, no drugs, no drink policy gots to go.