I got a chance to meet all of these guys in Ottumwa also.
Walter - One of the nicest and most caring guys I've ever met. He was very personable and made sure he gave attention to anyone who walked up to him. I took a game to the Big Bang this year and Walter treated me like a VIP. He even remembered my son's name from a phone call several days prior even though he was swamped getting ready for the event. He was far from the "puppet" he was portrayed as in the movie. He was extremely busy and worked his tail off keeping the event flowing. I was very impressed with him.
Billy - I thought Billy was a pretty nice guy. He does carry his "image" while out in public, but is not the jerk that he was portrayed as.
Steve W. - Very nice and humble guy. Very down to earth.
Steve Sanders - Billy's friend from KoK. I got to know Steve very well as we shared several things in common. We spent a lot of time playing Joust together and he shared a ton of strategy with me. He was very encouraging to me as I've been trying to improve my Joust playing. I also really enjoyed hearing some of his stories from BITD.
Joel West (Chasing Ghosts) - Another guy I spent a lot of time with. He is another normal guy who likes to play games.
Ben Gold (Chasing Ghosts) - Ben is no longer a game player and has only gotten recent attention due to CG and the IVGHOF. He was another guy who had great stories, and was grateful that he was being honored.
I met and got to know several others. There were several guys there like Eric Akeson, Chris Mansfield, and a few others that are into this as a hobby like we are and they were great to get to know too! Overall the majority of the guys there were not the kind of guys where "games are their life". There were a few odd characters there but overall these guys are just like us. We read these forums every day and that's probably odd to people who don't collect games.
I think some people here are quick to think people are douchebags or creepy based on what you've seen in movies. That's just part of being on forums. I'm glad most of you don't do this or I wouldn't want to be on these forums.
I've met Walter Day and have seen him again on several occasions. I like the guy a lot. One of the nicest, most genuinely caring people I've ever met. He's a blast to talk to, as he is so charismatic and full of great stories. His "big dreamer" personality always shines through.
Met Bill Mitchell for the first time at the Big Bang event this past August when we were both being inducted. I liked him. He is very aware of his image in public though. Funny story... all of us inductees are sitting in a private room across the hall from the auditorium waiting to enter. All of the folding chairs are in a line along one wall, and Bill is sitting several seats down from me. He's wearing a suit, as always when he's in public, but he's hunched over with his elbows on his knees like many of the rest of us. A short while later a few photographers come in the room to get some shots while we're waiting to be led in to the auditorium. A couple of minutes later I happen to glance over at Bill and he is still sitting in his chair but is now sitting bolt upright with his hands on his knees, looking at the cameras. I did not hear the photographers asking anyone to pose; they were just getting shots as they saw opportunities. But Bill was very aware of the cameras and his posture and demeanor showed it.

I don't think it's because he's vain or anything; I just think he is aware that he is more famous than most in this hobby and that people are always watching him, and he wants to set a good example. His son was with him for the event and it was very clear to me how much his kids mean to him.
Steve Wiebe I had met briefly once before but never got a chance to talk to. Several of us (Eric Akeson, Steve Wiebe, Andrew Laidlaw, John McAllister, Brian Cady, and myself) were on the same flights from Seattle to Des Moines for the Big Bang induction ceremonies, and as Ottumwa's and the IVGHOF's guests we were provided complimentary shuttles between the Des Moines airport and Ottumwa (about a 2 hour drive). So we all got to talk the whole way, and that was a lot of fun. A little of the discussion was about The King of Kong, but most of it was about competing on video games in general and about other things we do. We talked about playing poker (Steve and Andrew play regularly) and other hobbies, and about the collecting of old arcade games that some of us do (Eric and I in particular). We traded stories and had a lot of laughs. It was cool to get to talk to Steve in a relaxed atmosphere where he isn't being hounded with questions about Bill. Later that month Steve's wife Nicole and a couple of her friends were trying to raise money for breast cancer research and we held a "Gamers for Gazoongas" event (name was not my idea, but I thought it was funny) at a bar in the University District of Seattle on a Saturday. Eric and I transported my
Donkey Kong and my
Qix 60-in-1 to the bar and Steve, Eric, and I signed autographs and played games with the public and raised some bucks. It was a lot of fun.
Steve Sanders I met briefly at the Big Bang event this year. I tend to be a little shy around people I don't know. Steve was cool enough to notice and approach me to break the ice. I know people give him a hard time even today for being "that guy" who lied about his arcade scores back in the day, but people need to let that go. He was 18 and a
lot of people were lying about their scores to get into Guinness or their local newspapers. Steve just had the misfortune of meeting Bill Mitchell and promptly getting outed.

Instead of disappearing he fessed up, apologized, and has spent his life since becoming a better person, which is to be commended. I liked Steve immediately and I think he is a great guy.
Joel West, one of the two
Berzerk players from Chasing Ghosts (
not the one now in prison), was also in attendance at Big Bang 2010. Late on the last night we were there, Saturday night after the induction ceremonies, Joel and Phil Younger, two of the best
Berzerk players on the planet, were playing doubles
Berzerk on MAME on the computer in the hotel lobby for several hours, where several of us were hanging out. I got to talk to Joel for a while and we reminisced about the golden era. Another awesome guy.
Ben Gold. You know him from Chasing Ghosts as the implied loser with the geeky laugh. I'm here to tell you that this guy makes most of us look like slackers. He is incredibly intelligent and accomplished. You should see the guy's resumé. He has multiple degrees, speaks several languages, has lived in several countries, learned Romanian to court his girlfriend (now wife), and knows a thing or two about business, economics, and politics. He takes occasional long road trips in an RV with his wife and kids, and if I'm not mistaken he still owns the
Millipede upright he won in a contest many years ago. If you ever get the chance to meet him and talk for more than a minute you will hear some very cool stories. You'd like him a lot. Check out this great recent
article on him.
Eric Akeson is a friend of mine and is one of the most respected guys I know in our hobby. He is genuinely helpful and selfless. I've found most people in this hobby are at least a little socially awkward. Not Eric. He seemingly knows everybody and can make more friends in a day than I make in six months.
John McAllister is the nut who marathoned
Asteroids for nearly 58 hours last Easter and just marathoned
Joust for almost 54 hours in my basement arcade last week. John is pretty handy when it comes to mechanical repairs and is quick to help. Watching him play almost any game is a treat. He has superhuman reflexes, and seems to pick up games he's never played before at a very fast learning pace. I watched him score nearly 300,000 on
Bosconian at Richie Knucklez' arcade back in March after only an hour or so of practice, and he'd never played the game before.
Bosconian isn't the hardest game in the world, but it's not exactly easy either.
Yeah, we're all a little eccentric. To be so competitive and obsessive about games made nearly 30 years ago you have to be. But everyone needs a hobby.
