Apollo Legend, a YouTube content creator for the speedrunning community, likely had no idea what he was getting himself into when he first covered the questionable history and laughably inaccurate scores of Todd Rogers, one of the most famous video gamers of all time. Rogers was heavily favored by Twin Galaxies, an organization that was historically the gatekeeper of all video game records, and Apollo’s exposure of their conduct made waves on the internet.
However, anyone who knows Twin Galaxies likely knows about Billy Mitchell, a similar character to Rogers with a similar relationship to the organization. Mitchell famously played the villain in the King of Kong documentary, which traced the controversial history of the Donkey Kong high score record—and insinuated some extremely dishonest behavior on his part, and that of Twin Galaxies. With the previous piece being so successful, Apollo set his sights on proving that Mitchell was about as honest of a gamer as Rogers was.
Again, Apollo’s video spread quickly, and Mitchell once again entered the spotlight as one of gaming’s greatest heels. Needing the last word, however, Twin Galaxies themselves reported a rumor that Mitchell will now be pursuing legal action against Apollo for recording him at an arcade event in Fort Lauderdale, FL.
The editorial by Twin Galaxies can be found here, and it contains some clearly biased language; the article opens with “Apollo Legend, YouTube creator, is collectively looked at with both disgust and curiosity when he comes out with a new video.” The editorial also accuses him of “[wasting] his time trying to cause problems with the King of Kong” over a score they are eager to note is no longer relevant as far as the current world record goes (Mitchell’s score would be 14th on the leaderboard currently).
The crux of the argument is that Apollo illegally obtained audio and video recordings at the event without consent, which he is currently making into another video exposé. However, as fellow speedrunning YouTuber EZScape points out, Florida law covering recording consent makes exceptions for in-person communications obtained somewhere without a reasonable expectation of privacy, such as a public event—potentially even a meet-and-greet at an arcade.
As many have also pointed out, this wouldn’t be the first time Mitchell has gotten litigious over his representation in the media. He famously went after the Regular Show on Cartoon Network after a character bearing his likeness was featured, but didn’t find much success as the judge declared he was not “a non-human creature, a giant floating head with no body from outer space.”
Apollo has certainly not made things easy on himself by going after Mitchell and Twin Galaxies, but it has definitely dredged up some deeply rooted drama in the gaming community. Mitchell’s legal case doesn’t look particularly strong at the moment, but if there’s one thing we can be sure of about the questionable king of Kong, it’s that this won’t be the last we hear of him.