STRIDE gives Steve Wiebe some honor, gum and quarters

Written on June 11, 2009 at 1:33 pm, by James Fudge

STRIDE Gum will honor Steve Wiebe’s valiant effort to conquer Donkey Kong at E3 2009, despite the fact that he failed to beat Billy Mitchell’s highscore. As the old folks say “close is only good enough for horsehoes and hand grenades.” While he was unable to break the Donkey Kong world record at E3, the makers of Stride Gum, want to reward Wiebe for his valiant efforts. Stride gum had originally offered to give Steve Wiebe 40,004 quarters ($10,001) and a year’s supply of their newest flavor Uber Bubble if he broke the Donkey Kong world record at E3 2009.

To honor his latest attempt and dedication to a classic tradition of arcade gaming, Stride gum will give Wiebe $2,500.25 (10,001 quarters in total) and a year’s supply of Uber Bubble gum, more than enough to see him through to his next attempt. Stride will also keep the offer open through E3 2010, so whenever Wiebe makes a public attempt at the Donkey Kong world record, Stride gum will be ready to reward him with $10,001 in quarters if and when he breaks it (at a public-facing, Twin Galaxies-approved event from now until E3 2010).

While the world record of 1,050,200 points remains intact, Wiebe still impressed everyone that watched with a kill screen at 989,400, and other impressive scores of 923,400 and 653,700 at E3.

500 Lbs. of Quarters for Wiebe’s Donkey Kong Crown

Written on May 13, 2009 at 11:45 pm, by James Fudge

That’s what Stride Gum is offering former Donkey Kong champ Steve Wiebe to help him claim the high score on the game - which he’ll attempt to do at the Electronic Entertainment Expo in Los Angeles in early June. Sure, it’s a publicity stunt to promote a new flavor of their gum - Uber Bubble - but Stride is apparently offering the reward to motivate Wiebe to beat Billy Mitchell’s score of 1,050,200.

there is one catch (there’s always a catch): it will be paid after he beats the score - not before. If he doesn’t no skin of Stride’s nose. So how many quarters is Stride offering? f he can re-claim the record at E3 2009, they’ll give Wiebe a year’s supply of Stride gum’s newest flavor – Uber Bubble and $10,001 in the form of every arcade’s preferred denomination, quarters (40,004 total, to be exact).

Steve Wiebe Takes Donkey Kong Jr. World Record

Written on April 27, 2009 at 10:50 am, by James Fudge

Steve Wiebe has claimed the Donkey Kong Junior World Record with an impressive score of 1,139,800, according to Twin Galaxies. The new World Record mark was accomplished on March 14 and verified by Twin Galaxies Chief Referee David Nelson. Steve’s new World Record mark of 1,139,800 points takes the Donkey Kong Junior crown from fellow Washington state native Ike Hall, who was crowned the DKJ World Champ in August 2008 with a score of 1,033,000, taking the crown that Billy Mitchell had held on the game since 1985.Former Donkey Kong Jr. record holder Ike Hall plans to try to beat the new score, but acknowledges that it will be difficult.

This win is a precursor to Wiebe attempting to reclaim his title as the record holder of Donkey Kong at E3. that event will be televised live on June 2nd via G4 TV.

Nintendo Plans Pre-TGS Press Conference

Written on September 17, 2008 at 3:46 pm, by James Fudge

While every other Japanese company attends the Tokyo Game Show next month, Nintendo will forgo (as usual) the annual event to hold its own press conference to make a few choice announcements, according to a news story in Nihon Securities Journal. While details on just what Nintendo will announce are not disclosed, Nintendo has confirmed that it does plan such an event and that announcements will be made. Yeah, we kind of picked that vibe up..

Will the company rehash what it plans to release later this year or make some new announcements about franchises that were conspicuously absent during E3 in July? Let the wild speculation begin, but I suspect it will be rolling out some announcements about sequels to a number of its core franchises.

Source: Nihon Securities Journal by way of a translation from Kotaku.