...Interview: Billy Mitchell, First Perfect Pac-Man Game:

Billy Mitchell, left; Mike Schneider, right.


NGenres: So you were the first person to have a perfect Pac-Man score?
Billy Mitchell: Yes I was.

NG: Could you describe the ending of Pac-Man?
BM: Yeah, the ending of Pac-Man. Basically you've reached 256 spaces. You've exhausted the memory of the game. There is not enough memory left in the game for the entire board. So half the board is normal, the other half is just computer garble. It's a matter of trying to work your way through the computer garble and not being able to see what the maze actually looks like. And that's the end.



The 256th screen in Pacman. The right side garble prevents you from even getting to the left side of the screen.

NG: So there's 256 levels?
BM: 256 screens, yeah.

NG: What other records to you have besides the Pac-Man one?
BM: I've had Centipede, Donkey Kong, Ms. Pac Man, Donkey Kong Jr., and Burger Time.

NG: Could you describe the differences between the original version of Pac-Man and other versions, such as Ms. Pacman?
BM: Yeah, basically, Pac-Man is one particular base, with a lot of different speed levels, but its one particular base. When you get to Ms. Pac-Man and other Pac-Mans, within the one game, there are several different designs of the bases. Basically, the game play is the same, just the different format.

NG: Out of all the different arcade games, which one is probably your favorite?
BM: I like what Pac-Man has brought me, its brought me trips around the world and things like that. Probably Donkey Kong would be the game that I like the best because it was the one I was so much better than everyone else for so many years. And it was the very first game that brought me into the spotlight in Life magazine in 1982.

NG: Have you played the Game Boy Advance version of Pac-Man in Namco Museum?
BM: Actually, I have but not a lot. When it comes to that game and games like that, you can't argue with the graphics and the technology, I mean it's better than anything you could have imagined twenty years ago. Whether or not the actual gameplay is better or more enjoyable, a lot of us old timers would argue that.

NG: So you think the older versions' gameplay is better?
BM: I think so. Strategic-wise, they are. Its more game and more strategy, as opposed to more graphics and what I consider less fun.

NG: I saw you do a little trick where you stick the Pac-Man guy in a corner and the ghosts can't get you. Are these types of tricks still in newer versions?
BM: Yeah they can. Not as many, but they do happen. And even though I can do them, if somebody sees me do them it doesn't mean they can do them. It's a particular timing; it's difficult to do. Once you know how to do it its easy to do. It's not something you can just watch and do.

NG: What other tricks besides that one are there in a game?
BM: There are a lot of different hiding spots. At times there are ways you can go through men. There are ways you can trap them, things like that. Although that actually has little to do with the actual gameplay when your playing for a record.

NG: How many of these tricks did you find out yourself?
BM: Almost all of them.

NG: And are those the ones that are commonly known now?
BM: Yeah. People will say to me, "Oh, let me show you this great trick I learned!" I'll say, "Yeah, I'm the one that learned that." That happens a lot. I'll say, "Where did you see that?" They'll say, "Oh, I saw it in Joystick Magazine." I'll say, "Yeah, I'm the one that gave it to the editor."

NG: When did you start playing Pac-Man, right when it came out?
BM: No, actually a little later. I actually started playing Ms. Pac-Man first with a guy name Darrin Olson from Canada who I met at Life magazine and I considered him the best player I had ever seen. And those were the games he played. Because he played those games and I considered him the best and I wanted to be the best I started playing those games. I don't know if I ever told him that, so maybe he'll see it here. That's what initiated my drive. If you want to be the best, you pick who you think is the best and you want to work to beat them.


Click here for Page Two that details more Pac Man and Billy's future endeavors.