Steve Wiebe

Steve Wiebe
Wiebe in 2007
Born	(1969-01-03)January 3, 1969 Seattle,Washington,U.S.
Nationality	American
Education	University of Washington(BS) City University(M.Ed)
Occupation(s)	Competitive gamer, school teacher, musician, basketball player
Spouse	Nicole
Children	2

Steven J. Wiebe(/ˈwiːbi/;born January 3, 1969) is an American two-time world champion of the video gameDonkey Kong,most recently holding the title from September 20, 2010, to January 10, 2011, with a high score of 1,064,500. Wiebe was the first person to achieve over a million points onDonkey Kong,with 1,006,600 on July 4, 2004.He is one of the primary subjects of the 2007 documentaryThe King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters.Like hisDonkey KongrivalBilly Mitchell,Wiebe was put in aToppsAllen & Ginter baseball set, which is featured in the 2009 edition of the baseball product.

Early life

Wiebe was born inSeattle, Washingtonto Ryan and Sandy Wiebe. He has a brother, Ryan, and a sister, Cathy. He attendedNewport High SchoolinBellevue, Washington.He developed an interest in music at an early age.

He graduated with aBSin mechanical engineering from theUniversity of Washingtonin 1991.

Career

From 1996 to 1999 he worked atBoeingas a testing and analysis engineer, and from 1999 to 2001 he worked at theBsquare corporationin Bellevue as a software testing engineer. In 2004 Wiebe earned aMaster of EducationatCity University of Seattle.

In December 2009, he released aContemporary Christianalbum,The King of Song.

Donkey Konghigh scores

• On August 19, 2007, at theAlamo DrafthouseinAustin, Texas,Wiebe scored 695,500 points whileTwin GalaxiesFounderWalter Dayserved as the official referee.
• On March 6, 2008, inLas Vegas,Nevada,Wiebe played in front of a fluctuating crowd of 1,900 party attendees in the TAO Nightclub in theVenetian Casinoduring Microsoft's MIX08 event. During that attempt, Wiebe achieved two scores: first scoring 929,800 points and reaching thekill screenand then 579,300 points on the second try. According to Twin Galaxies records, this is the sixth time someone had reached the "Kill Screen" during a public gaming performance (he and Mitchell each did this three times). Again, Wiebe performed under the supervision of Twin Galaxies Founder Walter Day, who noted: "Possibly the biggest challenges Wiebe had to overcome were the loud nightclub music, the chaotic environment and the late hours."
• On July 17, 2008, Wiebe made his third attempt to break theDonkey Konghigh score at the Twiistup 4 event inSanta Monica, California,but was unsuccessful on two consecutive attempts, scoring 340,500 and 466,100.
• In October 2008, at the 2008 E for All Expo, he scored 1,000,200 in front of a large crowd. This was only the third time a million-point score had been achieved in public.
• On April 24, 2009, Wiebe temporarily took command of theDonkey Kong Jr.title, eclipsing both Mitchell and previous record holder Icarus Hall with a score of 1,139,800. This was later passed by Mark L. Kiehl with a score of 1,147,800.
• On June 2, 2009, Wiebe reached a score of 923,400 atE3 2009during his first attempt that day. On his second attempt he reached 653,700. A third attempt was interrupted by a brief power failure. After power was restored, Wiebe made a fourth attempt, in which he reached 989,400 before thekill screenended it. These attempts were broadcast online viaG4TV.
• On February 17, 2010, Wiebe recaptured theDonkey Kong Jr.high score title with a verified 1,190,400 points, beating out previous record holder Kiehl. Twin Galaxies Founder Walter Day served as the official referee. On April 19, 2010, Kiehl recaptured the Donkey Kong Jr. high score with a verified 1,253,000 points. According to Twin Galaxies Wiebe now has the fifth highest score inDonkey Kong Jr.with 1,190,400 points.
• On September 20, 2010, Wiebe regained the title ofDonkey Kongchampion, verified by Twin Galaxies through a DVD recording of play on August 30, 2010, with a score of 1,064,500 points.
• On January 10, 2011, Wiebe lost the title of world record holder when his previous high score of 1,064,500 points onDonkey Kongwas beaten by plastic surgeonHank Chien's 1,068,000-point score. The attempt took two hours and 45 minutes.
• On April 12, 2018, Wiebe was recognized as the first person to ever reach a score of 1,000,000 points. This title was granted by Twin Galaxies after it performed an investigation into Mitchell, the previous record holder. Mitchell was found either to have used hardware emulation such asMAME,or to have otherwise modified his evidence. He was subsequently stripped of all records submitted to Twin Galaxies. MAME is acceptable for use by Twin Galaxies, but requires a different set of guidelines and submission process and is listed on a different leaderboard. Mitchell claimed a high score submission for the originalDonkey Kongarcade hardware; nothing but a non-modifiedDonkey Kongarcade cabinet can be used.
• On June 24, 2020, Wiebe broke the 1.1 million point barrier by submitting a score of 1,106,200 to Twin Galaxies. This was performed on original Arcade hardware and stands as the 12th best score on the website.

Steve Wiebe at the Kong Off 3 event

Media appearances

Wiebe was interviewed about the documentaryThe King of Kong: A Fistful of QuartersonThe Late Late Show with Craig Fergusonand onG4'sAttack of the Show!.He also voiced his own cartoon character onCode Monkeysin the episode "The Great Recession". He also appeared as "Jim" in the filmFour Christmases,directed bySeth Gordon,the director ofThe King of Kong.In 2011 Wiebe made a cameo appearance in Gordon's filmHorrible Bossesas Thomas, Head of Security. In 2015 he had a role in the Adam Sandler moviePixelsas "DARPA Scientist". He played Stephen Davidson in episode 1 ofSneaky PeteonAmazon Video.

Personal life

Wiebe lives inRedmond, Washingtonwith his wife, daughter, and son. He is a math teacher atRedmond High School.

External links

• Steve WiebeatIMDb
• Records of Steve WiebeatTwin Galaxies
• Videos of his E3 2009 record-breaking attemptsatTwitch