Todd Rogers banned from Twin Galaxies and records removed

[davidmt]

Holy crap. This actually was picked up by the WASHINGTON POST! You know, Watergate, Woodward and Bernstein, that Washington Post.

 

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/early-lead/wp/2018/01/29/a-man-accused-of-cheating-at-video-games-may-lose-his-decades-old-guinness-world-record/?utm_term=.36322b00849b

 

Congrats, Todd

 

 

"Rogers’s record on the classic Atari arcade game Centipede, for example, had been listed on the Twin Galaxies site as being 65,000,000. The second-highest score, 58,078, barely comes close. (As of Monday afternoon, those rankings were adjusted after Rogers’s scores were removed.)"

 

I don't follow TG at all, but how could crazy scores like Centipede not be questioned? From what I understand, there were many like this. A super high score well above the 2nd ranking, no evidence, and a "round number" ... how could anyone take this seriously?

Edited January 30, 2018 by davidmt

[VectorGamer]

I don't follow TG at all, but how could crazy scores like Centipede not be questioned? From what I understand, there were many like this. A super high score well above the 2nd ranking, no evidence, and a "round number" ... how could anyone take this seriously?

I questioned it and as far as "round number" goes I was told that Todd "is so good he can end a game on a round number."

[VectorGamer]

From "homerwannabe" aka "Mr Galaxian" aka "DK3 Champ"

[Special Teams]

I get there are people out there who are habitual liars, who crave attention etc. What I don't get is why TG would accept scores that based on the game's own scoring system (in increments of 50 points for example) are impossible?

[8bitgamer]

I had an interesting encounter with Todd Rogers at the 2015 Classic Game Fest in Austin. Check it out here:

 

http://www.brettweisswords.com/2018/01/todd-rogers-funny-thing-happened-at.html

Edited January 30, 2018 by 8bitgamer

[Gabriel]

 

 

"Rogers’s record on the classic Atari arcade game Centipede, for example, had been listed on the Twin Galaxies site as being 65,000,000. The second-highest score, 58,078, barely comes close. (As of Monday afternoon, those rankings were adjusted after Rogers’s scores were removed.)"

 

I don't follow TG at all, but how could crazy scores like Centipede not be questioned? From what I understand, there were many like this. A super high score well above the 2nd ranking, no evidence, and a "round number" ... how could anyone take this seriously?

 

Because the high score wasn't on arcade Centipede. The 58,078 is on Atari 5200 Centipede.

 

This is how many of his high scores were. They were on games that few people care about because of lack of popularity or simply oddball ports. I imagine there are many people here on the forums which can easily beat a 58,078 on Atari 5200 Centipede, but who is going to go through the effort of a video filmed in front of a TG judge (one of the good ol boy network), and all to come in second to a fake score of eleven quintillion. And getting those fake scores removed takes a lot of people complaining for months. Who is going to bother?

[VectorGamer]

but who is going to go through the effort of a video filmed in front of a TG judge

All you have to do is a video capture of the performance and upload it to TG. It's not that complicated.

[HatefulGravey]

 

 

"What also seems to get overlooked is that I was only sixteen, and really had nothing to gain by fabricating an unobtainable score". - Todd Rogers

 

Really? I've known people to do much worse than lie for much less than a little recognition among their peers. Surely there was no way to know what was to come after, but I would imagine all that sudden success gives more than enough motivation to lie. As time goes and people start to lose interest you have to lie again, or maybe you have to lie when someone challenges you to remain "The King of Video Games".

 

O, what a tangled web we weave when first we practise to deceive.

[keepdreamin]

I get there are people out there who are habitual liars, who crave attention etc. What I don't get is why TG would accept scores that based on the game's own scoring system (in increments of 50 points for example) are impossible?

Seems laughable, but TG is a PERFECT microcosm example of having industry insiders at the head of a regulatory agency. Given the opportunity to line their pockets, they will.

 

For action to be taken in such situations, something has to be so egregious, so face-palmingly obvious that anyone with somewhat functional faculties would know something was amiss.

 

It's easy to draw parallels between this mess and larger actually important ones currently going in this day.

[spacecadet]

Seems laughable, but TG is a PERFECT microcosm example of having industry insiders at the head of a regulatory agency. Given the opportunity to line their pockets, they will.

 

Never assign to malice that which can be explained by incompetence or stupidity.

 

I'm guessing that some of the TG people just never bothered to check how some of these games actually work.

[Cobra Kai]

 

Never assign to malice that which can be explained by incompetence or stupidity.

 

I'm guessing that some of the TG people just never bothered to check how some of these games actually work.

I think it's pretty clear that certain people of privilege were simply allowed to just enter scores in the database at will, with no checks. The entire website and database should be considered as fake and scrapped at this point.

[+-^CrossBow^-]

 

Because the high score wasn't on arcade Centipede. The 58,078 is on Atari 5200 Centipede.

 

This is how many of his high scores were. They were on games that few people care about because of lack of popularity or simply oddball ports. I imagine there are many people here on the forums which can easily beat a 58,078 on Atari 5200 Centipede, but who is going to go through the effort of a video filmed in front of a TG judge (one of the good ol boy network), and all to come in second to a fake score of eleven quintillion. And getting those fake scores removed takes a lot of people complaining for months. Who is going to bother?

 

I was surprised he never tried to best my 5200 Star Wars TAG record I have there. Back when I got that score I had been rebuilding 5200 controllers all night and this was the last one I had rebuilt and SW:TAG was the go to game I used for testing them. I just got into the zone and by 4am I had to stop playing since I had to get up like 2 hours later for work. At the time the best I had on hand was a camera and took a pic of the screen off my CRT and that was the best I could provide for proof. TG accepted it but did advise me that given the nature of the score and high high it was, that I might be called upon in the future to prove it again using video. I've not really played SW:TAG that much on the 5200 since, but still prefer that version over any other 8-bit release of the game bitd.

[Keatah]

Seems laughable, but TG is a PERFECT microcosm example of having industry insiders at the head of a regulatory agency. Given the opportunity to line their pockets, they will.

For action to be taken in such situations, something has to be so egregious, so face-palmingly obvious that anyone with somewhat functional faculties would know something was amiss.

It's easy to draw parallels between this mess and larger actually important ones currently going in this day.

It's why I didn't bother with my world class Missile Command score. Or other hi-scores. I know what I did and can do, and that's good enough for me. TG be damned.

[Keatah]

Todd Rogers creeped on my wife when she was in college about 15 years ago. F@#$ that guy.

Oh my!!

[Lauren Tyler]

It's about time they gave him the banhammer!

[+Random Terrain]

Todd Rogers creeped on my wife when she was in college about 15 years ago. F@#$ that guy.

I can't find one definition or article for "creep on." There are entries for "creep up on," but nothing for "creep on" that I can find. Does anyone have a good definition? There are articles on how to avoid creeping women out, but that's not a definition.

[swordquest plus]

I can't believe that that record was faked! This is a major disappointment in my book! I don't know much about Todd to be honest, but to find the record discredited really disturbs me! Oh well. Stardom don't always mean everything you know.

[BillyHW]

Did Todd Rogers have any legitimate high scores?

[Shawn]

Did Todd Rogers have any legitimate high scores?

 

A bunch of them. His fake scores taint all his real accomplishments though which is a shame. Why someone as skilled as he is wouldn't be happy with his real achievements and leave it at that is very weird to me. The guy is a legit video game master many times over. Why he faked so many other scores outside of his true feats? I guess only he knows why but will never admit to.

[Skippy B. Coyote]

 

A bunch of them. His fake scores taint all his real accomplishments though which is a shame. Why someone as skilled as he is wouldn't be happy with his real achievements and leave it at that is very weird to me. The guy is a legit video game master many times over. Why he faked so many other scores outside of his true feats? I guess only he knows why but will never admit to.

 

Yep, it is a darn shame. As humans we have a lot of trouble figuring out how to deal with people who do really good things but also do really bad things. Bill Cosby for instance. The financial donations he's made and scholarships he set up have sent more African American kids to college than pretty much any other program in American history, but he also ended up molesting or raping like 50 people. Obviously that's a lot more extreme of an example than someone like Todd Rogers who had some amazing video game high scores but also had some fake ones, but I think it drives the point home. People have trouble sorting out how they should view someone who did great things but also did awful things, and at the end of the day I think most folks just decide that they're a bad person; because that's easier than trying to weigh the good they did against the bad.

 

Personally I admire Todd for the incredible skill it took to perform his legitimate achievements, it's just too bad that he couldn't have been satisfied with just how impressive his own skill was and felt the need to fabricate scores. If he would have just relied on his own skill and what he could actually do he would still be a video gaming legend, but he didn't and because of that most people will now only remember him as a cheater.

[Shawn]

 

 

Personally I admire Todd for the incredible skill it took to perform his legitimate achievements, it's just too bad that he couldn't have been satisfied with just how impressive his own skill was and felt the need to fabricate scores. If he would have just relied on his own skill and what he could actually do he would still be a video gaming legend, but he didn't and because of that most people will now only remember him as a cheater.

 

My confusion isn't with him doing good and bad things, it's why he would choose to present falsehoods about his abilities at some games when he was already legitimately great at many others. It's the whole lack of being satisfied with the limits of the truth to the point of presenting lies to make up for a non-existent deficit in the first place that gets me. He's the millionaire that tries to convince everyone he's a billionaire cause to him being a millionaire just isn't enough. Meanwhile, back at the ranch, all the hands know he's got millions but he ain't no billionaire. You get me?

[Skippy B. Coyote]

 

My confusion isn't with him doing good and bad things, it's why he would choose to present falsehoods about his abilities at some games when he was already legitimately great at many others. It's the whole lack of being satisfied with the limits of the truth to the point of presenting lies to make up for a non-existent deficit in the first place that gets me. He's the millionaire that tries to convince everyone he's a billionaire cause to him being a millionaire just isn't enough. Meanwhile, back at the ranch, all the hands know he's got millions but he ain't no billionaire. You get me?

 

 

Oh yeah, I get what you're saying. I guess some people are just never satisfied with what they have, sometimes to the point that they do really stupid things to try and get more. Why Todd Rogers decided to fabricate scores for some games when he was already so skilled at others I have no idea, but that's probably a question best left for a psychologist.

[H.E.R.O.]

He got brazen because he was in tight with the upper echelon of TG that made him a 'star' (star in very loose terms) & would cover for him. He probably never expected TG to get sold or people would actually start investigating scores of his for their veracity.

 

In the end, besides the personal pride of an actual achieved high score what does having one or many records get you? That & a dollar will buy you a coffee at 7-11.

[Rodrigo]

Guilty until proven innocent is rampant in the New America today whether it be sexual harassment claims or video games.

Sad but true.

[[d2f]Iggy*SJB]

 

My confusion isn't with him doing good and bad things, it's why he would choose to present falsehoods about his abilities at some games when he was already legitimately great at many others. It's the whole lack of being satisfied with the limits of the truth to the point of presenting lies to make up for a non-existent deficit in the first place that gets me. He's the millionaire that tries to convince everyone he's a billionaire cause to him being a millionaire just isn't enough. Meanwhile, back at the ranch, all the hands know he's got millions but he ain't no billionaire. You get me?

 

You know, this whole thing could have blown over long ago, had he admitted that he did wrong... wait a while... then beg forgiveness. Americans LOVE that shit.

 

Also, am I the only one here who thinks Kevin James should play Todd in a movie?