The convention will close in 90 minutes, but at the entrance...the reception ask us to pay a ticket.
Fred has the Billy's phone number, so let's call him, and try to enter for free, as guests
The funny thing : On the phone, Billy says : "Ok, stay at the entrance, I'll come and get you in few minutes... Do you'll recognize me?"
5 minutes later, Billy is coming... we are his personal guests
... Welcome here
When Arcade & Food unites
He's here to promote/help arcade games @ home, with his friend (& partner?) Robert Childs, founder of
Arcade Game Sales (
www.arcadegamesales.net), but also his juicy Ricky's sauce
Here's a 'special edition' of it
The presentations are done
(we are from Belgium... Arcade Life Style ... Pac Man ... King of Kong ...), we can start the 'fan attitude' pictures
Billy and my Pac Man 'kill screen' black t-shirt :
I pull off my 'Pac Man' white t-shirt and ask him to sign it
"Ok, do you want on your t-shirt?"
Do what you want please Billy
"
NEVER SURRENDER" ...this is what his cell pone display all the time (He even mention it in the 'King Of Kong' movie)
"Now Billy, I want to have the shape of your hand printed on my t-shirt, the one who done the perfect score on Pac Man..."
"No problem"... and he asks to Nunette to draw it... like this :
...with the help of Robert... *AWESOME*
...
It was a very funny moment... and a good opportunity to joke with him
He's very fun... and so cool
Done
He's very tall... of maybe my wife is so small? ... I would say both
My favorite picture (my wife was very impressed!)
For the fun, I show him a book I'm reading now...
I don't think he need to read it
He proposes us to demonstrate his skill ... "what game do you want me to play... Ms Pac Man?"
Ms Pac Man... YES!!!
...and he starts to play ... I've no word.... it's AWESOME ... he seems to know EXACTLY where the ghosts are going
...
He shows us a 'safe spot' in the game ... IMPRESSIVE ... and while he's playing, he continues to talk with us, answering our question ... and always, he predicts what the ghosts will do
It's hard to believe if you don't see that with your own eyes
He is playing Ms Pac Man on a 48 in 1 board, and he says the game is very accurate (good to know
) on that board... because the gameplay is exactly the same than the original Ms Pac Man board...
During his game, he got few phone calls... and it's Robert who take the Billy's phone : "Hey Billy, it's a customer... take the call please .... "
"Hey... I'm playing Ms Pac Man...
THIS is business!!!"
...an other phone call : "Billy, it's your wife..."
"Lister Rob' whatever the question, just tell her YES!"
An other Billy's customer is calling... this time he gets the call... but still playing Ms Pac Man... in a high level ... without missing anything
A picture of the banner
I really love these two tables ... a good idea for my game room
...
He is a very kind person... we discuss about a lot of things ... for example why he's the *bad* on KOK movie?, why he didn't chat with Steve? ... and other questions about the movie... the world records...
I can tell you he gives me good explanations... to resume : "it's just a movie".... and a movie works better if there's a good guy, and a bad guy... and a story. He's the "Darth Vader" in the movie! On the positive side, people are always remember the bad guy... I agree
An other amazing moment... Billy takes his cell phone... and calls
Walter Day, the founder of Twin Galaxies (more info about him on
wikipedia).
He explains him our Journey : "...guys coming from Belgium ... from Ricky's restaurant to this convention center trip..." ... and he says : "Walter would like to talk to you
"
What a nice moment
...speaking to Walter Day, on the Billy Mitchell's cell phone ...
I speak with him about 15 minutes. He knows Belgium, and the town of Bastogne for some personal reasons. We speak about -of course- Twin Galaxies, his music, classic games enthusiasm... He's so nice, quiet... it was a real pleasure to speak with him
It's late now... we already overlap the closing hours of the exhibition.
the security guys of the convention ask to close everything and leave... so it's really time to go.
So it's time to say good bye to Billy, and thank him for the time he stayed with us (almost two hours
), answering all the questions, playing Ms Pac Man and showing us few 'tricks' (safe spot for example) , the gifts (Ricky's sauces), the phone call with Walter...
Of course, I have a special thanks to the Ricky's waitress who has allowed this meeting... BIG KISS
Thanks also to Fred who got a day off from his job, just to be with us and make this story possible too
It was AN AWESOME day!!! I wish you all a such 'Arcade Life Style' story too
PS : This story is a segment on the big topic called : "Holiday in Florida / Texas [features Arcade Life Style stories] ...where you'll see others 'ALS stories'