Dr. Chien surpassed the 1,050,200 Donkey Kong mark set by Billy Mitchell, with an unbelievable score of 1,061,700 in 2 hours and 35 minutes according to Twin Galaxies officials, ending the game on the famed kill screen.

The Perezstart.com staff first met Hank early in 2009 at a Richie Knucklez competition in Flemington, NJ. We remember seeing Hank playing on the Donkey Kong arcade machine wearing his medical scrubs. We then saw Hank again at the Richie Knucklez’s Invitational, and noticed something special brewing after he broke the 900k mark. Hank is a cool and calm customer, he has nerves of steel and exudes brilliance with every move that he makes.

Hank began practicing Donkey Kong on the MAME version and then invested in his own Donkey Kong arcade machine. The game of Donkey Kong requires impeccable hand eye- coordination and precision. It is only natural that the steady hands of a Plastic Surgeon could attain this phenomenal feat.

Personally, Dr. Chien is a very pleasant and kind person to interact with. We had a chance to sit with him back in August and speak to him about his plans and goals. At that time, we saw the determination in his eyes and made the bold prediction of breaking the 1,000,000 mark and taking the holy grail of all video game records, the number one spot Donkey Kong!

Dr. Hank Chien hails from NYC where he practices plastic surgery in his office in Flushing, NY. He has a computer science/mathematics degree from Harvard, attended medical school at Mt. Sinai Medicine and completed his residency in Vanderbilt University.

Will the record be challenged by Wiebe/Mitchell? Hank is already positioned to increase his high score even further. We at Perezstart.com feel that his record will never be broken since Hank has brought the record to an unreachable level now.

Perezstart.com will be attending Richie’s Classic Arcade Game Tournament in Flemington, NJ taking place on March 18, 2010 – March 21, 2010. We expect to catch up with Hank and congratulate him personally on this gargantuan feat. We also expect to see some new records broken at this exciting annual tournament. If you are free next weekend and live in the tri-state NY/NJ/PA area, don’t miss this star-studded classic arcade event! Make sure to let Richie know that Perezstart.com sent you!

source

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I must say I have been watching more than my fair share of the Winter Olympics this year. Overall, It has been a very exciting event to watch. I can’t help and think back to my first exposure to the winter games.

The year was 1984, I was 10 years old and I was on the Atari 130 XE. I remember spending many hours on Summer Games, a summer Olympic video game. The diving event was definitely my favorite.

I was very excited to see that EPYX planned a follow up for the Winter Olympics, Winter Games! Released in 1986, Winter Games featured the following events:

• Alpine skiing
• Ski jumping
• Biathlon
• Bobsled
• Figure skating
• Speed skating
• Luge
• Freestyle skiing

Winter Games was released on Virtual Console n the UK last February, but surprisingly was not released in NA as of yet. I am hoping that with the success of the current Winter Olympics, we will have it released in NA.

I feel it should have been released at the same time as the Winter Olympics.  I know that I would’ve downloaded it myself, sometimes its when you release a game not which game you release. We are waiting for an announcement.

Here is a review by Nintendo for the UK release

http://vc.nintendolife.com/games/c64/winter_games

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Sit down before you read this…Ready??  They are giving away 1 million dollars to the first player that can pitch a perfect game on the new MLB 2k10 video game. Wow, what a way to get a gamers attention. That has to be the biggest video game prize ever!

This is unprecedented!!!   I mean there have been 18 perfect games in MLB history and I am sure many have been thrown in various baseball video games over the years. However, now is when it counts.

Once you pitch a perfect game, the system will provide you with a specific code that must be given to redeem the prize. What about authentication? Ah!!! our very own friends at Twin Galaxies will have to certify the achievement! This is going to be as good as Steve Wiebe trying to beat the Donkey Kong record again, but with tons of money at stake!

The $1 million contest starts on March 2 and runs for 60 days.

Source: http://www.cnbc.com/id/35124184/

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I could remember it now, lying on the floor of my parents bedroom watching the suspense as the Mets were 1 strike away from handing the Red Sox the 1986 World Series. I was only 10 years old at the time, but I can remember it like it was yesterday.  This had to be the single most suspenseful and thrilling baseball game every played. This video had been tossed around the web a few times, but I wanted to share it with our loyal Perezstart readers.

The creators of this video had to have some serious patience and a good video editing tool to make this a reality. Enjoy the video everyone…

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A few years ago I was given an Atari Flashback unit for my birthday. It was a cute little device that resembled an Atari 7800. I enjoyed it, but how many of us actually had an Atari 7800 in the 80’s? By the time the 7800 was released, everyone had already moved on either to the Commodore 64 platform or Apple IIC or Atari Home Computers. The AF1 however was a hit in sales however, selling over 500,000 units.

Overall, Atari fans were not happy, the console was overly tiny, used poor 7800 styled sticks, and used an “NES-on-a-chip” for the actual hardware with the original 2600 games ported over. The games suffered, and were hard pressed to truly represent the original 2600 experience let alone the 7800.

Atari Flashback 1

I was thrilled to see that Atari released a follow up called the Atari Flashback 2 and it resembles the unit we all had or borrowed, the Atari 2600.Atari execs, convinced with the high sales of the AF1, went along a created a true old school masterpiece. The AF2, is a plug and play unit featuring a replica 2600 console as well and two exact replica joysticks. (If you own the original joysticks/paddles, you can use them as well!)

What gamers will be most interested in, its what featured under the hood. The unit uses an actual 2600 – on chip which allows for authentic execution of 2600 code. No emulation or porting this time, just real 2600 fun!

The AF2 includes 40 classic games that will satisfy even the oldest of old schoolers. Here is a full list:

• 3D Tic-Tac-Toe
• Adventure, Adventure II, Aquaventure, Arcade Asteroids, Arcade Pong, Asteroids Deluxe, Atari Climber
• Caverns Of Mars, Centipede, Combat, Combat 2
• Dodge’m
• Fatal Run, Frog Pond
• Hangman, Haunted House, Human Cannonball
• Lunar Lander
• Maze Craze, Millipede, Missile Command
• Off the Wall, Outlaw
• Pitfall
• Quadrun
• Radar Lock, Return To Haunted House, River Raid
• Saboteur, Save Mary, Secret Quest, Space Duel, Space War
• Thrust
• Video Checkers, Video Chess
• Wizard
• Yars’ Return, Yars’ Revenge

(Kudos to Activision, for licensing Pitfall and River!)

The fun doesn’t stop here, Atari realized the need for fans to want to play their original 2600 carts since AF2 runs the same code.  Adding a cart slot would’ve have been a logistical nightmare however. Therefore, the tech savy folks can open the unit and you’ll find it’s all set up for people to hack in their own cartridge ports!

Here is Cnet’s Review of the Atari Flashback 2:

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Many of us had the luxury of time this holiday weekend! Some of us went away and visited family, some of us stayed home and had family over. I dusted off my copy of Oblivion: Elder Scrolls IV and played for days on days.

What a fascinating game, First Person Shooters don’t have the breadth and depth of an ES4.  I woke up this morning thinking, yes Fallout 3 is out and its the next chapter in Bethesda’s library which has been highly acclaimed.

However, since I started playing role playing types with release of Dragon Warrior on the NES, I prefer the medieval genre with swords and spells and dungeons. Having played Dragon Warrior in in 1989 and playing that game for year and years, I felt the nostalgia playing a role playing game all weekend 20 years later!

So, the question, will Bethesda release ES5? Initially, my research had me pretty excited, that ES5 would be released sometime next year! However that article was dated,  so I began to dig deeper and found some more recent news on the topic. Our friends over at Joystiq.com published an article in August with breaking news from Bethesda about a possible ESV release. Bethesda’s Todd Howard denied the rumor but joked  about a possible ESV MMO release.

To whet our appetites a bit more, joystiq.com states:

A number of intriguingly named web domains use Zenimax’s nameserver as their host — domains such as ElderScrollsOnline.com, ElderScrollsMMO.com, TheElderScrollsMMOG.net, etc. This is so very far from a confirmation of the project — but definitely food for thought following Howard’s QuakeCon remarks.

Here is the full article: http://www.joystiq.com/2009/08/15/elder-scrolls-v-not-in-the-works-theres-a-chance-for-elder-s/

Photoshop can work wonders!

This opens a new can of worms, the MMO debate. Our E I C, Juan Perez wrote an article about his thoughts on MMO. Many people shy away from MMO’s because of the associated monthly fee. They are usually complex and don’t have an intriguing storyline. We will have to wait and see, but for now, I will milk ESIV until the very end. Expansion packs, would be an ideal stocking stuffer!!

What are your thoughts on the Elder Scrolls series rumored to go MMO? In favor, opposed? Let your voices be heard now…

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The Smackdown vs Raw series has seen its most impressive update to date with its latest installment, Smackdown vs Raw 2010! The game features an array of options, matches, characters as well as story designer mode.

For all of you out there that want to follow in Vince Russo’s shoes and write wrestling story-lines, here is your chance! The game features over 100 preset scene animations as well as the option to include whichever character you would like and even create dialogue for them to repeat. These storylines could be saved and uploaded and utilized by other gamers online. This creates a boundless combination of stories and situations that would please any wrestling fan.I recommend that you use your USB keyboard on your Xbox 360 and PS3 for optimal data entry since your can dictate what is said by each superstar.

Controls: At first, the game was a bit cumbersome for me, since I was a devoted Legends of Wrestlemania player. The controls are much different in this game, it took me a few hours to get used to grappling with the right control stick.  It also took me a long time to figure out the importance of momentum.   At first, I would pound on my opponent mercilessly with clotheslines and attacks off the top turnbuckle. I soon realized that to build momentum, you had to hit your opponent with an array of attacks. Once the momentum meter builds up, then the opponent can perform his finishing attack. The cut scenes during the finishing attack really capture the essence of destroying your opponent!

Nostalgia: Being a seasoned gamer, I always consider this category when reviewing games. This game does very well in the nostalgia category. I had a chance to complete the road to Wrestlemania with Randy Orton. I loved the fact that they included, “Cowboy” Bob Orton in the game! (He was even wearing that chronic cast which Bobbo always claimed it was to heal a hairline fracture in his arm!) Throughout the scenes, Ted DiBiase also made an appearance and the developers hit the character right on the spot with a very accurate voice, full beard and shiny black suit!

American…..Dreaeeeaamm! Yes, Dusty Rhodes also makes an appearance in the game and hearing his entrance music put a big smile on my face! Dusty has to have one of the best, opening songs of any wrestler! The game ranks very very high in this category, mixing new stars with the legends!

Graphics: Are superb, great detail to body definition, large characters are well depicted and cut scenes are outstanding. The collision control as well as the speed of the characters performing moves is dead on. My only gripe is action that is outside of the ring. Your view doesn’t zoom in, and you must peer from a long distance view to control the action.

Pros:
- Superb graphics
- Variety of matches
- Innovative  and comprehensive storyline mode
- Good mix of new and legendary wrestlers

Cons:
- Controls a bit cumbersome at first
- Outside ring combat sequence awkward
- Difficult to perform reversals

Overall Comments: THQ has really put a lot of effort in their latest Smackdown vs Raw installment. The game has so many bells and whistles that it should keep you busy during your off thanksgiving week and beyond. The mix of controls, nostalgia, variety and most importantly, its fun factor really makes this a game to add to your library. The Xbox live feature also is dead on and allows you to take your game on the road, literally!

8.5/10

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A few weeks ago, I wrote an article on the best sport games of the 80’s.  One of my favorite games was Hardball, for the Atari computer platform. I could vividly remember a screen which struck me when I was a child and has sprung back up now as an adult.  Here is the infamous screenshot:

All- Stars vs Champs, interesting concept.

Is an all-star team better or a championship team? My thoughts are that Baseball is a team sport and cohesiveness is a really important element to consider.  Perfect example would be the Dominican Republic’s performance in the World Baseball Classic. They were quickly eliminated by the Netherlands because they had great individual players, but they didn’t play well enough together.

While watching the world series this past week, I started to say to myself, are the Yankees the best baseball team in the world? I mean earlier this year, the world crowned the Japanese National Team, the World Baseball Classic Champions. They also won in the inaugural World Baseball Classic in 2005 by defeating the mighty Cubans.

I don’t believe the US team made it out of the 2nd round this time around. Therefore, does that mean the best team in the US has the basis to call themselves the World Series Champions?  Baseball has evolved much from the days of Honus Wagner and Ty Cobb.  It is a global phenomenon now and the tournaments should reflect that.

Granted, the Japanese National Team includes all stars from all of the best players in the Japanese league. Some might suggest, lets have a tournament between the champs of each country’s leagues. This would truly be a World Series and the winner would have the correct title! Or just rename the title “World Series Champion” to “Major League Baseball Champion.”

I say use the soccer World Cup model, that works and its one of the most exciting sporting events to watch! Add national pride to the suspense of baseball and you have yourself a Grand Slam!

In the end Hardball, a game from the 80’s, inspired this debate.  Who’d have known that a game almost 30 years old, still holds up… even for debatable “World Series” Champs!

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In an effort that many are calling “too late”, Microsoft tries to fix their errors reported yesterday by going back on their initial reports of “a very low percentage of restoring data” to “We’re pleased to announce… that most (if not all data) has been restored.  Microsoft has released a new statement this morning about the data recovery progress…Here is the message…

Microsoft Confirms Data Recovery for Sidekick Users

Data Restoration to Begin as Soon as Possible for Affected Customers

Thank you Microsoft for working so hard to fix the issue! BUT ITS TOO LATE!!!

How many users have already abandoned the sinking Titanic??! Did you expect the users to wait and twiddle their thumbs for weeks for their data to return? Its a noble effort but the damage has already been done! Furthermore, to add insult to injury, we can no longer be grandfathered into the $19.99 unlimited plan once we leave. The T-Mobile rep was very very VERY clear stating to me, “once I remove the $19.99 plan from your system and add you to another data service plan (which is $34.99) , you can never never NEVER go back to the $19.99 unlimited plan ever ever EVER again!. I GET THE POINT! I just want out!

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[UPDATE] – Data restoration was announced by Microsfot.

I can still remember the first time I had the chance to see the new T-mobile Sidekick back in October 2003! I was so impressed by all of the revolutionary features that it boasted. The cool swivel screen,the full qwerty keyboard and the overall futuristic look of it. Instant messaging from a phone was unheard of in those days and this phone had it! At the time, texting was starting to pick up in popularity, but texting from a standard cell phone was cumbersome and slow. The Sidekick made it easy to send off text msgs in a snap.

The phone became a social phenomenon with the likes of Paris Hilton, Snoop Dog, Tony Hawk and even Dwayne Wade standing behind the product. Unfortunately, over the years, I have noticed features that just weren’t cutting edge anymore. The Sidekick OS was not very compatible with certain webpages, youtube was just introduced in the latest LX 09 and Pandora is still not supported. Other phones had newer more exciting capabilities that were attracting new customers, Blackberry and I phones for example. However many side-kickers were loyal and stayed with their product…until now!

Unless you have been living under a rock for the past few weeks,you probably have noticed that the Sidekick has suffered one of the most catastrophic cloud server crashes ever! They have committed the almighty sin of all sins, losing customer data.

Contacts stored on the sidekick are generally not stored locally. You can save a few to the sim card, but when you have over 1400 contacts, a few won’t cut it. Therefore the majority of the contacts are stored on a cloud server that Danger ( a Microsoft Subsidiary) maintains. Someone decided to perform a server uprgade without backing up any of the data. When the upgrade crashed, the data was lost forever into the abyss! This has caused an uproar in the sidekick community, as blogs and threads are telling stories of absolute chaos.

Many of us, used our sidekicks for business. Business contacts that are garnered over 6 years are considered a valuable business asset. The fact of the matter is that the Sidekick was not “backup friendly”! To backup all of your contacts, calendars and notes, you would have to purchase a sidekick intellisynch program and download all of your contacts to your outlook. The process was cumbersome and quite annoying! Luckily I performed a backup in August because of a critical hardware issue on the new LX 09!

The new LX 09 has to be the worse product ever introduced to the mobile phone market… ever! The phone had so many problems its a wonder who is in charge of quality control over at Danger! The phone overheats when charging, turns off on its own, has no battery life and the biggest disaster of all, the keyboard is defective! I had to return my phone 3 times because of a bad keyboard. They are made up of this rubbery material that hardens after a few days of use. Texting is almost impossible after a week because the buttons practically turn to stone! T mobile agents say its not a known issue, but according to the many discussion forums, everyone is getting carpal tunnel syndrome from this phone!

Couple the deplorable LX 09 unit with the catastrophic data outage that occurred this week and its spells THE END!  Iphones and blackberry sales will be up in the next few months as  sidekick users vertically migrate to better products!

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