titles are for chumps

This. Go watch this.

It's a movie called The King of Kong: a Fistful of Quarters. It's about Steve Wiebe's quest to set the world record for the highest score in the original 1981 Donkey Kong game and his rival, Billy Mitchell's attempts to keep his score on top. It's also about the culture of competitive retro gaming.

The best thing about this movie is Billy Mitchell, the then current record holder. He's ridiculous, and so arrogant. His USA ties are also great.

Secondly, though, is how good these people are. They develop intense strategies and techniques to boost their score, all under the watchful eye of Twin Galaxies, the referee organization of this world. We talk about excellence all the time in the martial arts. Well here's a handful of people who are the absolute best in the world at what they do. They devote countless hours to it, shaping their lives around this passion.

And there is absolutely not practical value to this skill.

That's what makes me respect these two guys all the more. They're playing Donkey Kong because they want to. They're amazing at it because they decided to be. Mario is the original ubermensch.