Todd Rogers

We all know about it, and we all see it. It's obvious. Nobody ever wants to admit it, but it's there.

People on this subreddit hate Todd Rogers.

The first question to ask: why? Why do you all hate him? Why do you claim he is a cheater when no real, comprehensive analysis of a real Atari 2600 gaming environment incorporating the human element has taken place? The obvious answer: you didn't watch him in his prime.

Likely explanation: I know that most of you are around 14 or 15 years old. That means you only got into video games in the last couple years. So you never watched Todd in his prime.

And because you didn't watch him in his prime, you try to compensate for that by diving into spreadsheet simulations and analyzing code and hardware. But here's the thing: Dragster isn't played on Excel spreadsheets. The moment somebody brings up "frame-perfect inputs" or "TAS" I know they know nothing about speedrunning.

Todd's game cannot be encapsulated by one stat. He's the King of Video Games, and one of the 5 best players to ever play Donkey Kong.

So when I hear somebody say that Todd Rogers is a cheater, I laugh, because I know that anybody who watched Todd in his prime wouldn't think that. Unlike you guys, I have followed Twin Galaxies and video games for a significant amount of time, so I know that Todd is better.

You might be jealous of Todd's 5.51, or jealous of his status as the greatest scorer in Centipede history, or whatever. Unless you're a video games fan who watched competitions in the 80s, or an Atari 2600 player who holds at least three world records, you don't know what real, cold-blooded, killer instinct, will-to-win Dragster looks like. And there's nothing wrong with that.

This sub would make you think that Todd isn't even a top 10 player ever.

So don't go spouting bullshit about players you didn't watch. Talk about your "greats" like darbian The Best Mario Player in the World™, but leave the Todd talk to the adults. Fair?