The year: 1984.

The place: Twin Galaxies arcade, Ottumwa Iowa.

The event: 16-year-old Timothy McVey (that’s McVey, the gamer, not McVeigh, the bomber) records the highest score in video game history on a single quarter — over one billion points

The game:  Nibbler, a little-known but notorious classic arcade game, unique for its ability to register, well, over a billion points.

Time involved: 44+ hours of continuous play.

Comment: Holy $&*#!

Fast-forward 25 years. Tim’s record had stood as the highest verified score of video gaming’s Golden Age. Or so everyone thought. Until…

A rumor surfaces  of a higher score having been set in Italy — also in 1984 —  by Enrico Zanetti, an Italian kickboxing champion. Uh-oh.

Soon after, Tim is challenged to a Nibbler showdown by Dwayne Richard, a renowned Canadian video game champion. Oh jeeeez…

This leads to a competition referred to as “death in slow motion.” McVey must not only deal with swollen hands, aching limbs and middle-age, but battle his own demons as he seeks to retain/regain his legacy.

Andrew Seklir & Tim Kinzy, producers and directors at Playland Pictures Inc. (and former Battlestar Galactica editors), have spent the past five years making the documentary Man vs Snake: The Long and Twisted Tale of Nibbler, which chronicles McVey’s epic quest. The film includes interviews with the players, back-breaking days-long marathon attempts and unique archival footage from the 1980s. Locations range from small-town Iowa to Los Angeles, New Jersey, Denver, Chicago, Washington, Miami, Canada, and Italy. Also featured are Walter Day and Billy Mitchell (THE KING OF KONG); Nibbler programmers John Jaugilas & Joe Ulowetz; Joshua Bearman and others. 

Principle photography has been completed and the film is currently in post-production. Seklir and Kinzy are asking for your support and have launched a Kickstarter campaign to fund completion of the film. After everything Tim has been through, do you really want to let him down?