Man vs Snake: The Long and Twisted Tale of Nibbler (2015) More Tim vs Tim. Relatable characters, Hated cheater Dwayne. Surprisingly riveting, Even loved ones on eggshells. Tanka, literally "short poem", is a form of poetry consisting of five lines, unrhymed, with the 5-7-5-7-7 syllable format. #Tanka #PoemReview

I liked that Tim McVey is really good at playing a totally obscure video game. I like that he is over weight, he is not rich, he is totally ordinary. He is not one of the celebrated, over paid sport stars with their noses up in the sky. This documentary is for you and me.If you remember how it was to play games in the arcade halls or at the local cafeteria, then this is for you. I remember me and my childhood friend playing a game, I think it was Commando, down at the hotel. We might have been 10, then after playing for a long time and having a huge score, the owner of the hotel, an old woman, came and unplugged the plug from the socket, because it was closing time. If you understand why this upset us, you will like this documentary. There are many other things that I liked about Man vs. Snake. For example the polite and cool Italian who claimed he had beaten the record, the black sheep rival Dwayne Richard, who might or might not have cheated by replacing parts so the game slowed down and the obvious love story between Tim and his wife. I recommend this documentary for all these and more reasons!

Before I saw this documentary, I can't recall ever hearing about a video game called 'Nibbler'. This surprised me a bit, as I grew up during the heyday of coin-op video games in the late 70s and through the 80s and played quite a few. Somehow I missed Nibbler. I also missed the insane record that some odd people have pursued...trying to score a billion or more on this game. This feat takes almost two days to do...and is grueling...though you do wonder why!This film is specifically about a guy from Ottumwa, Iowa who was the first to break the billion mark. While Tim McVey (not THAT one) did this, what's interesting about him is that decades later, he's STILL playing that accursed game in an effort to have the highest score ever, as his unbeatable mark has been beaten.Unlike "King of Kong", this documentary looks like it must have taken about a decade to make. Some of this might have been due to financing...and some due to Tim's continued obsession with the game. Regardless, it is interesting and I am glad I saw it...but I also felt that it was too long and my interest was waning a bit near the end.

MAN VS SNAKE tells the story of Tim McVey (the gamer not the bomber) who in 1984, on a single quarter (and over forty-four hours of non-stop play) was the first person in history to score over one billion points on a video game.I love that this is a thing, a whole subgenre of documentaries about classic video games and the people who set the high scores. Walter Day is great, and the whole entourage (Billy Mitchell, etc) are interesting characters. Tim McVey is very much an everyman, and his story is in some strange way inspirational.Nibbler, man... of all the games to pick... but they did a great job putting this together and keeping it moving. I suppose they could have had a bit more about the game's history and knockoffs, but I don't feel like it would be necessary.