Enlarge / Billy Mitchell competes at a (presumably authentic) Donkey Kong cabinet. (credit: Flickr / daveynin)
After a nearly five-year legal battle between the scorekeepers at Twin Galaxies and Billy Mitchell over the veracity of Mitchell's contested Donkey Kong high score submissions, the recent settlement of the case before trial might feel a little anticlimactic. But Twin Galaxies attorney David Tashroudian tells Ars Technica that he wasn't surprised both sides opted for the cost savings and quick finality that come with avoiding arguments in front of a jury.
"A ton of cases end up settling prior to trial, just to avoid the expense and for all the parties to get finality and certainty on their own terms," Tashroudian told Ars. "There were going to be an inordinate amount of costs involved, and both parties were facing a lot of uncertainty at trial, and they wanted to get the matter settled on their own terms without putting it to a jury."
For Twin Galaxies, Tashroudian said he wasn't sure if cost "was our primary motivating factor, but I think the finality really is something that we wanted to achieve."