Arcades and Love Songs: A Heartfelt Ode to Walter Day’s Second Act

Arcades and Love Songs: The Ballad of Walter Day

Directed by Ed Cunningham

Written by Ed Cunningham, Paul Leach, Mike J. Nichols

Starring Walter Day, Billy Mitchell, Steve Wiebe

Release Date: June 9, 2025

Published: June 10, 2025

There are people in the world who radiate a kind of innate goodness. The kind of people who seem built from compassion and gentle curiosity. Walter Day is one of those people. He’s an oddball, sure—a man who has spent most of his life officiating arcade game high scores—but he does it with such sincerity and passion that you can’t help but respect him. There’s a sweetness to Walter, and it gives his unusual obsession an unexpected dignity.

The King of Kong

We first got a glimpse of that gentle charisma back in 2007, when Walter appeared as the referee in the cult documentary The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters. That film turned a silly rivalry over a Donkey Kong high score between Billy Mitchell and Steve Wiebe into a surprisingly gripping story. It was filled with unexpected twists, inflated egos, and one unforgettable man in a striped shirt who just wanted to ensure the scores were honest. That man was Walter Day.

What seemed like a quirky side role was actually a central part of Walter’s real life. As the founder of Twin Galaxies and a longtime arcade owner in Iowa, Walter became a respected figure in gaming not because of fame or fortune, but because of his undeniable integrity. In a world as eccentric as competitive arcade gaming, Walter brought order, credibility, and heart. When Billy Mitchell was accused of cheating, only Walter’s word carried enough weight to make people pause.

Turning the Camera to Walter Day

Now, nearly two decades later, director Ed Cunningham (who previously produced The King of Kong) turns his camera fully onto Walter for a very different kind of story. Arcades and Love Songs: The Ballad of Walter Day doesn’t center on games—it centers on dreams. Specifically, Walter’s long-held but rarely acknowledged dream of becoming a singer-songwriter.

Long before his brief moment of internet fame, Walter had been writing music—earnest, romantic ballads filled with yearning and nostalgia. But his devotion to arcade culture came first. After all, someone had to document and preserve gaming history, and Walter took on that responsibility as his life’s mission.

Walter's Second Act

Yet not all dreams age quietly. In his retirement years, Walter begins to pursue music with the same single-minded passion he once gave to Donkey Kong leaderboards. Encouraged by a community that still reveres him, Walter books his first concert, records original songs, and steps nervously into the spotlight again—this time armed with a microphone instead of a clipboard. He knows next to nothing about professional music production, but that’s never stopped Walter before.

Shadowing this late-life pivot is a long-running legal battle that stemmed from his work in the arcade scene. When The King of Kong gained attention, Walter teamed up with a business partner to create an arcade museum. But that relationship soured, and Walter found himself pushed out of the very legacy he helped build. Despite that betrayal, he never lost his optimism. He simply redirected his energy toward the one passion he had always kept tucked away: love songs.

And then there’s the matter of love itself.

A core emotional thread of the documentary follows Walter’s long-lost romantic flame—the one that got away. Decades after they parted, she still lingers in his heart, unknowingly inspiring many of his lyrics. With the help of Cunningham and his crew, Walter attempts to reconnect, or at least pay tribute, to this pivotal figure in his emotional life.

This gives the documentary a surprising emotional depth. It’s not just about chasing a dream or preserving a legacy—it’s about reconciling a life shaped by obsession. For all of Walter’s accomplishments, there’s a sadness beneath his smiles. A loneliness that speaks to the personal sacrifices he’s made in the name of preserving arcade history. Arcades and Love Songs becomes a quiet elegy for the parts of Walter Day that never got the same attention as the scores he so meticulously recorded.

Can Walter actually sing?

So, can Walter Day actually sing? That’s the question hanging over the film. And honestly—it doesn’t really matter. What matters is that he dares to try. What matters is the community cheering him on. What matters is the beautiful absurdity of watching a man who once governed the high score wars of Donkey Kong croon love songs to a small crowd that adores him.

There are funny moments. Touching ones. And many that are just plain strange. But they’re all grounded in the soulful presence of a man who gave his life to a niche world—and is finally receiving a bit of that love in return.

Arcades and Love Songs: The Ballad of Walter Day is a lovely little film, filled with charm, nostalgia, and grace. Whether or not the music moves you, the man behind it surely will.

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