Cooperstown had the Babe in 1939. The Rock n’ Roll Hall of Fame had Elvis in 1985. In August, the International Video Game Hall of Fame will have the “King of Kong,” Redmond’s Steve Wiebe, when it inducts the first class in Ottumwa, Iowa.

Wiebe, 41, will attend the ceremony Aug. 7 and join a list of 28 of the biggest gamers and creators for the event.

“I was told last summer when they were planning,” said Wiebe, who teaches algebra at Finn Hill Junior High in Kirkland and grew up in Bellevue. “It makes me feel good that they would honor us in the first group.”

Wiebe first found out when he was invited to the Electronics Entertainment Expo or E3 to play Donkey Kong last summer.

Among the others to be inducted will be Shigeru Miyamoto, creator of Mario and Donkey Kong, who still works for Nintendo. Wiebe said that he looks forward to meeting the video game luminary.

“I always hoped to meet him and I just want to tell him thanks for creating the game,’” said the classic gamer.

Andrew Laidlaw of Kirkland will also be inducted into the Hall of Fame. Laidlaw held the world record for Galaga with 2,729,350 points until 2009. The Northwest is a hotbed for mega gamers with seven of the 28 in the induction class coming from the greater Seattle or Portland area. One inductee not from the Northwest will be the one and only iconic Pac-Man video game character.

Wiebe’s records with Donkey Kong and Donkey Kong Jr. are legendary. Wiebe and another great Donkey Kong player, Billy Mitchell of Hollywood, Fla., were even the subject of a documentary called “King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters,” which chronicles the two men’s rivalry to maintain the high score on the classic arcade game Donkey Kong. Hank Chien currently holds the world record for Donkey Kong with 1,061,700 points, achieved in two hours, 35 minutes before reaching the “kill screen.” Wiebe’s current high score is 1,049,100 on Donkey Kong and holds the world record with 1,190,400 on Donkey Kong Jr., set earlier this year.

Wiebe began playing Donkey Kong when it came out in the early 1980s.

“I heard about the game around the arcade,” said Wiebe, who graduated from Newport High School in Bellevue in 1987. “I went to a pizza place, tried it and got hooked.”

He said that the simplicity of the game is what made him come back.

“It has four different boards, whereas Pac-Man has the same maze over and over,” said Wiebe. “I just love the game play – the jumping and climbing – it is simple.”

Wiebe played the game through college and eventually bought his own machine. He said that the first time he reached the “kill Screen” on level 22 for Donkey Kong in 1993 he didn’t know what he was looking at.

“Nothing hit me and (Mario) just died,” said Wiebe. “At first I thought the machine malfunctioned.”

After making it back to the kill screen, Wiebe thought that maybe he had to jump over the barrels without seeing them. But he figured there was no point to playing the game anymore.

“This was before the internet so there wasn’t a good way to find out what it was,” said Wiebe.

He stopped playing the game and sold his machine.

“One day I was searching the internet and looked up the high score for Donkey Kong and it was 860,000 points and knew I could beat that,” said Wiebe, who went out and bought another machine years later. “I got the record in a couple of weeks.”

That record set off a competition between Wiebe and Mitchell that continues to this day.

“We have met at photo shoots but we haven’t really talked,” said Wiebe, about his nemesis in the documentary.

The world of Donkey Kong has been good to Wiebe. His achievements got the part-time musician invited back stage for some concerts, including Rascal Flatts and Matchbox 20.

“I got to meet the drummer for YES backstage at the Matchbox 20 show, along with Alanis Morissette,” said Wiebe, who also appeared in the 2008 holiday movie, “Four Christmases.”

Even his students get a kick out of their teacher’s gaming exploits. Wiebe said that he shows the documentary to his class at Finn Hill every year when he has a substitute.

“Most of them already know about it through older siblings or friends,” said Wiebe.

Last year when he was playing at E3 some of the other teachers at Finn Hill found the live stream and played it in class.

The classic gamer said that the newest video games don’t hold the same thrill as old school wood-box games.

“I think they are cool but I don’t really get into it,” Wiebe said, noting that his son, Derek, plays Lego Starwars and others. “I am so used to the old school games.”

Wiebe said that he has been playing in his garage this summer with a video camera watching his every move on the classic arcade game. He has a deal with his wife to play two games of Donkey Kong in the morning and then get his list of chores done.

“I want to thank everyone who has supported me,” said Wiebe. “Hopefully I will get my record back.”