Guinness
Latest
Watch a Porsche Taycan break the Guinness World Record for an EV drift
Porsche driving instructor Dennis Retera drifted a Porsche Taycan EV for 55 minutes and 26.2 miles, setting a new Guinness world record.
Guinness strips Billy 'King of Kong' Mitchell's world records
Well, that was fast. When Twin Galaxies announced it'd stripped Billy "King of Kong" Mitchell's high scores from its forums yesterday, the gaming record-keeping outfit said it'd notified Guinness World Records of such. Today, Kotaku reports that Guinness will strip all of Mitchell's forged video game high scores including entries for Donkey Kong, Pac-Man and Donkey Kong Jr. from its ledger as well.
Jet-powered hoverboard shatters world record
When footage of a flying hoverboard first emerged last month, many thought it was fake, because the relatively tiny device appears to be breaking the laws of physics. But the "Flyboard Air" from inventor Franky Zapata is real, spectacular and just set a world record for the longest hoverboard flight of all time. It traveled 2,252 meters or 7,388 feet, nearly ten times farther than the mark set last year by Catalin Alexandru Duru on a much larger device. The record has already been certified by Guinness, which attended the event (see the full video, below).
ICYMI: Robot news round-up, 3D hand scanner and more
#fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-439685{display:none;} .cke_show_borders #fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-439685, #postcontentcontainer #fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-439685{width:570px;display:block;} try{document.getElementById("fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-439685").style.display="none";}catch(e){}Today on In Case You Missed It: iRobot sold its line of military robots to a US-based firm to focus on Roomba and a new chameleon robot changes color to blend in; a student built a 3D scanner with cameras and Raspberry Pi that is much cheaper than any other scanner; and a new pedestrian detection software from the University of California, San Diego, is nearly as fast as the human brain.
ICYMI: Tiny sperm motor, tablet for the blind and more
#fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-597195{display:none;} .cke_show_borders #fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-597195, #postcontentcontainer #fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-597195{width:570px;display:block;} try{document.getElementById("fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-597195").style.display="none";}catch(e){} Today on In Case You Missed It: Male fertility issues usually contribute to about half the cases of infertility in couples, which is why some German researchers invented a tiny little Spermbot designed to help sperm swim faster. The Spermbot is a tiny metal helix that uses a rotating magnetic field to help drive sperm towards fertilizing an egg.
Watch Intel's record-setting drone light show
Intel talked a big game when it said that it set a Guinness World Record for the most drones controlled by a single person, but it now has the evidence to back up that braggadocio. Guinness has posted a video of the feat, which saw 100 drones perform a light show (coordinated by Intel software, of course) while humans played Beethoven's Symphony No. 5 on the ground. Is it a publicity stunt? Absolutely. But it's still fun to watch, and it's proof that drone swarms are easier to control than ever.
ICYMI: Record-setting bot walk, holographic drones and more
#fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-309632{display:none;} .cke_show_borders #fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-309632, #postcontentcontainer #fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-309632{width:570px;display:block;} try{document.getElementById("fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-309632").style.display="none";}catch(e){}Today on In Case You Missed It: Researchers from Queens University built tiny quadcopters that can join to form a hologram display, hovering in mid-air. A Guinness World Record for furthest distance by a quadruped robot was set in China by a quirky cute robot we'd love to see more of. And we're into this Kickstarter project for a device that would turn any watch into a smartwatch with vibration for notifications, a heart rate monitor and control for music and photos.
ICYMI: Pocket 3D scanner, light show record and more
#fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-440441{display:none;} .cke_show_borders #fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-440441, #postcontentcontainer #fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-440441{width:570px;display:block;} try{document.getElementById("fivemin-widget-blogsmith-image-440441").style.display="none";}catch(e){}Today on In Case You Missed It: Russia set a world record for the largest projected light show that took 140 Panasonic projectors to display. A Kickstarter project for Ulo the security camera is truly one of the most adorable pieces of tech we've seen for quite some time. And the EORA 3D scanner attaches to a smartphone and can upload scans to 3D compatible printing services right from the app.
PlanetSide 2 smashes world record for biggest FPS battle
Those of you who turned out to help PlanetSide 2 set a world record this past Saturday now have the satisfaction of knowing that you're officially a part of gaming history. The Guinness World Records title for "Most Players Online in a Single FPS Battle" was set by the combined efforts of three factions and 1,158 players on January 24th in the game. The immense fight took place in a single instance and surpassed the previous record holder of Man vs. Machine, which reached only 999 players in 2012. The title will be included in the Gamer's Edition of the World Records. PlanetSide 2 Producer David Carey wanted to thank those who participated, adding that this put the title right back where it belonged: "PlanetSide held the original record for this achievement and we're thrilled to have officially taken it back with PlanetSide 2." [Source: SOE press release]
The world's largest video game collection just went up for auction
Meet Michael Thomasson. He's a 41-year-old video game historian who holds the Guinness World Record for the largest video game archive. Now he wants someone else to have it. Thomasson admits that he'd rather not sell his 11,000+ game collection, which includes full catalogues for platforms including Dreamcast, Saturn, Virtual Boy and Lynx, but due to family commitments he's decided to offer it up to the highest bidder. It went up on auction site Game Gavel a couple of days ago with a starting bid of $1, and it's already reached $50,000 ahead of the June 15th deadline. If you're dying to become a world record holder and have the necessary space to store it all, the collection is said to be worth somewhere between $700,000 and $800,000. We wonder if he'll accept installments.
GTA5 officially breaks PSN records, Guinness records less officially
The Sony Blog has confirmed that Grand Theft Auto 5 is the most-downloaded game in the history of the PlayStation Network, while Guinness World Records has awarded not one, not two, but seven titles to Rockstar's sandbox full of murder and mayhem. Whether it's virtual law or real-life records, Grand Theft Auto 5 breaks more bad than ... yeah, you see where that joke was going. According to a Guinness statement, GTA5 now holds the record for: Best-selling action-adventure videogame in 24 hours Best-selling videogame in 24 hours Fastest entertainment property to gross $1 billion Fastest videogame to gross $1 billion Highest grossing videogame in 24 hours Highest revenue generated by an entertainment product in 24 hours Most viewed trailer for an action-adventure videogame There are, however, conflicting accounts of the statement's validity. According to GameSpot, a Guinness representative claimed that the records team "worked directly with Rockstar on obtaining the figures." However, GameSpot also reports that a Take-Two Interactive representative said the numbers didn't come from them. "We can't verify its accuracy and we haven't commented on GTA V's performance beyond the two releases that we issued," the representative told GameSpot.
Guinness finds NFC's killer app: free beer
After nearly nine years of writing about near field communication (NFC), we honestly thought the tech had maxed out with things like baggage tracking and business cards. Not so, however: Guinness, the company that produces some rather tasty Irish stout, is running a promotion in the UK that gives Android and BlackBerry users with NFC-enabled devices the chance to win a free pint. As a bar patron, you simply tap your phone on the Guinness logo at one of twenty participating pubs, fill out some information on your phone, and if you're lucky, you get one on the house. Technology is rarely this frothy.
Lenovo ThinkPad S3 and S5 teased, show off aluminum 'floating design'
Starting to get bored of the ThinkPad's classic look but not keen on the Edge series? Then we have good news for you! Earlier today we received a couple of photos that show off two upcoming Lenovo Ultrabooks: the 13-inch ThinkPad S3 (codename "Labatt") and the 15-inch ThinkPad S5 ("Guinness"). As you can see above and after the break, both aluminum laptops feature a new "floating design" that might have taken a page out of Samsung and Vizio's book: shaving off the front outer edges of the bottom side to create that slim and floating illusion. Also, these will apparently come with either a black or silver lid. Some folks on Sina Weibo have received other teaser photos of the ThinkPad S5, with one confirming the presence of JBL stereo speakers. The funny thing is Chinese website Yesky reported on a charity auction that actually sold limited editions of the S3 and S5 earlier this month, but those unannounced Ultrabooks went under everyone else's radar. If you're curious, Yesky speculates that a launch is due in China at the end of this month, but you'll have to stay tuned for the prices and specs.
World of Tanks sets world record for most players concurrently online on a single server
Wargaming has made its mark in gaming history. World of Tanks has staked out a place as the Guinness World Record holder for most players logged onto an MMO server, with 190,541 players simultaneously logged in on one of the game's Russian servers. This blasts the game's previous record of 91,311 players to smithereens. Andrei Yarantsau, VP of Global Operations at Wargaming, calls this "an important and exciting milestone for the company," adding that, "if World of Tanks keeps growing at the rate it is, the game will soon top the current total and secure another world record." [Source: Wargaming press release]
Liquid Robotics' Wave Glider breaks Guinness record, does it in the name of science
Last fall, four autonomous Wave Gliders set out from San Francisco Bay to begin a two-fold mission: gather data about the oceans' depths and break records. The vessels, crafted by ocean data services provider Liquid Robotics, were launched in pairs, with one set headed for Australia and the other, Japan. Now one year later, the first of this fuel-less flotilla -- dubbed Papa Mau -- has completed its intended journey, reaching the land of Oz this past November 20th and beating out the remaining three Gliders at sea (one of which malfunctioned and had to be pulled from the water). As the PacX project's team is quick to point out, the culmination of this record-breaking 9,000 mile trek was less about gaining a Guinness entry and more about generating publicity for the mass of hitherto unrecorded oceanic information. But though the initial run of the project is currently winding down, the outfit's SVP of Product Management Graham Hine expects further trips to Antarctica, the poles and the Northwest passage will follow at some point in the future. Without a doubt, the whole experiment's a master class in using the power of PR for the greater good, while giving marine biologists a treasure trove of useful data. Check out the source below for an expanded look at the project's roots and be sure to skip past the break for a video of the vessel's retrieval.
Guinness record of longest game session set at 135 hours with Black Ops 2
The Guinness World Record for longest video game marathon was set by Australian Okan Kaya this week, after he played Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 for 135 hours over seven days.Guinness rules allow for one ten-minute break every hour, which Kaya could bank and use in chunks. Yahoo's Plugged In reports the previous record was set by a Canadian pair playing the Resistance series for 120 hours.Kaya was in good company with Call of Duty Black Ops 2, which set sales records when it earned $500 million on its first day at retail.
Visualized: World's largest QR code is a Canadian maize maze
And why wouldn't it be? That's how the Kraay family of Lacombe, Alberta, Canada gets down, as evidenced by the family's past 13 years of elaborate corn maze designs -- from a logo of the Edmonton Oilers to a 25th anniversary commemoration of Rick Hansen's "Man in Motion" tour. Said QR code sends adventurous scanners to a website for the Kraay's family farm website. The code also got the Kraays into the Guinness Book of World Records for "World's Largest QR Code," which was really what drove this whole project. At approximately 29,000 meters (1.1 square miles), that's quite a bit of carefully crafted corn designing. It's certainly more elaborate than the previously claimed record holder, and a lot more official. "It was something that we didn't think would happen. There were a lot of little things we had to do and Guinness is pretty picky with how you collect your evidence. We were a little bit on edge on whether it would come through so we were very relieved and very excited," Rachel Kraay told CTV News about the project. To verify that the code works, the Kraays had to commission a helicopter to fly them over their own farm, allowing them to scan it while hovering hundreds of feet above. And then, at the end of last week, the Guinness folks sent over a package certifying the bizarre world record. "They didn't even call. I just went to the door and there was a large package and inside was the certificate and a letter. I guess that's how they do it." [Image credit: Facebook]
Mischo Erban breaks skateboard speed record, captures the run with camera-equipped Recon
We know Quebec well for its maple syrup, poutine and fresh mountain air, but the French Canadian province also has a more sprightly side, renewing our neighbor to the north's status in the athletic arena from time to time as well. This month, it's BC native Mischo Erban, who broke a Guinness World Record for the "fastest skateboard speed from a standing position" with a 129.94 km/h (80.74 mph) downhill run. Better yet, Erban caught the record-breaking journey with his custom-built Recon heads-up display / camera combo mounted inside a rather beastly jet-black helmet. The Android-powered HUD theoretically enabled Erban to know he broke the record before he even came to a stop, while also motivating him to keep pushing as he approached that 130 kilometers-per-hour top speed. There's no way to replicate the feeling of flying down a hill aboard a skateboard at 80 miles-per-hour without hopping on some wheels of your own, but you can get a taste of the action in the new record holder's POV video after the break.
Swimming robots break wave-powered distance record, don't even stop for high-fives
Remember those autonomous sea-faring robots we saw back in November? Well, it looks like their self-propelling paddles have slowly waded them into the record books. The bots have traveled a distance of 3,200 nautical miles (2,876 land miles), cutting the previous record of 2,500 adrift -- not bad considering there's no fuel involved. The quartet of data-hunting droids initially set off from San Francisco, before completing the first leg of their journey in Hawaii four months later. The quadrumvirate are now set to split, with two heading off to Japan, crossing the Mariana Trench (believed to be the deepest place on earth) while the other pair head south to Australia, with both duos aiming to reach their final destinations later this year.
Achievement Unlocked: A look at the Guinness world records of online gaming
We're just over a month into the new year, and already we've got plenty to look forward to: The Secret World is expected to hit in April, TERA will follow shortly in May, and Guild Wars 2 will be out... sometime this year (we hope). But before we all start looking toward the future, let's take a moment to look back at some of the gaming achievements of the past. Thanks to the handy-dandy Guinness Book of World Records 2012: Gamer's Edition, we've got a quick compendium of MMO-related records from the past year and then some, so if you're at all interested in the shortest-lived MMO to date or the longest time anyone's spent playing MMOs from inside a crate, join us as we take a stroll down memory lane to take a look at some notably (in)famous MMO achievements.
